Interactive Form and IE

Exactly how does it hose up the interactive form? You may be able to make small design changes that will allow the form to operate in either the broswer or the stand alone Reader. From JavaScript the "event.target.external" property indicates whether the form is in the stand alone Acrobat/Reader or External, meaning it's being displayed in the Acrobat ActiveX object in an external application, i.e., the browser.

You can also set up Acrobat/Reader to only display PDFs in the stand alone Acrobat/Reader from the Preferences. On the Preferences Internet Tab, turn off "Display PDF in Browser". This can also be done for a Reader distribution in the "Custimization Wizard". If you are using this tool to create Reader installers.

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]

thomp,

Thanks again for quick reply. The "hose ups" are minor, but they still occur. One is that I have some fields set as Required, yet when sending the form (via email button), this notification doesn't return. I'm going to look into Java to firm this up. The second "hose" is for generating XML option I have in form, a prompt box is supposed to ask for location to save to, but nothing is occuring.

Changing the settings on Acrobat/Reader isn't an option knowing our IT, they wouldn't see any value in it, politics, etc.

You have me a bit lost on the event.target.external option. I've done search in Java Console for this, not finding it.

"external" is a property of the document object, which, in a LiveCycle script is accessed with "event.target". The console window is already in the AcroForm context. So in the console window you'd type "this.external" to get it.

Did you check the console window for errors when running from inside the browser?

I gave the "export" data function a test in Acrobat and Reader 8 and it worked as expected. I assume you are using the "xfa.host.exportData()" function? This function will not work in Reader unless the document has special Reader Rights Enabling. However, it works the same in both the browser and stand-alone Acrobat 8.

I did not test out the Required functionality. This sounds like a bug. However I think you need to characterize your issues better. What versions and variations of Acrobat are you testing against. You need to test against both Acrobat and Reader in and out of the browser and then report your results.

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]

Thomp,

Thanks again for your feedback and quick response. Sorry I didn't respond sooner, just crazy stuff going on.

Okay, here is a breakdown of what I'm finding, hopefully this will help in your advice.

I'm developing using Adobe Acrobat Pro 8.17, LiveCycle 8.05 and testing with Reader 8.0.

I've tested the form in two states, User Enable and Not User Enabled. Here is what is occuring:

The ExportData function doesn't work in either state when viewed in Reader. Yet, when I used Acrobat reader, it works. All of my other Java functions (add instances, list box controls, etc) are still working in both states??? Also, I've added some form validation script I've found and the same "deal" is going on.

Not sure what I've done up to this point, but willing to explore other avenues I may have missed.

Thanks again!

You might as well give up on the export. When I said "Special Reader Rights" I meant that you need the LiveCycle ES Rights Sever to enable the PDF for exporting local data.

It's the required bit that I think is a bug. Required fields are benign. Nothing special going on there that would cause Reader to act differently.

I never use the built-in "Required" field checking. I write my own form level form validation that's more intelligent and provides the user with more information.

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]

Thomp,

Thanks. I think I see where the error of my ways now. I think I can do something that will give me a workaround.

I've probably gotten messed up by viewing in Acrobat and not Reader during development.