am i even using the right software?

Hi DMStarr, I've answered your questions in line where I could...

Yep LiveCycle's strong in this area.

Yes LiveCycle can do that.

Not sure what you mean by this. When you say 'modify the form', do you mean the form or the content? Either way, if you have it on the net or intranet site, why couldn't everyone access it that way. As to them modifying the form, it's up to you whether you enable them to have that facility.

You can combine the forms yourself in a single .pdf. Although I'm not sure I'm clear on what you want there either and someone with more experience will probably give you a better response.

All forms can be modified by anyone with the tools and access rights.

So to answer your overall question, yes I believe you are using the right software/tool.

Hope this helps...
Peta

Hi Peta,
Thanks for your response; that does help but I realize I wasn't very clear on what I am trying to do. Ultimately, I need a PDF that can be accessed by anyone in the office which serves as a template. The user should be able to enter the information in the fields as required and then be able to create additional pages if needed within the same PDF without using LiveCycle. This has to be as brainless as possible. I'm not using it to collect data so that's what I mean when I say I don' think the distribution part will help us. Additionally, we need to keep an editable version in case there are changes, and then a non-editable version for the final to be sent to consultants. I'm happy to show you an example of what I'm trying to pull off if you like. Also, we do not have a savvy intranet or internal group that would be able to help us do any of this online (I work for an architecture firm and I think most here are still suspicious of anything related to the web) so this document just live in a folder structure somewhere like a word template. Does that clarify things at all? Thanks again for your help.

Oh, one other thing. Sometimes I see the PDF I create says I cannot save data to the form, but this is exactly what I want to do. How do I fix that and then combine them with other PDFs?

Hi again DMStarr,

I think you're looking at a few issues here. Not just LiveCycle, but also procedural and cultural changes. Some of the things you're after will need the users to have some processes instilled in their psyche. And frankly, I've had a lifetime of doing that - so what can I say - GOOD LUCK! Nah, I shouldn't say that - it can be done, especially if they are shown the benefits to them.

But I'll try to respond to everything below...

This depends on how things are set up in your office. You can place the template on your intranet, or in a folder on your network, of have it distributed to everyone's PC/laptop. So the template can be accessible to everyone. But now here comes a process question - will there be someone to administer this centrally?

They won't have to use LiveCycle to use it - that's your bit - to set up what you want using LiveCycle - but the result will be a .pdf.

When you say you want them to be able to create additional pages, do you mean pages that replicate a given page format, so they can just keep adding data? If so, yes that can be done. Basically you can add a button for example that simply says "Add Page" or whatever - but you'd have to script the process so that it just happens 'brainlessly' in the .pdf for your users.

Best info I can give for you to see how that's done is to look at a ThomP e-seminar which helped me a lot with this: https://admin.adobe.acrobat.com/_a200985228/p87746471/

This seminar's about adding instances of fields, but the same principle applies whether you're adding field, table or page instances, so hopefully that will be useful to you.

Something else you need to ensure is that you save the form as a Dynamic form (not static) and that in your 'Default' properties (ie. File>Form Properties>Defaults), in the Preview section, make sure you have selected 'Interactive Form'.Again this leads me to ask if you plan to have someone to manage this centrally? The reason I ask is that when a user completes the form, they can 'submit' this to whoever will review/manage this. (ie. you can build in a 'submit' button). The form can be editted and yes you can save it into a 'read-only' format when you're ready.

Probably a good idea, would make it clearer.

... hehe, this is pretty common, and sometimes I feel the same way myself.

Oh OK, that answers my first question. But it brings me back to saying you'll need someone to administer/control that.

Not too sure about this, it may be that you've set it to 'static' instead of 'dynamic' as I mentioned before. If that doesn't fix the problem, another thing you can try is to open your .pdf, from the toolbar select Advanced>Enable Usage Rights in Adobe Reader then click 'save' (or it could be click 'save as' or 'ok' - I'm doing this from memory).I'm groping in the dark a bit on that and could be way off the mark - there may be seriously experienced users reading this right now shaking their heads. But the things I've just told you to do, are pretty much necessary to you anyway.

You're welcome. Just for the record, up until a few months ago I had never used LiveCycle and never used JavaScript. I started out using FormCalc, but have since found JavaScript more flexible. The point I'm making is, that don't be put off initially because it doesn't take all that long to become proficient enough to develop some really useful neat stuff. I'm still far from expert, but I'm pumping out some stuff that has already helped our organisation in leaps and bounds. And I owe a lot of debt to this user forum for that too. The guys here all volunteer their time and they're incredibly helpful - so it's well worth your while to persist if you're able to.

Meanwhile, I hope some of my replies have helped a bit more than last time...
Peta