These forums are now Read Only. If you have an Acrobat question, ask questions and get help from one of our experts.

Pre-Fill Acrobat Forms with FDF

tgere
Registered: Sep 15 2007
Posts: 2

Hello,
 
I have a simple script in PHP that creates an array of form field data in FDF and then renders it as a download in the users browser, this invokes Acrobat and will pre-fill matching fields in my Acrobat forms. I know it's a bit of a hack, but has worked really well in the past.
 
I've just recently purchased Acrobat Professional 8 and I am creating some new forms in Adobe LifeCycle designer, however, I cannot seem to populate the fields on the new forms once they are uploaded using the FDF script. The field labels do match. I'm thinking it must be a few simple settings to get it working, maybe some security properties need to be set?
 
It would be great if I could get a list of things to check for to get this working, becuase I'm not quite sure why my earlier Acrobat forms work and the new ones do not, I am very new to designer though. Many thanks in advance!
 
Travis M. Gere

My Product Information:
LiveCycle Designer, Windows
lkassuba
ExpertTeam
Registered: Jun 28 2007
Posts: 3636
Hi tgere,

The model for form data is different in LiveCycle than it is for Acrobat. Acrobat creates forms with a technology called AcroForms, whereas Designer creates forms based on XML. Designer forms are XML wrapped inside PDF (or Adobe XML Forms Architecture XFA). This is probably why you're experiencing difficulties.

Carl Young has an excellent article on the differences between LiveCycle and Acrobat forms if you'd like to learn more at:
[url=http://www.acrobatusers.com/articles/2006/08/designer_or_forms/index.php]http://www.acrobatusers.com/articles/2006/08/designer_or_forms/index.php[/url]

Thanks,
Lori

Lori Kassuba is an AUC Expert and Community Manager for AcrobatUsers.com.