Develop Reference

How to convert editable PDF to non-editable PDF in PHP/NodeJS?

Problem
I would like to know is there any PHP/NodeJS API available to convert editable PDF to non-editable PDF online. We have a client application where we need a scenario where the user downloads the PDF should not able to modify it thought any software (eg. Foxit reader, Adobe)
Basically, we are using PDF-LIB right now and it seems there is no solution for the non-editable pdf API to set access privileges, I have search a lot but does not found any API for that, Am not using the pdf-flatten because we want everything selectable, Appreciate your help.
List of libraries tried and fail to achieve the results
bpampuch/pdfmake issue can't load an existing pdf
PDF-LIB issue can't support permissions
nrhirani/node-qpdf issue File restrictions not working properly

I think flattening the PDF might help you to make it un-editable in case your target is
Just the form fields then you might use this from the PDF-LIB github repo
The entire PDF then, see if pdf-flatten package helps for Node.js

After a lot of research work and tried multiple libraries in PHP/Node. I don't found any library that is mature enough to proceed with that, so I decided to make an API that will build in different technology C# and Java
Solution
we post the PDF URL through API, the API download that file, and apply for multiple permission according to the dataset.
Library
the library we choose is ASPOSE
// These can be true/false
config.IsPrint = true;
// Document is allowed to be changed.
config.IsModify = false;
// Annotation is allowed.
config.IsAnnot = true;
// Form filling is allowed.
config.IsFillForm = true;
// Content extraction is allowed.
config.IsExtract = true;

D3 visualization on local machine without HTML server?

I'm a total novice in web development. I'm interested in using D3 to create interactive visualizations for my (insurance) work, not for sharing on web. The visualization would need to be pretty self-contained so non-tech-savvy business users can view it without special software setup--just the usual browser, internet access, and access to the same LAN locations I have. Below is my initial investigation into viability.
1) I can save this HTML example to my local machine and view the chart in a browser, no probs: https://bl.ocks.org/mbostock/b5935342c6d21928111928401e2c8608
2) Then I tried a visualization that uses a data file.
https://bl.ocks.org/mbostock/2838bf53e0e65f369f476afd653663a2
I went to the data source website and downloaded the .csv. Simply changing the file address in the d3.csv() command to my local drive didn't work (as I mentioned I'm a novice)
Can anyone show me how to make (2) work locally? I found some related answers
Loading local data for visualization using D3.js
Reading in a local csv file in javascript?
but still over my head--if someone can work the example (2) above I can probably understand better...

There are two techniques you can use to load d3 data without a server:
load the data yourself without using d3.csv() helpers.
use data-urls with d3.csv() to avoid server loading.
Loading the data yourself without d3.csv()
Your first example: Stacked Negative Values works because data is defined at the top of the page without using d3.csv():
var data = [...];
...
// d3 operates on the data
Your second example: Nested TreeMap doesn't work because the data is loaded by d3.csv() which takes a path, which ordinarily takes assumes a server:
d3.csv("Home_Office_Air_Travel_Data_2011.csv", type, function(error, data) {
...
// work on data within the anon function passed to d3.csv.
Using data-urls with d3.csv()
However, if you use a data-url as the path, you can get this to work without a server:
var data = [...];
var dataUri = "data:text/plain;base64," + btoa(JSON.stringify(data));
d3.csv(dataUri, function(data){
// d3 code here
});
Adapted from: Create data uri's on the fly?
As an aside, you may be interested in a Middleman plugin I wrote that creates self-contained d3 HTML pages that can be run from the file system without a server using these approaches:
https://github.com/coldnebo/middleman-static-d3

Most modern browsers (chrome, mozilla) have full built in html5, css3, and javascript support without need of a webserver (this is the preferred route for developement).
For example, if you're using chrome all you need to do is set the allow local file access flag: How to launch html using Chrome at "--allow-file-access-from-files" mode?
In mozilla set the about:config key security.fileuri.strict_origin_policy to false.
Again, these are options for loading local files without a webserver, but setting up a webserver is a relatively simple task that is the most recommended route.

you'll need to run a local server like python's SimpleHTTPServer to get this to work locally. once you've got it installed, it's as simple as running a single command in your terminal.
however, since you said that your end users should be able to access it through the browser, do you mean that you'll host it online? if so, they'll be able to view it correctly on the server

Notice how in the first example the data in hard coded into the html page with the variable name data? The data is already here so you won't need a server to go and fetch the data. On the other hand, in second example the data is not hardcoded and is fetched with a server. If you want this to work like the first example you will have to hard code the data into the web page.

