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

Similar Messages

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

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 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

Populating dynamic PDF Form Content

I have a livecycle form I designed that I need to populate with data coming from ColdFusion. Easy enough except for the dynamic areas of my form. I have numerous subforms in my PDF where a user can add extra fields (or rows in a table) and then submit the form. The problem is that I don't know how to access the fields within the subform when there is more than one to populate them. Can't post a dump of the submitted form, but it flows like this:
form1
     page_1_subform
          subform
               subform
                    subform
                         array of text fields
I can process this with no problems on the CF side, but when trying to populate the form I'm having problems. I have javascript in the form that will add enough instances of the fields, but it doesn't populate them.
Any thoughts???

Take a look at this blog entry how you can use xml to populate dynamic forms.
http://www.supportobjective.com/blog/index.cfm/2010/5/27/ColdFusion-and-multirow-forms-ins ide-Dynamic-PDFs
You might find a way using this approach.

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

Populating PDF Form with XML File.

Hi,
I need my PDF form to be populated with the data in XML file.I've created a data connction to the file and binded the values to my fields.When I've opened the form in Reader/Acrobat i'm not able to see any date on the form.
Currently,I'm using "xfa.host.importData()" to import an XML file on a button click.It is working fine.But I need to load the data on Form Load itself.
I'm relatively new to PDF technologies.Any help would br gratly appreciated.
Thanks in Advance.

The binding feature in designer just allows you to describe how to map fields to data elements, not to actually populate them autotmatically. You would need to have a server component to merge data / pre-populate or a script on your reader-enabled form to load the data. You can use xfa.host.importData() in DocReady event if you want it to prompt on loading the pdf. Earlier events in the chain wont work until the form has been properly loaded.

Pre-populated PDF forms and form submission

Ok, I must be blind or something, I've searched for answers to this question, and see unanswered posts around the web, and if there are answers, they don't help. Perhaps if someone can answer this, it will help many others as well:
I've read about how FDF/XFDF (the older method) can be sent to the client side, which will open the specified PDF file (as specified using the "/F" flag in the FDF) and load the fields values also specified in the FDF (using the /FIELDS and /T flags, etc.). I was recently told that XFA is the new format, but reading the docs is not clear to me.
QUESTION: What is the proper method to pre-populate the FIELDS of a PDF form (created using LiveCycle Designer, or Acrobat, or whatever) that gets sent to a client browser? Changes to this pre-populated data gets re-submited via an HTTP post button (or whatever) back to the server.
Note: At the server backend, say using C# in Visual Studio 2005, I can simply read the posted HTML form and store the fields values into a database; However, I need to be able to pre-populate these PDF forms with selected patient names, etc., so that healthcare officials can complete them more easily BEFORE they get posted back to the server. These pre-populated fields (some of them anyhow) must STILL be editable (not flatten to static text or something).
Thanks.

From your description, is doesn't sound like it has anything to do with the virtual enviroment. It does sound like the forms simply need to be Reader-enabled. This allows Reader to save filled-in forms, which is necessary when you want to email them. If all of your users can use Reader 11, the forms do not need to be Reader-enabled since it is capable of saving non-enabled form. To enable a form in Acrobat 10, select: File > Save As > Reader Extended PDF > Enable Additional Features

2 problems with populating pdf forms

I created a form in LiveCycle on top of an existing PDF. The form has 2 text fields (a company name) and an image (a company logo), and all are dynamically populated depending on who requested the form. I am using CF 8 to read the database and populate the fields. See tags below.
1. I have tried a zillion different ways to generate a line feed in one of the text fields but to no avail. In all cases, the characters actually appear in the output text. Supposedly the LiveCycle doc says I can use udf escape sequences like "\u000d\u000a" but those do not work Other attempts included '\x0d\x0a' " \r" " " \line but to no avail.
Does anyone know what character sequence to embed in a text field to cause a line feed in the output PDF?
2. I cannot find any documentation on how to specify the value for an imagefield on the PDF form. I am trying to place a company logo but nothing comes out on the pdf. Apparently I need something other than value="logofilename.jpg" but I can't find any doc on what to use.
Here is my code - very simple:
 <cfpdfform source="#sourcePDFpath#" action="populate">
 <cfpdfsubform name="topmostsubform">
 <cfpdfformparam name="txtAssocName" value="#Trim(assocName)#"> 
 <cfpdfformparam name="txtAssocAddress" value="#Trim(assocAddrFields)#" > 
 <cfpdfformparam name="logo" value="1.jpg" > 
 </cfpdfsubform>
 </cfpdfform>
Thank you, in advance, for your help!

