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Collecting data NOT from distributing forms but from a PDF form online

Forum Index > Forms: Acrobat > Collecting data NOT from distributing forms but from a PDF form online
2009-08-25 06:23:10
simmonscourt
Registered: Aug 25 2009
Posts: 2

hello, i have searched and all the data collecting refers to using the distribution feature which works amazingly well. my situation is - i will not be distributing the form personally but we will have a membership form online which they can print or email in to the office. when they submit via email - i have it set right now to come in as a pdf file (clearly that can be changed to other formats) but ideally what i would like to have is to be able to import the information they submitted into an excel spreadsheet

is this possible. if so, any help is greatly appreciated.

My Product Information:
Acrobat Pro 9.1.3, Windows
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2009-08-26 14:03:22
#1
StevenD
Registered: Oct 6 2006
Posts: 368
I have been working on this very thing the past few days. In Acrobat you can go to Forms > Manage Form Data > Merge Data Files into Spreadsheet. Then choose the PDF files or fdf or xml data files and push the data from the files to a .csv file. Of course when you open the resulting .csv file it doesn't look pretty. I have been working on trying to import the .csv file I make into a nicely formated Excel spreadsheet. You have to pay attention to the dialogs when doing that so you don't end up with extra columns or rows of some useless info. I have actually been working with an XFA form that was built with LiveCycle Designer and have tried merging data into a spreadsheet from .xml data files that were exported from the form as well as separate PDF files and both seem to work.

StevenD

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2009-12-22 11:51:40
#2
jimmydillon
Registered: Dec 22 2009
Posts: 4
I have created fillable test forms which teachers can bring up on a computer screen in the classroom, have a student enter their name, student ID# and answer the test questions. Then the teacher saves the test, and emails the tests as attachments to me.

When I get them, I open each attachment and save to the appropriate grade level repository, from where I create excel files. The files are loaded into a "correction" spreadsheet, which has been set up to correct the tests, and from which we do district-wide, school-wide and classroom data analyses.

I love the data I get from this arrangement, but am looking for a more streamlined and less hands-on way to distribute and collect the data.

We actually used two different forms (for each grade level K-6!), one was the complete test with all the questions and a list box for entering the answer (multiple choice A, B, C, or D). I also created an answer sheet only form for kids who would take the test as a paper and pencil test, then transfer the answers to an online form containing just list boxes numbered appropriately. Either would be emailed to me by the process outlined above.

What I'm looking for is some way to eliminate the emailing, so that the forms' answers can be submitted directly to the "repository" without creating an email, sending an email, opening an email...

It looks like there should be a way to do this, but I don't really understand how to create URL's or XML etc.

I do have a tech director who can supply me with space on a server and create whatever I need, if I can figure out what to ask for!

Any help would be appreciated!
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