How to create new form fields in several columns (spreadsheet) and have them named consecutively?

Question

Hopefully someone can help.  I created a new form from an Excel spreadsheet, but the form field recognition didn't "take" well and very little of the spreadsheet translated into form fields.  I need to create new fields (31) for each column (about 10) and I want the fields in each column to have a keyword from the parent column and the fields numbered consecutively.  I'm really hoping I don't have to do this manually!
Next, is there a way to total the values in a column of fields (the same as the SUM function in Excel?) or does the form user have to dig out a calculator and add everything?
Can I create an email (submit) button and direct how (ie email) and by what method the form is sent?
Once the form is completed, is there a way for the user to lock it before sending it - ie a button they could press to make it no longer fillable?  Or can I set the document to be a regular .pdf once it leaves the host machine?
I think that's it!  Hopefully someone can help soon - this is a work project that could be potentially very time consuming if I have to create each form field manually.  Thank you for any assistance!
Cheers,
LostintheNorth

Answer 1

LostintheNorth wrote:
Rats!  Thank you for your link - I may take you up on that... however for the purposes of this form I'm more than halfway done, so I might as well keep plugging away.  A workaround I found was to creat 32 of something I only need 31 of, then delete the parent.  Somehow even playing with spacing on the "create multiple fields" option as the fields are being created only gets the vertical alignment close - no matter what I do I still end up manually aligning (vertically) 31 little boxes for each column so they fit visually.  Grrrr.
Yes, this can be very tricky. If you don't get the exact right offset between each field, the difference will accumulate and after a while it will be completely off.
You just have to play around with it, until you get it right. Or almost right, and then adjust it manually.
Another thing I've noticed, is that when you select one field and right click for properties, you get an expanded version, as opposed to select/shift/enter for a bunch of cells only yields an abbreviated properties box - what's up with that?  Is there a way to change this?  For instance, I had set the properties for a column of 31 cells to be number, 1 decimal place.  Halfway through my project, the lady I am doing the favor for tells me she would like 2 decimal places, requiring me to manually change each box for 62 cells!  Apparently cell formatting is not an option in the abreviated properties dialogue!  Is there a fix for that?
No, there isn't. Some propeties you have to set manually (or get right the first time, before copying and pasting...). There is a way to do it with a script, but it's a bit complex and requires using an undocumented method.
This next question is a bit more complicated, and may not be possible.  The form I am creating is for payroll purposes, so at the moment it is generic (31 days) and the user fills in the month manually. Is it possible to get the form to recognize a month value (or create a pulldown menu with a selection of months to choose from) and limit the days accordingly?  Or better yet, run a calendar function so that weekends and stat holidays are highlighted on the affected row?  Kind of like what you can do with an Excel spreadsheet, which is what I designed the form in at the start (then printed to .pdf - the form field recognition did NOT work well on my spreadsheet!  hence me doing every cell manually).  Is this even possible, and if so, is it something I could learn to do?
Yeah, it's possible, but requires quite a bit of scripting knowledge. If you wish, contact me personally (by PM or email at try6767 at gmail dot com) and I could possibly create this for you.
If you want to do it yourself, you would have to learn a lot about both the Date object in JS and about the various date printing and scanning methods in Acrobat JS.