Can a FORM created in ACROBAT contain a drop down LIST that is LINKED to a SQL DATABASE?

We have an electronic Purchase Requisition form that users use to enter requests to our purchasing dept.
One of the FIELDS on the form is a VENDOR name that we would like to LINK to the VENDOR table in the SQL data base of our accounting software. If we have to manually enter the validation table into Acrobat, it will be time consuming and difficult to maintain, because we are constantly adding vendors to the accounting system. Is there a way to do this?

Yes it can.
there is a lot of documentation online and in various books about how to do this…

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Acrobat form; how to set-up a drop down list that has catagories?

Hi,
We produce business directories.
I am working on a display ad proof template where the user has a choice of 10 main categories where each main has 5 to 15 sub-categories.
In my new Adobe Acrobat Pro 9 I understand how to create a drop down list, but can't seem to find where to tie in the sub-categories for each for the main listing.
When the main category is chosen it would only show the related subcategories. See clip below. I am sure this is easy...just find the steps in the instructions.
Thanks, Bruce

Hi Bruce,
This forum is specific to Designer, which comes with Acrobat Pro 9. It will be easier to create this type of functionality in Designer (compared to achieving it in Acrobat).
Designer creates XFA Forms, which are wrapped in a PDF. The user doesn't see any difference: eg they see a PDF which will open in Acrobat/Reader. However for user with Reader to be able to save the data they input, the form must be reader Enabled. This is a topic in itself and there are many discussions on the forums - just try a quick search.
Now to the question...
Yes, you can achieve this with some script. Basically you would need script in the preOpen event of the Business sub-category, which would look back at the selection in the Business category. Based on this value, the script would populate the sub-category with appropriate items.
There is an example here: http://assure.ly/jcTahK.
Hope that helps,
Niall

Create a drop down list that populates based on the selection form another drop down list.

I need to set up a drop down list that is popualated (i.e. displays a certain list of selctions in the drop down list) based on the choise the form user selects in an adjacent List
For example
There are two drop down list field sitting side by side in the form
1. Select State 2. Select Course
What I want to do is have a list of states in the first drop down list (1.Select State) and depending on which state the form user selects , the second drop down list (2.Select Course) will populate with a selction of courses available in that selected state only (i.e. it will on;y show course available in QLD if QLD is selcted).
Is this hard to do?

Hi,
I would recommend some posts from Stefan Cameron's blog:
http://forms.stefcameron.com/2006/09/18/connecting-a-form-to-a-database/
http://forms.stefcameron.com/2006/09/29/selecting-specific-database-records/
http://forms.stefcameron.com/2006/12/18/databases-inserting-updating-and-deleting-records/
http://forms.stefcameron.com/2006/12/07/better-form-design-with-xfa-25/
Hope that helps,
Niall

Creating Hyperlinks In Pre-Made Drop Down List Form

Ok, I am new to the whole Acrobat world but there is a pre-made object called "drop down list". When I drag it onto my page I am able to enter the title as well as the items I wish to have appear in the drop down. However, I am unable to simply go to "insert" and select "hyperlink". That option is greyed out. Can someone tell me if there is a simple way to create the hyperlink without writing script and also why I can not simply select the hyperlink option? Any feedback or direction would be much appreciated. Likewise, if there are other programs that would easily allow me to do this I would welcome your comments.
Thanks!

You can't insert hyperlinks into a drop down in Acrobat.
Well, you can, but they will remain as plain text.

I am creating a template with drop down menus in Numbers. I want to be able to insert options into the middle of my list at a later date if I need to, but I can only insert at the end of the drop down list. Is there a different program I could be using?

I need to be able to add in more options into my drop down list in Numbers at a later time, not only at the bottom but say in the middle of the list. Should I be using a different program that can allow this to work? Thank you!

This forum thread appears to point towards the problem.
Re: Unable to Switch Audio Sync Settings

Is it possible to create interactive drop down lists that reference tables on separate pages of the PDF?

I am looking to create a user input PDF in which drop down lists are utilized to search tables, however, I am not very familiar with the options that are available or if this is even possible? Also, is it possible to write a background code that could read user inputted text to run a search or even solve some equation? Can someone let me know if these items are possible and/or let me know what adobe program may be necessary to accomplish these tasks? Thanks!

