Dynamically populating a PDF form?

I've created a form in InDesign that I use in my daily work -- it has several fields that hold information about issues I'm currently working on. This information comes from a proprietary in-house system that I have access to via JDBC, SQL, language bindings, etc. I would like to take my InDesign document, create a PDF form with it, and then have new PDFs automatically generated with the data provided by our own database. I can handle 90% of this, but the Adobe end of it is confusing and (frankly) a bit frustrating.
I can make a static PDF from InDesign just fine, but how can I create a PDF that is meant to be populated at a later time using external data? I can put it any format - XML, CSV, whatever you want. I just don't want to have to launch InDesign every time I want to print a new form. Launching Acrobat would be fine, if not optimal -- at least in Acrobat I don't have to be careful not to mess up the source document.
I would love it if Adobe provided a way (outside of LifeCycle - I don't have the money for that) to automate this entirely within CreativeCloud, but I am more than competent with outside programming environments if that's going to be required.
Can anyone give me some direction with this?

Irosenth,
Thanks for the response. I'm going with option 2. For anyone finding this question in the future, here's the tutorial video to create an interactive PDF from InDesign:
Create an interactive PDF | Adobe Creative Cloud tutorials

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Dynamic creation of PDF forms

I'm looking for possible ways to dynamically create PDF forms (not necessarily interactive):
Scenario:
An unknown number of text elements has to be placed on an unknown number of pages. These elements may come with positional and format attributes as part of the context data (and/or have positional data calculated as server side form script using JavaScript).
Question:
How do I create these elements dynamically?
Is it possible to add/delete elements (text elements, pages, content areas, ...) of the form using the XML Object Model in server side scripts?
What ways are there to maybe access the Adobe Document Services directly to submit the data and positional information (without having to create a "dummy" form which would contain the scripts to add all the required elements)?
I hope that I described my problem understandable, and that you can provide me with some helpful information, be it a different concept, parts of a solution or just links to helpful documents or infos.
Thanks,
Max

No, we do not support passing values into the form like that.
Randy

Using dynamic referencing in PDF Form with Checkboxes

I have created a checklist that contains approx 60-70 steps. About 20 of them are to have a checkbox that fills an adjacent field with the date, and another with the user name. I have already got this functioning as a stand alone process.
aaa = checkbox
aaadate = field for date
aaaname = field for name
[code]
function test() {
var one = this.getField("aaa");
var two = this.getField("aaadate");
if (one.value == 'Yes') {
if (two.value == "") {
     this.getField("aaadate").value = util.printd("dd-mmm-yy",new Date());
     this.getField("aaaname").value = identity.name;
}} else if (one.value == 'Off') {
     this.getField("aaadate").value = "";
     this.getField("aaaname").value = "";
[/code]
I do not want to write a piece of code for each checkbox so I am trying to figure out how to use dynamic referencing so that when i check on a checkbox, the code takes the checked checkboxes' name (aaa) and is able to determine the two other fields name by appending/concatenating (name + "date" = aaadate)
I have tried various methods and done tremendous research; I'm not sure if I lack the knowledge to incorporate what I've found properly, if I just have been looking in the wrong places for the wrong things. It seems like this should be possible in a PDF form...
Please help

You need to inject the part of the field name that changes as a variable. So your code would be something like this:
function test(base) {
    var one = this.getField(base);
    var two = this.getField(base+"date");
    if (one.value == 'Yes') {
        if (two.value == "") {
            this.getField(base+"date").value = util.printd("dd-mmm-yy",new Date());
            this.getField(base+"name").value = identity.name;
    } else if (one.value == 'Off') {
        this.getField(base+"date").value = "";
        this.getField(base+"name").value = "";
And you would call it like so:
test("aaa");
test("bbb");
etc.