Not sure if there is a way to pass a graphic into a PDF like that, but I've done it lots of times by positioning the graphic onto a PDF file using the iText java library (ships with CF). Might want to head over to http://www.lowagie.com/iText/ to check it out.

PDF forms populating Access DB and vice/versa

I have a PDF from that I published to Acrobat.com There are fields to be filled out. Problems:
1. How can I set the fields to populate into an existing MS Access DB once submitted results back to me?
2. How can the form populate upon a certain chouice criteria?
Scenerio: Form is a log file for patients seen, including name, date, room#, diagnosis codes, testing, medications, f/u. The same fields exist in MS Access but distributed among 3 tables (linked). In the PDF form I have created a New Data Connection (OLEDB), Connection string (Provider for ODBC drivers), In the Data View I see my fields from access - so for each input Binding it points to the field (i.e.: for patient name - $record.Patient.Last_Name).
But here is the rub:
1. When the first patient filed is filled, all subsequent patient names are filled with same name (and they keep just replaceing the other inputs).
2. I cannot seem to create a date calender, or have the current date default (taken from the computer time stamp).
3. I can not seem to calculate the follow/up (it's 4 weeks) from the input of the date.
4. When selecting a facility, how do I populate the fields with current patient names and previous Diagnosis (if at all possible).
5. When I created the data connection, the fill in spaces become obscured and my drop down box for facility choice stops working.
I know this is big, but any advice and help is greatly appreciated in advance. I have also attached the PDF form for analysis. Please not that there are two, one is the original prior to Life Cycle modification and the other is with the DB linking attempt.
Thanks
Shai

Hi Paul,
Thanks for the reply and help. I am uploading the MS Access DB (2007). Another caveat, when I chose to use the creat new connection and then chose the build - Microsoft Office 12.0 Access Databse Engine OLE DB Provider, I am not able to link into the database at all. I double checked the location and everything. I do not have any user name or password set-up and chose to leave it blank but get his error:
Test connection failed because of an error in initializing provider. Could not find file 'C:\User\........'
Since I am new at this, please feel free to change any structure of the form as needed - as long as the end result will work
The set-up sounds quite easy and straight forward, but guess its a bit more complicated than I thought. I even have the book: Adobe Acrobat 9.0 in a class room - but no help there either. I am familiar with some Javascripting, so your explanations hopefully will not be over me head.
Thanks again for your dedication and help
regards
Shai
Message was edited by: Shailevit - I am not able to upload the Access database - file not allowed. it's in the .accdb format. Is there a different format that is accepted to be uploaded ? (PS: Zip doesn't seem to work either) - Thanks

Dynamically populating a dropdown list in a pdf form from a datasource

Is there a way to populate a dropdown list in a pdf form from a datasource, specifically from an Access database table or query, using LiveCycle Designer. I am easily able to do this using cfselect in Coldfusion, however, cannot seem to figure it out for pdf forms. I am aware of the Show Dynamic Properties option enabled in LiveCycle Designer, and then binding to a datasource. However, this seems limited as I am only able to select single columns from Access (currently using an Access database) tables, and a unable to select from queries like I do using cfselect in Coldfusion forms. Is this something that must be done with Java scripting? If so, is there any other way? I know nothing about scripting. Thanks

Derrick,
There is a sample posted at
http://www.adobe.com/devnet/livecycle/articles/lc_designer_db_lookup_tip.pdf
It was created for Designer 7.0 but it should function the same in later versions of Designer.
Steve

Populating dates in a PDF form

I am fairly new to Acrobat, so there may be a way to do this. I have an Excel form that I need to convert to a fillable PDF form. The problem I'm having is that I need a date to populate some fields when it is entered in a different field. I have a pay period and I need to have the days of the pay period populate when the person fills in the "starting date" field. In other words, when someone puts a date on the starting date line, I need for all fo the other days' dates to fill in automatically. If this can't be done, please let me know so I don't tear any MORE hair out trying to figure it out!!

If you look at the file in the link provided, you will have an answer.
Acrobat forms and LiveCycle Designer forms are not Excel, do not use Microsoft's VBA.
Mozilla JavaScirpt
Core JavaScript 1.5 Reference
Acrobat JavaScript
JavaScript for Acrobat
LiveCycle Designer JavaScript & FormCalc
LiveCycle® Designer ES2 Scripting Reference
FormCalc User Reference

Populating a PDF form

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