PDFs have no concept of "tables" like MS Word or MS Excel has. There is content that looks like a table.
Acrobat JavaScript does know about arrays and form fields. So one could have an array in JavaScript and fill in a series of fields that looks like a table. One can then use JavaScript to search the table.
JavaScript in Acrobat can accept user input in fields and pop-up windows.
It is possible to solve user imputed equations if the proper notation or coding is used.
D.P. Story is a PDF evangelist that created LaTex for creating PDF with mathematical symbols and he also created the AcroTex product that can be used to create educational tools that includes mathematics including calculus self grading tests.

How can i redirect 5 choice options from a drop down list into 5 separate text fields?

I have a number of drop down lists which push one of 5 choices to a text field on another page.
I want to be able to push each choice from one drop down field to a separate field, so that it is not possible to duplicate the drop down choice.
The resulting page is going to be locked.
What script do I need to use to send each of the five choices specifically to five separate text fields?
Thanks for the insight.

Hi Paul,
I've had a look at the sample script you posted. I'm not sure how to make it work with the form I'm creating. (I sent it to you earlier.) Would you mind setting one of the fields up on my form so that I can get an idea of how to then push the choices set up on the "visible on screen only" to the textfields which are locked on the visible page? Do i lock the fields in the same way?
Will I need to create a new script for each of the arrays I'll be creating? for example, myScript1, myScript2, my Script3....
Why do i need a reset button?
Nellie

Create a drop-down list that populates from AD

Hello,
Is there a way to create a drop-down list in Excel that will populate from active directory? I'm finding all sorts of stuff for SharePoint, but nothing for Excel.
Thanks!
-Dusty

If you are using the following version of Excel:
1.Microsoft Office 2010 Professional Plus with Software Assurance
2.Microsoft Office 2013 Professional Plus, Office 365 ProPlus or Excel 2013 Standalone
You can download and install the Power Query add-in, then you can import the data from Active Directory to Excel.
Wind Zhang
TechNet Community Support

How can I bind a empty cell to a Drop Down List if I get the items of...

the List from a DataProvider?
I need this for a Search-Site where I also can choose the option "find all" at the different DD-Lists...

What I do is, instead of binding the DropDown directly to the DataProvider, I bind it to a function inside my BackBean who returns the Option[] required, and in that function I load the items from the DB plus whatever else I want (in our case we add a blank cell as the first and selected option).
Here's an example:
public Option[] getUserItems () {
     return ( loadDDFromDB ( "id_user", tb_userDataProvider ) );
public static Option[] loadDDFromDB (String sRowID, AbstractTableDataProvider CurrentDataProvider) {
          Option ArrayOptions[] = new Option[0];
          if ( CurrentDataProvider.cursorFirst () ) {
               ArrayList ALUnsorted = new ArrayList ();
               do {
                    if ( CurrentDataProvider.getValue (sRowID) != null )
                         ALUnsorted.add ( CurrentDataProvider.getValue (sRowID) );
               while ( CurrentDataProvider.cursorNext () );
               Collections.sort (ALUnsorted);
               unique (ALUnsorted);
               ArrayOptions = new Option[ALUnsorted.size () + 1];
               int iCtr = 1;
               ArrayOptions[0] = new Option ("");
               for ( Iterator itOptions = ALUnsorted.iterator (); itOptions.hasNext (); )
                    ArrayOptions[iCtr++] = new Option ( itOptions.next ().toString () );
          return ( ArrayOptions );
     }Hope this helps.

Populateing a drop down list in a repeating sub form

I have been using the scripts from the Purchase Order sample that work with the Country and States/Provinces drop down lists and have modified them to fit my needs. The scripts work great. However I have a drop down list that is in a repeating sub form and the only the drop down list in the first occurance of the sub form works. The others don't.
I put this line of code in a field called drpOrderedByTeam.
JobsScript.getJobsOther(xfa, xfa.resolveNode("form1.TimeSheetSF.DetailsSF[*].DetailsTable.DetailsRow.ItemNumber"));
I thought I just needed to add an "[*]" to the name of the sub form and it would work with all occurances but it doesn't seem so and I'm not sure what else to do.