Dynamically copy a PDF form to a specific repository via a button

Hi,
Sorry in advance if this is a dumb issue for which there is an obvious solution, but since I'm not a developer I couldn't tell and my searches around the web haven't allowed me to solve this out.
As the web designer here, I've been asked to create a dynamic PDF that would include a form and a button that would export a copy of the completed form when clicked. The copy would need to be placed into a specific repository on a local server. I found out that is was possible to create a dynamic button in InDesign when creating a dynamic PDF form, but it seems that the native actions available for the buttons are quite simple, like switching to a page within the document or sending an email. I would need, with the help of my developer, collegue, to customise an action for a button so that it would act like mentionned here above. I thought it might involve some scripting within InDesign to customise the action. Am I right and what would be the best way to achieve this?
Thanks!

When the form I designed for some nurses is used, the information has to be copied and then pasted into a text editor program for a patient file. When I do a select all and copy, it only copies the fields, not the information entered by the nurses. Is there a way to allow all of the fields and text entered to be copied and then pasted in the editor program?

Is it possibile to add dynamic piechart on PDF form

Hi
I am trying to create a calculation PDF form. This form is doing several calculation. I need to plot/draw/create pie chart based on the data entered on form.
Is this is possibile using Adobe LiveCycle Designer?
How can i do this task?
Thanks in advance.
Thanks,
Victor

Hi Victor,
We have started to use Flex, which generate a Flash (swf) file. We have created a simple form and embed the swf into a pdf, so that all of the form functionality is in the swf. However we have not worked out as yet how to save user inputted data into the swf.
Thom Parker (WindJack Solutions) has an example of embedding a video into a dynamic PDF, but this takes a bit of scripting. Example here. In this case you would have the data in the dynamic form abd the pie chart (previously created in Flex) in the swf. The trouble will be when trying to link the two. We are too early on the Flex road to be able to give you clear/correct answers on this.
Attached is an example of a swf (from Flex) in Acrobat. You will need Acrobat/Reader v9 to view. It is very basic and currently does not remember any changes to the swf. Also the pie chart does not update automatically - hit the refresh button. Flex developers may cringe ;-)
In summary if need pie charts don't use LC Designer. If you are developing in Flex don't import swf into Acrobat - use as web based form or AIR.
Lastly - there is a view amongst visualisation experts that pie charts are not the best way to display data - better to use a column chart.
Good luck,
Niall
ps - slightly improved version that updates the pie chart as data is amended. Using the change event of the textInput object.

Opening and populating a PDF form with VBA code in Access 2007

I had posted this in Acrobat Windows. It was suggested this (and the SDK forum) may be a better forum ...
I'm trying to load and then populate a PDF form programmatically using Access/VBA. I'm patterning this after code that worked fine in Acrobat 5.0 but is throwing errors in Acrobat 9. We're using Access 2007 on Windows XP and Vista computers.
The Access project has a reference to Adobe Acrobat 9.0 Type Library. Attached is a jpg showing all the references in the Access project.
The error "Object variable not set (Error 91)" is happening with this statement:
Set PDDoc = AVDoc.GetPDDoc
Here is the code I'm trying to use. I've always been a little fuzzy exactly which objects need to be created and the sequence they need to be created in. Once I got it working in Acrobat 5 I left it alone.
 Dim WshShell As Object
 Dim myApp As Acrobat.AcroApp
 Dim AVDoc As Acrobat.AcroAVDoc
 Dim PDDoc As Acrobat.AcroPDDoc
 Dim PauseTime, Start
 Set WshShell = CreateObject("Wscript.Shell")
 ' run the Acrobat application within that shell and pass it a document name
 WshShell.Run "Acrobat.exe C:\Users\Christian\Documents\data\dist5\dist05_face_only_nh.pdf"
 '// Set/Get Acrobat Objects
 ' create an automation object that references the active copy of Acrobat
 Set myApp = CreateObject("AcroExch.App")
 ' reference the acrobat document we loaded above
 'Set AVDoc = CreateObject("AcroExch.AVDoc")
 Set AVDoc = myApp.GetActiveDoc()
 ' this apparently runs some method available to AVDOC
 Set PDDoc = AVDoc.GetPDDoc '<------------------ THIS IS THE LINE THROWING THE ERROR
 ' this is how you reference the JSObject
 Set jso = PDDoc.GetJSObject
 ' let's clear the form
 temp = jso.resetForm()
 Set x = jso.getField("txt1_name")
 x.Value = "Bing Crosby"
 Set x = jso.getField("txt2_sex")
 x.Value = "Male"
 Set WshShell = Nothing
 Set myApp = Nothing
 Set AVDoc = Nothing
 Set PDDoc = Nothing
Thanks in advance for any help.
Christian Bahnsen

