How to load doc-level JavaScript via FDF

Question

I apologize if this question is answered elsewhere on the forum -- I've spent a fair amount of time searching through the forum and other resources brought up in response to Google searches, all without a solid result; therefore I'm hoping that someone in the forum can help out.
I've got several dozen PDF forms that all use the same core set of JavaScript functions to perform various validation and formatting processes. So far, I've loaded this library as a document-level script in each PDF and then loaded the PDFs to the server.
When a user requests to view their specific document, the link that they click actually generates an FDF file that is sent to their browser. The FDF causes the target PDF to be loaded in the browser, into which the FDF data is loaded. A page load Script executes the do_DocLoad function, which sets up the document for initial user use (populates combo boxes, etc.) The user then can interact with the form in various ways and then, optionally, submit the data back to the server for processing. The library functions are referenced in various field formatting or validation calls, as well as by the Submit button that I've got on the form that performs a final field validation prior to submission. So far, this process works very well.
The issue is that every time a change, even a minor one, is needed in any of the core set of library functions, we have to open each and every PDF to apply the change, then save it and upload the entire batch to the server. Because of the significant amount of time that this can take (which will increase as the PDF library grows), I'd like to instead load the JavaScript functions in the FDF.
The ideal would be a method to allow the FDF to cause Acrobat to load the script from a file on the server, similar to how the PDF is called. Because I don't know if that would even work, I'm looking at having the ASPX page that processes the FDF, merging the user's data into the FDF format before serving it to the browser also merge in the script and serve it all up piping hot for the user's enjoyment (or so we hope). I've tinkered with the FDF, adding a /JavaScript section at the end of the FDF as follows:
    << /V (~data_client_name~)/T (client_name)>>
    << /V (~data_client_address~)/T (client_address)>>]
    /F (~data_FileName~)/ID [ <  blah blah ><  blah blah >]
    /JavaScript << /Doc 2 0 R >>
  >>
>>
endobj
2 0 obj [ (DocScript1) 3 0 R ] endobj
3 0 obj <<>>
stream
** script goes here **
endstream
endobj
trailer << /Root 1 0 R >>
%%EOF
In the section where ** script goes here ** I have attempted to paste the script library, without success. This library consists of several different JavaScript functions.
In testing, the above didn't work, unfortunately. :-( I got all kinds of wierd data in the form fields that are processed by the functions that I was trying to load - the page open calls didn't return any errors, which was good, but the fields formatted by the initial setup method were all messed up. I'm looking for any pointers/tips on what I might be doing wrong. Are there special characters that I need to escape/avoid in sending JavaScript this way (I'm using regular expression pattern matching and other code within the script which contain some special characters such as /, \, ^, etc.). Is there a limit to the size of the data that I can stream in this way? Is it as simple as loading my script /Before instead of /Doc? Anything else that I might try?
Thanks in advance for any assistance that can be given! Every time that I get to go back and spend a couple of hours updating the core library in all of these PDFs is time that I'd rather be spending doing other things. Thanks again!

Answer 1

This sounds very intriguing and not at all along the lines of what I was thinking of. I'm glad to have the forums to be able to get different perspectives on
things like this!
I have a couple of additional questions on this. I like #3 but, not having done it before, I'm curious as to how to get it to work.
I presume that I would create a new batch process in Acrobat (I am running Acrobat Pro 9) and then on each document processed, do the following:
1. Import a PDF page (from a specified file that has the document-level scripts included.
2. Delete the page just-added
3. Save
4. Repeat, all docs specified.
Now questions:
1. I don't understand how the document scripts will be "left behind" when doing this.
2. Do I need to delete the existing document script(s) before doing this, or will they automagically be overwritten?
3. Are there any steps between the insert and the delete that I need to do?
Finally, just to add another twist, have you seen this work with PDFs that are secured (we apply a password to protect the documents from alteration, with the exception of filling out form fields)?
So far, in testing, the best method appears to be to store the PDFs separate in an un-secured format (it simply won't work if they're secured -- at least, I haven't gotten it to work yet -- I could probably do it interactively, but who wants to type the goofy password 500 times). I have a separate dummy PDF (1 page with just some explanation text if someone opens it and document-level scripts included) also stored in the folder. Then, run the batch process to do the insert, delete, then apply security on all docs in the folder. So far, so good. The only part that doesn't seem to be working is that the document-level scripts on the dummy PDF don't get left behind after the insert/delete. I removed the doc-level scripts on the original PDFs so that I could more easily verify that the ones from the dummy PDF get "left behind". I'm sure that I'm missing something simple here -- If you can help close that final gap, I'd greatly appreciate it!