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Better ways to reset a form as well as control PDF filename saves

Forum Index > Forms: Acrobat > Better ways to reset a form as well as control PDF filename saves
2010-08-13 11:16:54
rwandamark
Registered: Jul 19 2010
Posts: 18
Answered

Hi, I have forms sitting on our server, and i need to ensure that there is no data in the forms when someone else opens it.
Here's the scenario:

New Employee 1 opens the form, fills out data. Does a file save accidentally.
New Employee 2 opens the form, and employee 1's personal data is in it.

How do I make sure a form is not overwritten? Is there a way I can also force a particular variable as the file name (for example, use a combination of the last name first name that they put in the form). But even that, when they go to save, they will see other peoples forms filled out.

How are companies getting around this?

Thx,Mark

My Product Information:
Acrobat Pro 9.3.1, Windows
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2010-08-13 13:36:05
#1
smitchell15 (not verified)
One method you could try is set an action in the Page Properties so that when the page opens it resets the form automatically, this would ensure that the data cant be seen by another employee. I'm not too sure about the saving issue as dont think you can control that, could be wrong tho, the first method tho would solve ya problem hopefully;-)

Let me know how if this helps?
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2010-08-15 06:40:29
#2
NK-INC.COM
Registered: Apr 17 2010
Posts: 93
rwandamark wrote:
Hi, I have forms sitting on our server, and i need to ensure that there is no data in the forms when someone else opens it.
Here's the scenario:

New Employee 1 opens the form, fills out data. Does a file save accidentally.
New Employee 2 opens the form, and employee 1's personal data is in it.

How do I make sure a form is not overwritten? Is there a way I can also force a particular variable as the file name (for example, use a combination of the last name first name that they put in the form). But even that, when they go to save, they will see other peoples forms filled out.

How are companies getting around this?

Thx,Mark
First Disable the Webserver Cache (IIS or other), and then make the file read-only in NTFS (Windows ACL) for anonymous users.

Then, bring the PDF form up in a browser window, using a url, and it will be blank evertime.

Note:
You can submit to a server-side script, and parse the field data into a database, or e-mail the PDF Form merged with a blank form using FDFToolkit.net.

Useful links:
http://www.fdftoolkit.net/
http://www.pdfemail.net/

Regards,

Nick K.
NK-Inc.com
FDF Toolkit .net: ASP.net library for PDF
Email PDFs with PDF Email .net

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2010-08-15 09:11:30
#3
gkaiseril
Online
Expert
Registered: Feb 23 2006
Posts: 4308
In Acrobat you can disable caching and auto compoete for the form. You can add scripts to auotmatically clear the form before closing or upon opening.

As to overwirting the form on the server, at the OS level make the form in the directory read only.

See [url=http://www.adobe.com/devnet/acrobat/pdfs/ReaderOnPublicComputers.pdf]Adobe Reader 7: Minimizing Exposure of Personal Information on Public Computers[/url] for more information.

George Kaiser

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2010-08-18 08:16:44
#4
rwandamark
Registered: Jul 19 2010
Posts: 18
Thanks so much--I appreciate everyone's input and help!!
Mark
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2010-08-18 08:31:07
#5
rwandamark
Registered: Jul 19 2010
Posts: 18
I understand how to make sure the form is reset and the original form is read only. But, the second part to this is, the employee goes on and fills out the form. I then want him/her to hit the submit action, and a form save into a directory will occur. But, the name of the form has to be the employees last name + first name so that as each employee goes in, the form is clear, they put in their information, hit the submit, and it saves to a directory with the PDF being their last name + first name. Is that possible? thx,mark
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2010-08-18 09:06:38
#6
NK-INC.COM
Registered: Apr 17 2010
Posts: 93
rwandamark wrote:
I understand how to make sure the form is reset and the original form is read only. But, the second part to this is, the employee goes on and fills out the form. I then want him/her to hit the submit action, and a form save into a directory will occur. But, the name of the form has to be the employees last name + first name so that as each employee goes in, the form is clear, they put in their information, hit the submit, and it saves to a directory with the PDF being their last name + first name. Is that possible? thx,mark
Sure, with FDFToolkit.net programming module, you can merge the data with the blank PDF, and save it to a field name of your choice. Or FDFToolkit.net can parse the data and create the file name from the employee last name and first name fields.

You can also parse the field values into a database (dataset or datarow). And with FDFToolkit.net, there is an option to flatten the PDF, which disables any further editing of the data.

The only restrictions, are the PDF will lose any "Enabled Usage Rights" after it has been saved.

Regards,

Nick K.
NK-Inc.com
FDF Toolkit .net: ASP.net library for PDF
Email PDFs with PDF Email .net

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