How to retain field formatting using this.getField

Question

I am pulling a phone number from a form field using this.getField("EmailAddress").value and inserting it into an email.  Once there, it loses it's formatting as a phone number and becomes a string if 10 digits again.  Is there a way to retain or recreate this formatting?

Answer 1

Since a Format script doesn't change the underlying field value, just what gets displayed in the field, you'll have to add something that changes the underlying field value. You can use the Validate event for this and even use the same built-in code that's use by Acrobat to do the formatting. Begin by adding the following function to a document-level JavaScript:
// Function in a document-level JavaScript
function phoneValidate() {
      // Use Acrobat built-in formatting routine for phone numbers
      AFSpecial_Format(2);
and call this function with the following custom Validate script:
// Custom Validate script
phoneValidate();
The AFSpecial_Format() function takes what is entered into the field, generates a formatted string, and set event.value to the string. When this is done in a Validate script, it changes the field value.