Based on your explanations, I've attempted to re-create your form and I think I've got it working the way you'd like it to.
There are some difficulties with using fields in table headers which are replicated on subsequent pages because while new instances of the header subform and the fields it contains are created, you don't have access to these instances using the header's Instance Manager (I think this is a bug but I'm not sure). This means that you can't iterate through the instances of the header in order to populate the task lists depending on the selection in the team list. One solution for this is to make all header fields Global (select each field and, in the Object palette's Binding tab, set the
Default Binding property to
Global). This means that all instances of these fields will share the same value. The effect is that when you change the value of a field on an instance of a header on any page, the change will be replicated on all instances on all pages. The catch, though, is when you use lists in the header. Making list fields global doesn't mean that their item lists are global -- which causes other headaches.
In the end, because of the problems I've described, I had to resort to cheating a little but if you think about it, it's not really cheating. What the form does is whenever the team list value changes, it removes all instances of the DetailsSF rows. This has the effect of also removing all instances of the DetailTitlesSF headers accross the current page set (and removes all pages but the first one). Then 6 new instances of the DetailsSF row are generated and the DetailTitlesSF header is re-populated using the new selection in the team list. After that, if a new page gets generated because of the number of instances of the DetailsSF rows, the new instances of the task lists in the new instances of the DetailTitlesSF header will have the correct list of items based on the current value of the team list. In the end, even though I'm cheating by removing all instances of the DetailsSF row in order to reset the lists in the DetailTitlesSF header, it's not really cheating because if you change teams, then it should be assumed that all data entered doesn't apply anymore because the tasks change as well... Convinced?
The best way to understand this is to check-out the sample form.
Let me know if you have any questions.
Stefan
Adobe Systems

Webdynpro for ABAP - interactive Adobe form - drop down lists not working

Hi all,
I'm trying to create an interactive form for a client using webdynpro for ABAP and I've viewed the demo "Create SAP Interactive Forms by Adobe with Web Dynpro for ABAP" by Thomas Jung, but when I implement it the form following similar steps the form is not interactive.
In the properties of the "InterativeForm", I've tried clicking the "enabled" flag both on and off. I've also tried setting the "displayType" property to both "ActiveX" and "Native". But none of this worked.
I though my problem might be with Adobe reader so I switched from 8.0 back to 7.0 but this didn't make any difference either.
The system we are using is NW04s WAS 700. Any hints would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks,
-tom

Thanks for the suggestion Dezso. I've downloaded a newer version of ACF as indicated by the OSS note and installed it. I'm still having the same issue.
My basic question is what options should I be using in the form and on the InteractiveForm component? It looks like because of the evolution of the product there are multiple options available. I recall reading somewhere that as of a certain SP level we should have ZCI (zero client install) available. The would be our preference. It will be a support nightmare if each user needed a manual download of ACF.exe installed.
Should I click the "enabled" flag on the InteractiveForm object? When I create the form should I use the "Native" drop down list or the one from the "Active X" tab? I would like to use the "List Box" control on the form as well but it is only available in the "Standard" tab. So does that mean I can't get the selections from a "List Box"?
Thanks,-tom

Create a fragment with web service to populate the drop down list

Hello,
Can any one please advise/suggest on how to create a fragment in LiveCycle Designer ES with web service to populate the drop down list so I can re-use it for another form. I already have a drop down list to populate the data from the web serivice but need some advise on how to create a fragment for this drop down list so I can start to embed it in other forms as well.
Thanks in advance,
HD

Did you follow the instructions and have a specific question? Have you also looked at the documentation http://help.adobe.com/en_US/livecycle/9.0/lcdesigner_qs_fragments.pdf

Dynamic drop down list in Adobe forms

I have created a drop down list using enumerated drop down list from webdynpro native tab and binded in the object palette by giving $record.sap-vhlist.DESCR\.DATA\.FIELD.item[]* in the list items dynamically.DESCR is the field in the internal table into which i fetched data from the database table .I have written this code in a BADI.I dont know whether my form's display type is activex or native? I am not getting any values in the drop down list.can anybody please tell me what might be missing and how should i know whether my form is ActiveX or Native?
My form is called from portal so i have used BADI to connect portal to form

