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New to Acrobat/Java, Questions about Adobe "Packages"

JohnWilliams
Registered: Jan 25 2008
Posts: 3

I am attempting to generate an adobe 8.0 'package' containing several documents. My intention is to create a main data entry form in Live Cycle designer, then add the remaining PDF forms (already created) to a package. I would then like to use JavaScript to have adobe fill in the other documents from the data form.

1. Is it possible to write JavaScript to span multiple docs in a package? If so, were can I find some references for this?
2. Is this the best way to go about his? I like using Live Cycle to define the main form, but I have also read that Live Cycle forms and Adobe 8 forms use a different JavaScript syntax.

Any help/Direction on this would be greatly appreciated.

John

My Product Information:
LiveCycle Designer, Windows
thomp
Expert
Registered: Feb 15 2006
Posts: 4411
First, the tool in Acrobat for creating a "PDF Package", or "Collection", doesn't allow a LiveCycle form to be the cover (main) document. So you'd have to use an ordinary PDF form (AcroForm). This doesn't mean that you can't make this work, simply put the main data form as the first form in the package, so the JavaScript always knows where it is in the collection.

Transfering data between forms in a collection is possible but sometimes tricky. When dealing with data in forms, the field names are everything. If you have control over the forms then you can name the fields for easy handling in JavaScript.

The next difficulty is that only the cover PDF has access to the other PDFs in the collection, so all the scripts have to be in the Cover PDF. In this setup the the Cover is basically the control panel for the forms colleciton.

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

JohnWilliams
Registered: Jan 25 2008
Posts: 3
Ok, thank you, one final question. I am in control of the field names in the other documents. How do I access the indicidual fields on the other forms from javascript from the main form?

John