Combing PDF forms with identical field names while retaining unique values.

Question

I have several PDF files of the same form that has been filled out by multiple users. I need to create a combined file of all the responses for reporting purposes. However, the forms (obviously) all have the same field names, and when I combine them the values of the first form autofill the values of the matched fields on the other forms. I need a way to combine the forms while retaining the unique field values. I thought I could write a js to rename the fields, but that isn't possible.
*EDIT: The fields need to retain editability because some contain long, scrolling text. Flattening or read-only isn't an option, not that either fixes the above problem.
Suggestions?

Answer 1

UPDATE:
I solved this problem, at least for my own needs. Following try67's advice in a related post, I had to delete the existing fields and create new ones with new names. Given my desired outcome, this meant collecting all of the field properties of the fields (with some variation by field type), storing it, erasing the existing fields, and using that stored information to create new, identical fields (again with some variation by field type). Since I didn't want to retain actions or javascript, this was a perfect solution. I also no longer needed the buttons to function (since I wasn't retaining their javascript), so I made them read-only. I'm listing my working code below, in case anyone else could benefit from some or all of it.
My question to the community is this: Why doesn't Adobe allow for fields to be renamed via javascript? Is it a security issue? My life would have been a lot easier the last few days if I could simply rename existing fields.
The following script is used in a Combine Files action via the Action Wizard. The PDF optimizer is also used to strip out or flatten additional items.
//This script is used to rename all the fields in a document while also removing any javascript or actions associated with those fields. Makes buttons read only without renaming.
//Function to create a random alphanumeric ID.
function makeid(n) {
    var text = "";
    var possible = "ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz0123456789";
    for( var i=1; i <=n; i++ )
        text += possible.charAt(Math.floor(Math.random() * possible.length));
    return text;
//List variables for collecting arrays of field properties.
var fieldNum = this.numFields;
var fieldNameArray = new Array();
var fieldTypeArray = new Array();
var pageNumArray = new Array();
var fieldRectArray = new Array();
var fieldValueArray = new Array();
var borderStyleArray = new Array();
var borderColorArray = new Array();
var borderThicknessArray = new Array();
var fillColorArray = new Array();
var textColorArray = new Array();
var textFontArray = new Array();
var textSizeArray = new Array();
var textAlignmentArray = new Array();
var textMultilineArray = new Array();
var checkmarkStyleArray = new Array();
var radiowidgetNumArray = new Array();
var radiowidgetRectArray = new Array();
var radiowidgetPageNumArray = new Array();
//Get the properties of all the current fields, including widgets.
for (var i = 0; i < fieldNum; i++) {
    var currentField = this.getNthFieldName(i);
    fieldNameArray[i] = makeid(5);
    fieldTypeArray[i] = this.getField(currentField).type;
    borderStyleArray[i] = this.getField(currentField).borderStyle;
    borderColorArray[i] = this.getField(currentField).strokeColor;
    borderThicknessArray[i] = this.getField(currentField).lineWidth;
    fillColorArray[i] = this.getField(currentField).fillColor;
    textColorArray[i] = this.getField(currentField).textColor;
    textFontArray[i] = this.getField(currentField).textFont;
    textSizeArray[i] = this.getField(currentField).textSize  
    if (this.getField(currentField).type == "text") {
        fieldRectArray[i] = this.getField(currentField).rect;
        pageNumArray[i] = this.getField(currentField).page;
        fieldValueArray[i] = this.getField(currentField).value;
        textAlignmentArray[i] = this.getField(currentField).alignment;
        textMultilineArray[i] = this.getField(currentField).multiline;
    if (this.getField(currentField).type == "checkbox") {
        fieldRectArray[i] = this.getField(currentField).rect;
        pageNumArray[i] = this.getField(currentField).page;
        fieldValueArray[i] = this.getField(currentField).value;
        checkmarkStyleArray[i] = this.getField(currentField).style;
    if (this.getField(currentField).type == "radiobutton") {
        checkmarkStyleArray[i] = this.getField(currentField).style;
        fieldValueArray[i] = this.getField(currentField).value;
        var n = 0;
        while (this.getField(currentField + "." + n) != null) {
            radiowidgetNumArray[n] = this.getField(currentField + "." + n).name;
            n++;
        for (x = 0; x < radiowidgetNumArray.length; x++) {
            radiowidgetRectArray[x] = this.getField(radiowidgetNumArray[x]).rect;
            radiowidgetPageNumArray[x] = this.getField(radiowidgetNumArray[x]).page;
//Delete all the current fields, except for buttons, which become read-only.
for (var i = (fieldNum - 1); i > -1; i--) {
    var currentField = this.getNthFieldName(i);
    if (this.getField(currentField).type != "button") {
        this.removeField(currentField);
    } else {
        this.getField(currentField).readonly = true;
//Using the stored arrays of field properties, generate new, identical fields.
for (var i = 0; i < fieldNum; i++) {
    if (fieldTypeArray[i] == "text") {
        var newField = this.addField(fieldNameArray[i], fieldTypeArray[i], pageNumArray[i], fieldRectArray[i]);
        newField.value = fieldValueArray[i];
        newField.borderStyle = borderStyleArray[i];
        newField.strokeColor = borderColorArray[i];
        newField.lineWidth = borderThicknessArray[i];
        newField.fillColor = fillColorArray[i];
        newField.textColor = textColorArray[i];
        newField.textFont = textFontArray[i];
        newField.textSize = textSizeArray[i];
        newField.alignment = textAlignmentArray[i];
        newField.multiline = textMultilineArray[i];
        newField.doNotSpellCheck = true;
    if (fieldTypeArray[i] == "checkbox") {
        var newField = this.addField(fieldNameArray[i], fieldTypeArray[i], pageNumArray[i], fieldRectArray[i]); 
        newField.value = fieldValueArray[i];
        newField.borderStyle = borderStyleArray[i];
        newField.strokeColor = borderColorArray[i];
        newField.lineWidth = borderThicknessArray[i];
        newField.fillColor = fillColorArray[i];
        newField.textColor = textColorArray[i];
        newField.textFont = textFontArray[i];
        newField.textSize = textSizeArray[i];
        newField.style = checkmarkStyleArray[i];
        newField.readonly = true;
    if (fieldTypeArray[i] == "radiobutton") {
        for (y = 0; y < radiowidgetNumArray.length; y++) {
            var newField = this.addField(fieldNameArray[i], fieldTypeArray[i], radiowidgetPageNumArray[y], radiowidgetRectArray[y]);
            newField.value = fieldValueArray[i];
            newField.borderStyle = borderStyleArray[i];
            newField.strokeColor = borderColorArray[i];
            newField.lineWidth = borderThicknessArray[i];
            newField.fillColor = fillColorArray[i];
            newField.textColor = textColorArray[i];
            newField.textFont = textFontArray[i];
            newField.textSize = textSizeArray[i];
            newField.style = checkmarkStyleArray[i];
            newField.readonly = true;           
//End script.