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Exporting Form Data to Excel - Jumbled Mess

Forum Index > Forms: Acrobat > Exporting Form Data to Excel - Jumbled Mess
2007-03-19 15:57:53
kayley26
Registered: Mar 19 2007
Posts: 2

For the purpose of peer evaluations, I created a fillable pdf form that has about 50 questions, which I sent to personnel, who filled in the data (Five or so questions, each with a text field for a 1 - 10 rating, followed by a comment section for the preceding questions; repeat about 8 times). When I export to Excel, the data I receive back (in xml format), is not exporting in the same order as it is on the form. It's important that the comments follow each section that's being rated, but the comments are being exported to the end of the string, in order, and the numbers aren't exporting in the right order. Any hope to get the data to export exactly as it is on the form??

My Product Information:
Acrobat Pro 7.0.9, Windows
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2007-03-20 11:53:27
#1
tedpadova
ExpertTeam
Registered: Dec 31 2005
Posts: 848
You need to first create a dataset file by selecting a blank form and hitting the Distribute button on the Forms toolbar. Combine your forms together in a PDF Package identifying the dataset you created. Use the Export button in the Forms toolbar and export to a .csv file that can be opened in Excel.

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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2010-02-16 14:50:59
#2
mlhawtho
Registered: Feb 16 2010
Posts: 1
I have trying to do this (export form data to Excel) for about 450 response forms. Every time I try to perform the Distribute forms function, regardless of the method of distribution I choose, I get an error. I thought is might be a security issue, but if I track manually, it seems like that would not involve security (I have Adobe 9.0 Pro, version 3.)
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2010-02-19 05:06:16
#3
ITGreybeard
Registered: Feb 19 2010
Posts: 5
My exported csv response file contained the following errors:

1. The "From" field data were not quoted.
2. The sourcefile field data were not quoted.
3. The sourcefile field header was not present
4. The sourcefile field data were often included on the wrong data lines.

Hand-editing of the csv file with a 'vi' - like editor was necessary before importing the data into a database.

I am operating Acrobat Pro 9.3.1 in Trial mode. It is almost inconceivable to me that Adobe would expect me to purchase their product with such fundamental errors, especially on functionality that supposedly has existed in prior product versions and releases.

If the functionality cannot be made to work successfully in an early release, then the product feature ought to be withdrawn. To do otherwise exposes incompetence and borders on fraud.
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