Document properties - keywords field - scripts add double quotes for multiple values

The Keywords, in the info (description) section of the PDF document, are maintained somewhat differently from the other info properties, such as the title and author. All of the other properties are single strings, where as the keywords are a list of strings. All this info is part of the PDF XMP Metadata. In Acrobat, open up the document properties dialog, select the Description Tab. Enter some Keywords separated by commas. To see how this data is organized internally click on the "Additional Metadata" button, select the "Advanced" panel. This shows the complete PDF XMP metadata as it is stored inside the PDF. Expand the "XMP Core Properties" section and you'll see how the keywords are stored in Acrobat.

The JavaScript "doc.info.keywords" property is good for getting the keywords, but it does not properly set the keywords. To do this you have to modify the XMP metadata directly. Look in the JavaScript reference at the "doc.metadata" property. There's an example of how to use the E4X XML parser to modify the metadata. Unfortunately is does not show how to modify the keywords. But fortunately E4X is extremely easy to use. You can look up E4X examples at the Mozilla site.

I did write an automation tool that does show exactly how to modify the keywords. It's available to members at www.pdfscripting.com

I have also noticed this behavior when inserting keywords through a PS file and then distilling the PS file into a PDF file.

Thom,

Thanks a million for clearing that up! Would be very interested in taking a look at your automation tool for setting keywords...can you send us a link to it?

You'll find it listed here: Automation Tools at pdfscripting.comBut, as I mentioned earlier, these tools are only available to members.