Hi sarang,
I have done a dynamic drop down list in which DESCR field comes from database table and pops into the drop down dynamically. I was working for a PCR scenario so the adobe form was called from portal.I will tell u all the required steps.It might work for u as it is working for me:
1.In the form:
I used two elements from library first is a "ENUMERATED DROP DOWN LIST NO SELECT" from web-dynpro native tab and second is "ISR_TEXT DISPLAY INVISIBLE ON EDIT MODE" from ISR controls tab.Place them one on other inthe form.
For drop down list the setting are:
     In object, field tab click on list items there in ITEMS put :$record.sap-vhlist.DESCR\.DATA\.FIELD.item[*].in ITEMS TEXT write text in ITEMS KEY write key.
     In binding,in default binding put $record.DESCR.DATA[*].FIELD.
For text element the settings are:
     In binding,default binding put Normal.
     when we select ISR_TEXT DISPLAY INVISIBLE ON EDIT MODE it automatically comes with calculated read only int he value tab.so open script editor and place the below code:
$record.DESCR.DATA.FIELD (in calculate).
2.Now the code in BADI is as follows:
In BADI we have to write the code for drop down list in the METHOD "SCENARIO_SET_ADDITIONAL_VALUES"
As i didnt change the standard BADI i added an enhancement spot in which i wrote a function module which fills ADDITIONAL_DATA. and the below code fills the ADDITIONAL_DATA .
DATA: t_t572b TYPE STANDARD TABLE OF t572b WITH HEADER LINE,
        t_t554t TYPE STANDARD TABLE OF t554t WITH HEADER LINE.
SELECT * FROM t572b INTO TABLE t_t572b WHERE sprsl EQ 'E'.
CLEAR ls_additional_data-fieldindex.
LOOP AT t_t572b.
    ADD 1 TO ls_additional_data-fieldindex.
    ls_additional_data-fieldname ='DESCR_KEY'.
    ls_additional_data-fieldvalue = t_t572b-descd.
    APPEND ls_additional_data TO additional_data.
    ls_additional_data-fieldname ='DESCR_LABEL'.
    ls_additional_data-fieldvalue = t_t572b-descr.
    APPEND ls_additional_data TO additional_data.
    CLEAR t_t572b.
ENDLOOP.
For DESCR field the we have to declare DESCR_KEY and DESCR_LABEL in the place holders for key values and palce holders for default values in characteristics tab(where all the fields for the form are defined) of ur respective scenario.(where ur pcr scenario is defined)
Hope ur problem got resolved.
Please let me know if any doubts.
If ur form is not called from portal and u want a dynamic drop down list the difference is put a data drop down list and in object, field tab click on list items there in ITEMS select the field into which u populated the data from the database table (this code shud be written in code Initialization in the respective interface) and in ITEMS TEXT put $ in ITEMS KEY put $.and in binding as we normally do bind it to the respective field in which the data is populated from database table.
It should work.

Creating a formula using a alphabetic drop down list?

I am creating a work sheet using formulas and drop down list. I have one drop down list that has a list of name and the second list is a list of letter that correspond to those names. (ex: column "J" on line "4 - 29" there is the letter
"A-Z" and then continues , in column "K" line "4" starts the list of names. In Cell B4 is the drop down list of names in column "K" to choose from, I would like the letter that corresponds to that name automatically
be put into cell A4, how do I create the formula in cell A4?

Hi Tina,
According to your description, please following these steps:
With your sample as shown in the following figure, select range “J4:K29”, and click
FORMULAS-Defined Names-Create from Selection, and check
Right column.
Then, use the enter formula in A4 “=INDIRECT(B4)”.
And I upload a TEXT.xlsx file on OneDrive, you can download this file via this link:
https://microsoft-my.sharepoint.com/personal/v-lzng_microsoft_com/Documents/Shared with Everyone
Hope it’s helpful.
Regards,
Emi

How to populate drop down list in infopath 2010 with form library column

I created one column of choice type and have put 3 values on this column in form library in site.
and one drop down list in form library at infopath 2010 but how to populate the dropdown in infopath populate with this column.

Hi John, you should either add the values to your InfoPath dropdown manually or create a new list in SharePoint with the values and make a connection to that list to populate your dropdown.
cameron rautmann

Can a FORM created in ACROBAT contain a drop down LIST that is LINKED to a SQL DATABASE?

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