How to create PDF Fill in forms programatically ?

Question

Hi
I am developing an application in .Net environment.
I have a requirement to create fill in pdf form through my program (Text boxes, check boxes, Group radio buttons, etc), fill and save PDF forms and finally extract entered information.
I have following queries:
1. Do Adobe provide any component(dll, etc) that exposes APIs to create such type of forms ?
2. What are the licensing requirements for these? (For form creater as well as users who fill PDF forms) (License costs ??)
3. What specific versions of Adobe acrobat reader needed, if specific version required ?
Please reply to these queries.
Thanks in advance,
Karan

Answer 1

>-- Creation of fill in pdf form will be on single server. (So whats license requirement for the server ??)
Ok, this puts important limitations on the project. The Acrobat SDK is
a set of tools for automating Acrobat. Acrobat is not for server use.
>-- Forms created by server will be used by many differnt users to fill and save forms. (So you mean the users filling the forms require to have Adobe Acrobat professional ??)
Well, it depends what you want them to be able to do. There are three
levels
* Things which can always be done in Reader. For example: print a
form; submit form data (not PDF) to an http or https server.
* Things which can be done in Reader if forms are given a "magic"
property called Reader Extensions. For Example: save the form, submit
in PDF format. This has serious cost implications. You would need a
separate server product to add these.
* Things which can never be done in Reader.
>-- We are creating AcroForm. (Whats version dependencies?)
These should work with Acrobat/Reader back to version 4. However the
magic of reader enabling only works with recent versions of Reader.
>-- So do Adobe provide any component(dll, etc) that exposes APIs to create such type of forms ?
Adobe's server/enterprise solutions are under the general banner of
LiveCycle. There are lots of LiveCycle products, and unfortunately I
don't know their relative capabilities. It's possible that they do
NOT have a server product for making AcroForms, because much of
LiveCycle is aimed at new-style XFA forms. But, on the positive side,
since AcroForms are older techology there is a good chance you would
find a third party product to plug the gap.
Aandi Inston