Using the "Developing Applications Using Interapplication Communication" reference, I've been filling in knowledge gaps and baby-stepping until I hit this major wall. FYI: from page 22 in the reference
Example 2.6 Displaying “Hello, Acrobat!” in the JavaScript console will not work as shown in Access VBA. I've tried the example in both Access 2003 and 2007. The sample code as is throws error 91 (see attachment error91.jpg), "Object variable ... not set".
I add Set to the following 3 lines:
 Set gApp = CreateObject("AcroExch.App")
 Set gPDDoc = CreateObject("AcroExch.PDDoc")
 Set jso = gPDDoc.GetJSObject
Running the code after adding "Set" doesn't throw an error but it does crash Access every time. (see attachment error_reporting.jpg)
Any suggestions?
Here's the entire code snippet:
Private Sub cmdHelloAcrobat_Click()
 Dim gApp As Acrobat.CAcroApp
 Dim gPDDoc As Acrobat.CAcroPDDoc
 Dim jso As Object
 Set gApp = CreateObject("AcroExch.App")
 Set gPDDoc = CreateObject("AcroExch.PDDoc")
 If gPDDoc.Open("C:\chris\acrobat_test.pdf") Then
 Set jso = gPDDoc.GetJSObject
 jso.console.Show
 jso.console.Clear
 jso.console.println ("Hello, Acrobat!")
 gApp.Show
 End If
End Sub

Populating a PDF form with database data

I would love to know how (if possible) to populate an Adobe PDF form with data pulled from an Access database.
Background
I have a registration form already created using Adobe LiveCycle which is used by people to fill in their details. With a built-in xml schema, the user saves the form and sends them to me. I extract the data into an xml document which I can then import in an Access database using VBA code.
The Need
When it comes time to re-register, much of the original data provided by the user has not changed. Rather than ask them to fill out the form all over again, I would like to send them their original data and they can update whichever fields they need to. With the xml schema built into the form, I would love to turn this form into a two-way avenue for both importing and exporting data. Is this possible?
Any assistance in this matter would be greatly appreciated. Please let me know if I have not provided enough information.
Brett

You can connect the form to the DB using anODBC connection. This functionality comes as part of Acrobat but the form must be Reader Extended by the full LiveCycle Server version of Reader Extension to allow this in Reader. In your case, if your system is the only on ethat will interact with the DB then this might be a viable solution (but you woudl have to use Acrobat). This solution woudl involve create an ODBC connection in your system then configuring the form to make use of that connection.
Does that make sense?
Paul

Populating a pdf form from a database

There seems to be a lot of information on the forum that skirts around this problem, but so far everything I've tried falls short.
 
 I have a pdf form that can be filled out via a browser (the web server is Win2k and IIS.
 
 I can fill out this form and use an http submit button to send it to a .asp url where a vbscript program captures the data and creates a record in a sql server table.
 
 What I want to be able to do is call up that pdf form and populate it with the data from a specific record from the table - again using .asp and vbscript. The following code brings up the form, but does not fill in the fields. Is what I want to do possible and if so can someone help?
 
 Thanks.
 
