Help about submit...is it possible to do this?

Not only is this possible, but it's very common and done all the time.

The correct way to do this is to use "submitForm". This function sends an HTTP request to the server (with the specified data type in the body of the request) and waits for an HTTP response to return. Acrobat will only merge data back into the PDF if the return data is in the correct format (XDP) and the submission URL is postfixed with "#FDF". Also make sure that the MIME type in the HTTP Response Header is set correctly.

Hi Thomp,

I'm a newbie in LC form. I also want to do a pdf form submit to server. Happy that I can find the answer here. Now, my question is how can I return a reference number from the server to the form user? You mentioned that the return data should be in XDP format, how can I integrate this XDP data into a field in the user form to display the returned reference number to user? Please point me to the right way. Many Thanks.

There are several different data formats that Acrobat can intereact with, FDF, XFDF, XDP, etc. All of these data formats have one thing in common. In the simplest sense, they are all lists of name/value pairs. Where the name bit is the name of a form field on the PDF file. To use one of these data files to return data to your form from a server you have to know three things. 1) The names of the fields on your form. 2) The details of data format you'll be using. 3) How Acrobat merges the data in the data file into the form. This is different for different data formats and different form technologies.

To find out how the XDP should be formatted for the results you want, first fill out the form in the disired way. Then export the form data to XDP from the "Forms->manage form data" menu item. This file will be in exactly the correct format for returning data from the server script to your form.To get this to work from the server you'll need to make one modification. You need to remove the file reference from the XDP that's exported from Acrobat.

Thanks Thomp for your prompt reply.

If I use FDF for the return format, and just simply use the following script:

this.submitForm({
cURL: "http://www.example.com/cgi-bin/myscript.cgi#FDF",
cSubmitAs: "PDF"
});

Will the return data in FDF format automatically merged into the form and display the result?

OR do I need the write something like:

var returnFDF = this.submitForm({
cURL: "http://www.example.com/cgi-bin/myscript.cgi#FDF",
cSubmitAs: "XFDF"
});

And then manipulate the returnFDF variable?

The submitted data is completely separate from what comes back. They can be different formats. It's all in the mime type of the HTTP response.

However, since you're using a LC form and returning FDF you have to be careful about the form field names. But yes, the FDF data should be merged into the LC form.

Hi Thomp,

I have tried many different format for the field name such as

fieldname, form1.subform[0].fieldname etc in the return FDF. To my

disappointment, all failed. Could you please kindly give me some hint?

hi how i can submit pdf form via ftp and http in pdf format

eddieksyu - Try this experiment. Export your form to FDF using the submitForm() fucntion like this

this.submitForm({
cURL: "mailto:me [at] mine [dot] com",
cSubmitAs: "PDF",
cCharsEt: "utf-8"
});

This will display your email client. Save the attached file to your disk. Now change the data on the form and import the FDF file from the console window using the "this.importAnFDF()" function.

If the form data changes to match what's saved in the FDF file then the names you need for the form are correct in that file. If not, then you'll have to stick to returning XDP from the server.


Deepakchajlan: Acrobat does not implement the FTP protocal. Forms can be submitted only by HTTP. Read this article:

http://www.acrobatusers.com/tech_corners/javascript_corner/tips/2006/submitting_data/

it only works with adobe static forms, how can i do it with dynamic forms?

What exactly isn't working? Submitting and returning data from/to a dynamic form uses the same functions, but works slightly differently because a dynamic form can have multiple copies of the same fields. XDP and generic XML are designed to specifically handle this situation. So these are the best formats to use with a dynamic LiveCycle form. The other data formats should also be painlessly recieved by Acrobat, but without handling multiple copies of the same data.

the same pdf, if i save it as "Static Form" , after press submit i receive the data as fdf ok, and it is shown in my document. But if i save it as "Dynamic Form" i dont see the fields filled with the data returned from the server, as i see when the document is "Static". I read in some forums that FDF does not work with LC 8.0 because is a deprecated api. How is it suposed to do with LC 8.0? thanx

Well then, you either have to use XDP or a static form. XDP is pretty easy to generate. Export data from the form as XDP from the "Forms" menu in Acrobat Pro to see what it looks like.