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Fillable Form Distribution

Forum Index > Forms: Acrobat > Fillable Form Distribution
2010-06-30 15:41:22
pvaz
Registered: Jun 29 2010
Posts: 3
Answered

We have created a fillable timecard in Adobe. We would like to electronically distribute the timecards through Adobe by one person in payroll to all employees. The timecard will be filled in by the employee. Once the employee digitally signs the timecard all fields are locked with the exception of the approval signature by the supervisor. The timecard will then be electronically distributed to the supervisor for signature. Once signed, the supervisor will then electronically distribute the timecards back to the payroll person.

The form is working very well and the locked fields are in place. My concern is with the distribution process. My questions are: 1) Will we have to use the Adobe email distribution of this form? It does not appear that we can distribute through Adobe.com because the supervisor will not have access to the form for signature; 2) Will we have to limit the number of people involved in this distribution?; 3) About 6 people have Adobe 9.3.1 and most of the others (about 80) have Adobe Reader 8.0 or 7.0. We have issues with IT upgrading all the computers to Adobe Reader 9. Can we do this with the old version of Adobe Reader or will we have to upgrade everyone's computer for the distribution process to work?

My Product Information:
Acrobat Standard 9.3.1, Windows
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2010-07-01 08:15:02
#1
thomp
Expert
Registered: Feb 15 2006
Posts: 4411
Distributing/Routing a PDF can be handled in serveral different ways. In fact, the routing needs for a form are pretty diverse. The built-in Distribution feature is very simple and narrow in scrope. It's for handling the most common scenerio where you send out a form to be filled and it comes directly back. Adobe sells a set of servers for creating custom distribution/routing systems. But this is very expensive and time consuming.

A simple solution is to place instructions on the form in a step 1, step 2, step 3 format, for each persion in the process to forward it to the next person. A more complex solution would be to write a server side script where all the forms are submitted to the server, and it routes them automatically and also collects the data from the forms. And there are lots of solutions in-between. You can place code on the form that automatically sends the form to the person on the next step.

Take a look at these articles:
http://www.acrobatusers.com/tutorials/dynamically-setting-submit-e-mail-address
http://www.acrobatusers.com/tutorials/form-submit-e-mail-demystified

Thom Parker
The source for PDF Scripting Info
[url=http://www.pdfScripting.com]pdfscripting.com[/url]

The Acrobat JavaScript Reference, Use it Early and Often
[url=http://www.adobe.com/devnet/acrobat/javascript.php]http://www.adobe.com/devnet/acrobat/javascript.php[/url]

Then most important JavaScript Development tool in Acrobat
[url=http://www.pdfscripting.com/public/34.cfm#JSIntro][b]The Console Window (Video tutorial)[/b][/url]
[url=http://www.acrobatusers.com/tutorials/2006/javascript_console][b]The Console Window(article)[/b][/url]

Thom Parker
The source for PDF Scripting Info
www.pdfscripting.com
Very Important - How to Debug Your Script

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