 Dave Space
 
 <%@ LANGUAGE = VBScript%>
 

 <% On Error Resume Next TableName = Request.Form("TableName") Set Conn = Server.CreateObject("ADODB.Connection") Conn.Open "Database=fff;DSN=fff;UID=myuid;Password=mypass" Set RS = Server.CreateObject("ADODB.Recordset") RS.CursorLocation = adUseServer RS.CursorType = adOpenKeyset RS.LockType = adLockOptimistic RS.Open "Select * from iacuc where id = 4", Conn, , , adCmdText Response.ContentType = "application/vnd.adobe.xdp+xml" Response.Write "<?xml version=""1.0"" encoding=""UTF-8""?>" Response.Write "<?xfa generator=""XFA2_0"" APIVersion=""2.2.5028.0""?>" Response.Write "<xdp:xdp xmlns:xdp=""http://ns.adobe.com/xdp/"">" Response.Write "<xfa:datasets xmlns:xfa=""http://www.xfa.org/schema/xfa-data/1.0/"">" Response.Write "<xfa:data>" Response.Write "<form1>" For Each item in RS.Fields If InStr("IPADDR ID", uCase(item.name)) = 0 Then Response.Write("<"&item.name&">"&item.value&"</"&item.name&">") End If Next RS.Close set RS = nothing Conn.Close Set Conn = Nothing Response.Write "</form1>" Response.Write "</xfa:data>" Response.Write "</xfa:datasets>" Response.Write "<pdf href=""http://aaa.bbb.edu/pdf_forms/aaa.pdf"" xmlns=""http://ns.adobe.com/xdp/pdf/"" />" Response.Write "</xdp:xdp>" Response.Flush Response.End %>

David, Can you try to loop through your recordset before doing any of the Response.Write(). Save the the output in a string called "mystring" and output it at the end? So it would look something like this: Response.ContentType = "application/vnd.adobe.xdp+xml" Response.Write "<?xml version=""1.0"" encoding=""UTF-8""?>" Response.Write "<?xfa generator=""XFA2_0"" APIVersion=""2.2.5028.0""?>" Response.Write "<xdp:xdp xmlns:xdp=""http://ns.adobe.com/xdp/"">" Response.Write "<xfa:datasets xmlns:xfa=""http://www.xfa.org/schema/xfa-data/1.0/"">" Response.Write "<xfa:data>" Response.Write "<form1>" Response.Write(mystring) Response.Write "</form1>" Response.Write "</xfa:data>" Response.Write "</xfa:datasets>" Response.Write "<pdf href=""http://aaa.bbb.edu/pdf_forms/aaa.pdf"" xmlns=""http://ns.adobe.com/xdp/pdf/"" />" Response.Write "</xdp:xdp>" Response.Flush Response.End %> Can you tell me what is your "mystring" look like? See if you get a different result?

Populating a PDF form

My company uses CF MX7, and we're looking for a way to
populate a PDF form with data from a SQL database. The PDF form is
a fillable form that we've downloaded from a government site. Can
anyone recommend a best practice for doing that? Any suggestions
anyone might have would be much appreciated...thanks.

Check this out:
http://www.pdflib.com/
I know CF works well with this and there is a download
version.
Can't tell you more than this because I've seen it but never
actually do the programming with it

Populating a PDF form with XML data

Hi folks,
I would like to create some pdf form template, populate it with xml data and output from it a pdf file.
Can I do such thing using LiveCycle?
Yair

With the recent release Adobe changed the name to Adobe Digitial Enterprise Platform (ADEP)..
http://www.adobe.com/solutions/customer-experience/enterprise-platform.html
ADEP server software comes with lot of services to help with many solutions for the enterprises, so it would be better to call the Adobe Sales team and discuss your needs and they will be best people to suggest what suits your company requirements.
Thanks
Srini

Xdp data not populated in PDF form

Dear All,
We currently develop XFA forms using Adobe LiveCycle Designer 8 (as part of acrobat professional). recently when clients upgraded to Adobe Reader 9.1 or 9.2, when they open an XDP file, the PDF appears without any data population as if the pdf was opened without the xdp file. when creating the form there is no option of target version however the forms are saved as Acrobat 8 Dynamic Forms. Do you know what could be the problem. The same is hapening with fdf data which when you open, the PDF opens without population as well. Help is appreciated Thanks.

