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LiveCycle 8.0 Editing Flowed Subform

Forum Index > Forms: LiveCycle Designer > LiveCycle 8.0 Editing Flowed Subform
2008-01-29 20:46:24
MarionSchweda
Registered: Jan 14 2008
Posts: 33

I have a 5 page form filled with flowed and positioned subforms. The master root subform is flowed. The form is still subject to a lot of changes and moving things around is very difficult. I still don't really understand the logic of why things move down or why they don't.
For example, sometimes I expand the height of a text box and everything after it moves down, sometimes it doesn't.

Does anybody have any tips for editing large, flowed forms?

I'm particularly interested in
- cutting blocks of objects from one area (already wrapped in a subform) and inserting them in another area
- expanding objects so that everything following moves down

And any other tips for moving things around. Inserting pages, etc.

Thanks, Marion

My Product Information:
LiveCycle Designer, Windows
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2008-01-30 12:09:27
#1
thomp
Expert
Registered: Feb 15 2006
Posts: 4411
There are to ways to place object in a subform, Postitioned and Flowed. In a "Positioned" subform, object stay were you put them. They move with the parent subform, but thier position inside the subform doesn't change.

Flowed means that the objects are automaticlly arranged by Acrobat. You can affect the order of the objects, but not the exact postions. If you move one object, it affects all the other objects.

Subforms can also automatically resize to fit thier contents, or not. You'll find this on the Layout tab.

You just have to play around with a simple arrangement to get a feel for it. Aslo, always have the hierarchy window visible. The physical positions of elements on the page does not always match the logical arrangment. The hierarchical arragment of the objects is the most important arrangement.

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

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2008-01-31 14:53:46
#2
MarionSchweda
Registered: Jan 14 2008
Posts: 33
Thanks, I understand. My hierarchy pallette is my dearest friend.

My greatest difficulties are:

- inserting objects into the middle on an existing flowed form. I always manage it in the end but I never really understand how.
- moving an object out of a subform. I usually end up unwrapping and rewrapping.
- putting an object into an existing subform. Sometimes I can wiggle it in via the hierarchy pallette. Sometimes, if I hover over the subform in the design view, it goes in. Sometimes I just unwrap and rewrap.
- positioning objects precisely. My rulers are set to centimetres and I have 4 grid lines to a centimetre. Most of my objects are 1 or 2 centimetres high and they snap to the grid at .25, .5, .75 of a centimetre. I use the X and Y coordinates and the height and width on the layout tab to position objects and subforms precisely. IF they are enabled. And I don't really understand why sometimes they're not enabled.

Anyway, if anybody has any tips about inserting objects or moving objects around in flowed forms, I'd be grateful.

Thanks and regards, Marion
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2008-02-03 12:16:16
#3
rodbunn
Registered: Feb 3 2008
Posts: 81
What I usually end up doing when I want to insert object(s) in a form is I group the objects in another sub-form inside the orginal form. That way the objects can be in a sub-form that is "positioned" and they will stay the way you want them but they can be inside a form that is "flowed" in case you want it to expand/contract.

Good luck, Rod
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