You may want to use SERVED by Ian Johnson, its pretty good.
http://enjalot.github.io/served/

Facebook / JavaScript API: Post big picture with external link?

Using Facebook Graph API I can post a link with a picture to /feed, but I already learned that if I want a big picture I should post to /photos:
var postParams =
{'url': 'http://example.com/mypic.jpg',
'link': 'http://example.com/mysite.html'};
FB.api('/ID/photos', 'post', postParams, function(respPost) {...});
ID could even be a group Id (I tried). However, the 'link' doesn't work. Clicking on the published picture simply takes me to see it in a bigger mode.
How can I post a big picture that links to an external site?
I did see posts like this...
Note: there is a related older stackoverflow post that refers to using php and does not seem to help here: Posting a link via the Facebook graph API with a large picture

Facebook will display your post with a small or big picture automatically depending on what its algorithms feel is best for your content. You cannot manually request how your story will be displayed on timeline/newsfeed beyond providing the message / images you wish to share via Open Graph tags.

Writing a custom file format downloader in Google Spreadsheets

What I'm aiming to do is write something akin to the File > Download as > * functionality currently in Google Spreadsheets, but I want it to be in a custom format.
Specifically, I want to turn a spreadsheet of financial transactions into an QIF or OFX file for importing into accounting software. In essence, pushing a button on the UI will download a QIF/OFX version of the currently open spreadsheet.
I have tried the following so far:
Publishing a service (via implementing doGet) that uses ContentService to create the custom file and return it as a download using TextOutput.downloadAsFile(). This works if I call the endpoint directly using my browser.
Tried redirecting the browser to the Service's URL via window.location, but that doesn't seem to be available in the context of the App Script.
Tried using UrlFetchApp.fetch to have the front-end (the spreadsheet) have the browser navigate to the URL for the service. This didn't work either (not really surprising).
So, is this the right approach here? How else can I attack this?

Looks like this is what you have to do.
Create a UiApp
Add a link to the download inside that app.
Show the UiInstance on the spreadsheet
It's a little bit bulky, but it seems the be the cleanest solution.
function downloadAsWhatever() {
var app = UiApp.createApplication();
app.add(app.createAnchor("Download the file now!", "https://script.google.com/macros/s/[...]/exec"))
SpreadsheetApp.getActiveSpreadsheet().show(app.setWidth(300).setHeight(150));
}
You can set the size of the app to whatever you'd like. I chose to set it smaller so it takes up less space on the Spreadsheet screen.
For now the best way to direct a user to a new page is to create an anchor widget and have them click it. We understand that this is not an ideal user experience, but it should suffice for must use cases.
Source

How to grab info from DC Metro site to create XML file?

I feel like this may be a trivial problem for most people but I'm new at doing all this, so any help would be much appreciated!
So I need to get the coordinates of all the DC metro stops from the website. I did some searching and what I figured out is that the site with all the stations provides you with the option to click on the name of the station, which then shows a map of where the station is located. When you click on the map, you are directed to a google maps page where the coordinates are shown in the search box. I also noticed that the URL contains the coordinates as well.
From the research I did, it looks like it's possible to parse through the source code of the original DC metro website that holds all of the stations, go through each link to the stations, and then parse through the source code of each station's individual website to grab the coordinates and the name of the station. Once that is retrieved, it can be stored into an XML file. I wanted to make the XML look something like:
<stations>
<station>
<name>Ballston-MU</name>
<lat>38.882071</lat>
<long>-77.111845</long>
</station>
<station>
<name>Addison Road</name>
<lat>38.886713</lat>
<long>-76.893592</long>
...
</stations>
I don't really have an preference to what language to use. I'm not even sure which one would be easier. I've used javascript and jquery to do the rest of the project. But since I only need the XML file, I don't think it'll matter what langauge I use to create it.
Sorry I know this is super long!!!

Just in case anyone was wondering, I did what user thg435 said and used the DC metro's own API. Just registered, got an API key, and used the URL they gave to get the XML file with all the info needed! :)
This was the URL (gotta insert your own custom API key to make it work):
http://api.wmata.com/StationPrediction.svc/GetPrediction/A10?api_key=YOUR_API_KEY