I tried that first (without the save), but the resulting PDF had no form data from the XDP. That's when I added the save.
The merging seems to fail when run from batch, but it works fine when I open and then save the file in Acrobat Pro or Reader.
Is there a command in the batch processing that is necessary to move the data from the XDP to the resulting PDF? Will the proper Save command do the trick? [I left work early due to our snow so I can't try this myself.]
--Peter

Getting Dynamic image in PDF ( form R/3 as URL )

Hi gurus ,
I am using a wd java application . In that i want to show employee pic in adobe form . I have RFC in place , that gives me URL (ex : http://retep.... ) containing employee pic Context is of type string
Now i have craeted a image field in PDF .when i directly binding context data to image dield , Image is not being displayed. i am not sure about scripting and how to bind that context to image field , so that based on the url it dynamically displayes employee pic.
Any suggestions are most welcome .
Regards
Abhay

In RFC instead of giving the URL ,tell them to give the image as a bytestream.And convert that byte stream into gif or jpg image using the following code,,,,,
byte[] pdfContent=wdContext.nodeOutput().currentOutputElement().getTestform();
 IWDCachedWebResource pdfResource = WDWebResource.getWebResource(pdfContent,WDWebResourceType.JPG_IMAGE/* or u can use GIF_IMAGE*/);
 try{
 wdContext.currentContextElement().set<this is a user created attribute of typw string>Pdfurl(pdfResource.getURL());
 }catch (Exception e) {
 wdComponentAPI.getMessageManager().reportException(e.getMessage(),true);
And bind this pdf url to an iFrame or adobe interactive form it wil work..
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Warm regards
Shanto Aloor
Edited by: Armin Reichert on Apr 26, 2008 7:06 PM

How to do dynamic calculation on PDF Form

Hi friends,
I need to to create a invoice page using Adobe PDF dynamic Form.
Business Requirement:-
1. User will select predifined product, Quantity, Rate and Amount would be calculated. Tax would be calculated from the below data.
2. I have a tax table
    0      - 1000    2%
    1000 - 2000   5%
    3000 - 4000   7%
Queries:-
- how to write script to calculate Tax based on above tax table data? How to ref. a table data?
- how to write script keeping in mind about adding new percentage in future?
Cheers,
Victor

The attached form will help you in understanding the dynamic calculations.
Reading the table data with changes in the future..
a) If your application is a standalone application, (means you distribute the .PDF file directly to the users instead of rendering the PDF based on request), then you may need to hard code the data inside the form itself. - In this case, if the table data changes, you need to change the PDF and re-distribute the form.
b) If you are rendering the PDF on the fly based on the request, then you have the option of reading the data from the table (you need to do this in the parent application which is invoking the rendering process) and make it part of the input XML at the time of rendering. You need to write your code to read the XML and do the calculations for each request. - In this case, if the table data changes, PDF will get the latest information beacause the latest info is available in the input XML.
Thanks
Srini

Populating a PDF form from database

I have asked this question here several times, but never get any replies. In fact my questions seem to be The Only ones that don't get a reply, which makes me think no one actually knows how to do this or my question is so remedial that no one is bothering. I'll try one more time.
/prays someone takes pity...
I have created a form that contains a subform with 4 text fields. The fields are read only and the form will be used only for printing. I have also connected to my Oracle database successfully and can populate the fields with data. My problem is I only get the first record. I have the subform set to repeat the data but am having no luck accomplishing this. I always just get the first record. Any suggestions would be more than appreciated as I have been fighting this for about a week now.
Thanks for any help.

