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ComboBox choice_values full of empty strings despite PDF having valid choices. #4114
Description
Description of the bug
I am using the 940b: https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f940b.pdf
The PDF file has identical pages, and each page has this specific dropdown:
The choice_values variable is empty.
import pymupdf
pdf = pymupdf.open('f940b.pdf')
for page in pdf:
for widget in page.widgets():
if widget.field_type_string == 'ComboBox':
print(widget.choice_values)
widget.update()
pdf.save('f940b-output.pdf')Expected output:
[' - Select One - ', ' ', 'Cincinnati, OH 45999', 'Memphis, TN 37501', 'Ogden, UT 84201', 'Philadelphia, PA 19255']
[' - Select One - ', ' ', 'Cincinnati, OH 45999', 'Memphis, TN 37501', 'Ogden, UT 84201', 'Philadelphia, PA 19255']
Actual output:
['', '', '', '', '', '']
[' - Select One - ', ' ', 'Cincinnati, OH 45999', 'Memphis, TN 37501', 'Ogden, UT 84201', 'Philadelphia, PA 19255']
This also affects the resulting f940b-output.pdf, where the first combo box is suddenly completely empty with no choices available.
How to reproduce the bug
See above
PyMuPDF version
1.24.13
Operating system
Linux
Python version
3.12
Activity
sarahkittyy commentedon Dec 4, 2024
It seems that in this form, the dropdown on the first page has no /Opt key, only the one on the second page. Yet, in all PDF viewers, the options are shown in both dropdowns as expected. What other key is being used to link to these choices?
sarahkittyy commentedon Dec 4, 2024
These forms both have a
/Parent 86xref that links toAnd
/Opt 90links to the correct list of options:So somewhere in pymupdf you need to account for the fact that the
/Optkey might live in the/Parentobject.sarahkittyy commentedon Dec 4, 2024
Also,
widget.field_value = widget.choice_values[foo]doesn't even work. (Leaves the field in the output PDF completely blank)src/__init__.py tests/:JM_choice_options(): fix #4114.
src/__init__.py tests/:JM_choice_options(): fix #4114.
julian-smith-artifex-com commentedon Jun 29, 2026
Fixed in pymupdf-1.28.0.