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Error message when creating a calculation

Forum Index > Forms: Acrobat > Error message when creating a calculation
2007-12-10 15:16:00
NDSCS_ID
Registered: Dec 10 2007
Posts: 4
Answered

I am creating a form in Acrobat 8 Professional. Each field is named and formatted. After creating the Total field and setting it to calculate the sum, I "Picked" which fields to calculate (i.e. Your Amount, 1; Your Amount, 2; etc.). When I click OK, an error message appears stating "Your Amount field does not exist, please re-enter."

Can anyone identify a setting or something that I missed doing? This is new to me, but I don't think it's supposed to that complicated. What am I missing?

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2007-12-31 19:39:48
#1
tedpadova
ExpertTeam
Registered: Dec 31 2005
Posts: 848
Sounds like it's a field naming convention problem. To sum a column (or row) of data fields, start by naming fields in a hierarchical order such as amount.1, amount.2, amount.3, etc. For the total field, add a Sum + calculation and check the parent name in the Field Selection dialog box. In this example the parent name is: amount.

ted

The author of numerous books on Acrobat, Photoshop, Illustrator and the Adobe Creative Suite, and an international speaker on Adobe Acrobat, Ted Padova is a well-known PDF guru.

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2008-01-24 07:30:01
#2
NDSCS_ID
Registered: Dec 10 2007
Posts: 4
Thanks, Ted. The calculation is working now.
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2008-01-24 07:56:10
#3
gkaiseril
Expert
Registered: Feb 23 2006
Posts: 4308
Ted's answer is the correct solution because the "(action) of" and the simplified field notation field name format require no space characters in the name. These input fields are actually parameters being parsed and passed to a JavaScript function that performs the required arithmetic action. The field names are identified by the space character so one should not include a space in any field that will be used by these input boxes.

I should also note that the simplified field notation can only accept field names and not any logical test statements, flow control statements, math functions, etc.

George Kaiser

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2008-01-24 08:20:12
#4
NDSCS_ID
Registered: Dec 10 2007
Posts: 4
I think you just answered my question that I'm researching now. I do want to incorporate a logical test statement based on an Excel formula. For example: =IF(B4>C4,(B4-C4)/C4,(C4-B4)/C4), but attribute an appropriate field name.What I'm trying to do is create a form where students enter their estimated amount, and the difference between their answer and mine is calculated and displayed as a percent. However, the percent should not show up as a negative, because it would tell them whether they are over or under the accurate amount. That's the mystery they need to solve.

Do you have any ideas on how I can accomplish the same thing?

Christine
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