Dear Robert,
Please first make sure that your form is dynamic, I mean, just create an Add button that clicking on it you will be able to create more rows. (there are many examples in the forum)
Once you got it you will have to create a function like this, please note that I have copied an pasted them without changing the objects, maybe you will need to change some of them, be careful
function populateDB()
var sDataConnectionName = "Oracle"; // name of the data connection to get the data from. Note the data connection will appear in the Data View.
// Search for sourceSet node which matchs the DataConnection name
var nIndex = 0;
while(xfa.sourceSet.nodes.item(nIndex).name != sDataConnectionName)
nIndex++;
var oDB = xfa.sourceSet.nodes.item(nIndex);
oDB.open();
oDB.first();
// Search node with the class name "command"
var nDBIndex = 0;
while(oDB.nodes.item(nDBIndex).className != "command")
nDBIndex++;
// Backup the original settings before assigning BOF and EOF to stay
var sBOFBackup = oDB.nodes.item(nDBIndex).query.recordSet.getAttribute("bofAction");
var sEOFBackup = oDB.nodes.item(nDBIndex).query.recordSet.getAttribute("eofAction");
oDB.nodes.item(nDBIndex).query.recordSet.setAttribute("stayBOF", "bofAction");
oDB.nodes.item(nDBIndex).query.recordSet.setAttribute("stayEOF", "eofAction");
// Search for the record node with the matching Data Connection name
nIndex = 0;
while(xfa.record.nodes.item(nIndex).name != sDataConnectionName)
nIndex++;
var oRecord = xfa.record.nodes.item(nIndex);
// Find the node representing the columns in the table
var oCol1Node = null;
var oCol2Node = null;
var oCol3Node = null;
for(var nColIndex = 0; nColIndex < oRecord.nodes.length; nColIndex++)
if(oRecord.nodes.item(nColIndex).name == "C1") // column 1
//app.alert(oRecord.nodes.item(nColIndex))
oCol1Node = oRecord.nodes.item(nColIndex);
else
if(oRecord.nodes.item(nColIndex).name == "C2") // column 2
oCol2Node = oRecord.nodes.item(nColIndex);
else
if(oRecord.nodes.item(nColIndex).name == "C3") // column 3
//app.alert(oRecord.nodes.item(nColIndex))
oCol3Node = oRecord.nodes.item(nColIndex);
var secuencial;
var secuencial_ant;
var oNewRow;
secuencial_ant = 0;
while(!oDB.isEOF())
// create new row in Table1
if (oCol3Node.value != secuencial_ant)
oNewRow = xfa.form.Formulario1.Linea_detalle.Bordes.Campos.instanceManager.addInstance(false);
app.alert(oCol1Node.value);
app.alert(oCol2Node.value);
app.alert(oCol3Node.value);
rellenaCampo(oCol1Node.value ,oCol2Node.value);
secuencial_ant = oCol3Node.value;
oDB.next();
// Restore the original settings
oDB.nodes.item(nDBIndex).query.recordSet.setAttribute(sBOFBackup, "bofAction");
oDB.nodes.item(nDBIndex).query.recordSet.setAttribute(sEOFBackup, "eofAction");
// Close connection
oDB.close();
function rellenaCampo(NombreCampo, ValorCampo)
var obj = xfa.form.resolveNode(NombreCampo);
if (obj != null)
obj.rawValue = ValorCampo;
Its read an Oracle DB table named T1 with three colums, name of the field, value and position into the list of fields (row 0, row 1, etc).
The second function just fill the field, the parameters are FieldName and FieldValue.
This codes are from the forum, I had your same problem and searching in it I founded it.
BR

Dynamic fields in PDF form

Hello Experts,
I have a requirement to design all fields in a form dynamically..!
It means if the user selects speific fields in a custom config, the form should be genarated with only those fields.
I know it can be done placing fields at design time and then hiding it later.. but I am looking for dynamic fields creation and position and setting its properties dynamically.
Thanx for Ur time.. !

hi,
Did you try creating a composite form ?? The sap.help link to creating Dynamic forms is give below
[link|http://help.sap.com/saphelp_nwce10/helpdata/en/44/bca11fc60b7006e10000000a155369/content.htm]
Hope this helps
Regards
Manthan.

Dynamically populating a PDF form?

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