I have been using acrobat pro 9.4, LCD 8.2, reader 9.x for my acrobat project.
I have a relatively straightforward medical billing form that I created and put on my personal web site so that I could fill out this form at different locations that have internet access. It has a submit button which then sends the completed pdf file to my email address (a hotmail address) as an attachment. I then print the pdf and hand it to to my billing person. This is all I need. Printing at the location that I fill it out at is not an option. I print it at home or at the office.
I have been using a company called logiforms to "host" this functionality. It is costing me about $60/month to have 2 separate forms on my web site. I am not sure what "hooks" are put into the acrobat form so that after the submit button is hit it goes to their server and then is bounced to my email address. The functionality that is achieved (database options, etc.) with their process is far more than I need. Obviously, their software is some type of server software. I want to know if I can achieve my needs short of that.
My form again is relatively straightforward. In essence, there are about 15 fields: name, DOB, other demographic info, diagnosis, procedure. My form doesn't change; only I and another person access this. I do not have any server software of my own except Windows Home Server that I set up at my home, which is not originally intended for business but could be if possible.
I downloaded Acrobat Pro X with LCD ES 2.0, but have not really tried anything out with it.
All I want to be able to do is access my form on my web site/internet, fill it out, hit the submit button and it gets sent to my email address. I don't need to break it down for spreadsheet or database issues.
Is this possible? The distribute choice in LCD ES 2 seems to be problematic as it wants to me to have Outlook and not Hotmail/Windows Live Mail. Is this possible with Acrobat.com? I access the form about 100 times a month.
Thanks
I normally create forms in Acrobat, and here's a typical workflow I use:
1. Set up the form to submit just the form data (FDF) to a web server program (e.g. Perl script).
2. The script checks to see if what was submitted is a valid FDF. Is so, the script attaches the FDF to an email and has the server send it. A more secure method is to store the FDF on the server for later retrieval and send an email notification.
3. The script returns a success/failure message in an FDF in order to give the user some feedback.
4. Recipient receives the email with the FDF attachment and launches the FDF, causing Acrobat/Reader to load the
corresponding PDF and populate it with the data in the FDF. An alternative is to open a blank PDF and import the FDF.
5. View/Print/Save the resulting filled-in PDF.
This can easily be set up on a low-cost web hosting service that allows you to install a Perl script, which most do. Most also allow you submit securely using SSL (HTTPS). You just need the script. I have a low-cost Perl script for the scenario outlined above. If you're using an XFA (Designer) form, the process would be very similar, but the data format would be different (XML).