Use of text Boxes to programmatically update a PDF form

Question

Hello all;
I am a very experienced programmer but I do not have much experience with
PDFs , Acrobat, etc.
I have come up with what I believe is my best solution based on what
I have learned about PDFs and Acrobat.
I am trying to do what seems , to me, like a very simple thing.
Basic Programming Logic ....
Develop a C# program that runs on a local client.
Reads in an existing PDF file - which has been authored using Acrobat 9.0 Professional to have Text boxes that have meaningful names ... ie - recognizable names.
Read some huge data file in EDI - or XML format - from some source or another.
Update the "template" PDF file using this information by locating the appropriate text boxes named in the PDF file itself and print out as many pages of the PDF form as needed with the electronically received data.
Basic Algorithm Logic
I create a linked list in memory of all the internal segments of the PDF - carefully preserving all the necessary information and using the recognizable names of the text boxes - I re-write only the information that will appear in the text box and create a newly created and updated version of the PDF file and print it out. Repeating this for as many times as needed.
This is my expected approach .
Is there any reason why this should not be done or used ?
Thank You , in advance, for your assistance.

Answer 1

I see - <br />Isn't there an exisitng plug-in or other facility within the current Acrobat reader to read XML data ? <br /><br />I just tried saving off saving off an exsting PDF file as xml<br />using Acrobat 9.0 professional using <file><Save As Xml> and it worked - the output was realistically XML data - with a schema , etc. and recognizable heirarchical relationships, etc. <br />but it was not readable ....  <br />Isn't there an existing Adobe facility which allows it to read in the xml format that it creates ?<br /> <br />This is quite close to what I am trying to implement.<br />I'll bet that the developers have this little item at their disposal and the marketing department isnt even aware of the market potential - <br />If not , then I would like to suggest a new, inexpensive (add-on , plug-in, etc)  enhancement to the Acrobat reader -  <br />A utility that will read in the XML data format that Acrobat Professional generates ... <br /><br />I am being quite serious - there is a great need for this and it would serve the needs of your already existing clientelle - quite nicely .   (namely --- me) :)<br />I hope that you can either - pass this along to the marketing groups -- (I volunteer to Beta the software) <br />or pass me along to the required Third Part you have alreeady mentioned ... (I am hoping for Beta status ) <br />Thanks for the help <br /><br />Cheers