[thelist] Adobe PDF Fill-in Forms

Hayer, Jagjeet Jagjeet.Hayer at softwareag.co.uk
Thu Dec 14 10:26:50 CST 2000


You've ben a great help Scott, just one final question. Can a FDF be
generated from a Java Servlet?

Thanks,

Jag.

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Scott_Brady at themoneystore.com
> [mailto:Scott_Brady at themoneystore.com]
> Sent: 14 December 2000 16:03
> To: thelist at lists.evolt.org
> Subject: RE: [thelist] Adobe PDF Fill-in Forms
> 
> 
> 
> 
> You can treat it as you normally would treat an HTML form submit.
> 
> The form processing script (whether it's ASP, Cold Fusion, or 
> Perl) should be
> able to create the FDF which you can merge with a PDF.
> 
> So, you can keep your HTML form.  When the user hits submit, 
> the script will
> generate the FDF and display the new PDF with the fields filled out.
> 
> Of course, you can also have your initial form be a PDF form 
> which the user can
> fill out onscreen (make sure you provide instructions about 
> filling out a PDF
> form, because a lot of users aren't aware they can even do 
> that). From there,
> they can either submit it or print it out.
> 
> I'd say keep the HTML form for the initial input, because 
> it'll cause less
> confusion with visitors (and creating PDF forms can be a 
> tedious process). But,
> that's just what I'd do.
> 
> Scott
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> "Hayer, Jagjeet" <Jagjeet.Hayer at softwareag.co.uk> on 
> 12/14/2000 07:54:12 AM
> 
> Please respond to thelist at lists.evolt.org
> 
> To:   "'thelist at lists.evolt.org'" <thelist at lists.evolt.org>
> cc:    (bcc: Scott Brady/TMS)
> 
> Subject:  RE: [thelist] Adobe PDF Fill-in Forms
> 
> 
> Thanks for the info Scott. I know I should investigate for 
> myself but does
> the SDK or FDF allow me to import in a HTML page that I 
> currently use as my
> form, or would I have to basically rewrite my current form in Adobe?
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> Jag.
> 
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Scott_Brady at themoneystore.com
> > [mailto:Scott_Brady at themoneystore.com]
> > Sent: 14 December 2000 15:42
> > To: thelist at lists.evolt.org
> > Subject: RE: [thelist] Adobe PDF Fill-in Forms
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > I'm actually working on a similar feature (although I'm
> > actually pulling info
> > from a db, but the basics are the same).
> >
> > You'll need some sort of CGI/Programming (I'm using Cold
> > Fusion and a .dll com
> > object).  The basic steps of what you'll need to do are as follows:
> >
> > 1) Get the (free) Acrobat SDK:
> > http://partners.adobe.com/asn/developer/acrosdk/main.html
> > 2) Read the documentation in the SDK for help on creating an
> > FDF file using HTML
> > forms.
> > 3) Once you create an FDF, you'll use that as the file to
> > serve to your visitors
> > (which will display the merged PDF).
> > 4)  The PDF template can have separate buttons for "Print Me"
> > and "Submit Me"
> >
> > HOWEVER:  if your users only have Acrobat Reader, they will
> > not be able to save
> > the pre-populated PDF to their computer.  (if they have the
> > full Acrobat, I
> > believe they can).
> >
> > (Alternatively, you can pay $2k - $3k for a program called
> > PDFMerge which will
> > actually merge the FDF with the PDF into a file your users
> > can save . . . .)
> >
> > let me know if that doesn't help.
> >
> > Scott
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > "Hayer, Jagjeet" <Jagjeet.Hayer at softwareag.co.uk> on
> > 12/14/2000 03:55:49 AM
> >
> > Please respond to thelist at lists.evolt.org
> >
> > To:   "'thelist at lists.evolt.org'" <thelist at lists.evolt.org>
> > cc:    (bcc: Scott Brady/TMS)
> >
> > Subject:  RE: [thelist] Adobe PDF Fill-in Forms
> >
> >
> > All,
> >
> > These postings sound similar to what I want to do with Adobe. But I
> > currently have a HTML form that has some fields 
> pre-populated and some
> > requiring the user to enter information, and was wondering if
> > there is a
> > tool to convert this to a pdf.  So can I create a pdf
> > document converted
> > from HTML that has both pre-populated and fillable fields and
> > can either be
> > submitted on-line or printed off?
> >

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