What did I do wrong? First time attempt using variables and arrays

So what's the problem? Do you get an error message? It doesn't work, or what?

It just doesn't work; that is, the alert message never pops up, even when I know it should.

Well, you have four components that all need to be true in order for it to display. Start debugging them one by one and see which one(s) is false, then go backwards and try to find out why.

BTW - I don't see anywhere where the variable "i" is defined.

I don't think I should have used that. I still dont fully understand how the code knows to use each line item of the arrays. Do i need any other variable, or modification of syntax to so that it looks at each respective item in each of the two arrays?

The most common way of accessing each item of an array is with a loop, for example:
for (i=0; i

try67,

Thanks for the suggestion and explanation. But since "regtype" is a radio/checkbox (with export value = "member", if 'checked, does it matter that you suggest I use:

for (i=0; i

You defined an array called "regtype" at the top of your function. As such it has a property "length" which holds the number of items in the array (10, in this case). It's true that the same property can also be used for strings to return their length, but this is not related*.
I suggest you try to learn a bit more about arrays and the way to work with them. Open the link I gave before and read through it. There's a page dedicated to arrays there as well.


* Actually it is related since a String is basically an array of chars, but never mind.

Sorry for being such a noob. i am trying to learn. Before I post, I know to search first. It was the result of my searches that helped me write my code, but I was still guessing a little. I'll check out that link over the weekend.

By the way, I did put that into my script but it still isnt executing. I'll try to tear it apart again, but I do feel lost at this point.

No need to apologize, everyone is a "noob" at some point. The first thing to know, though, is that writing a script (or any other computer program) can't be done by simply copying and pasting bits of code from different sources. If even one thing is off, it's very likely the script will not work at all or will give bad results.

Refering back to the code in the original post. You define two arrays and populate them with a series of field objects. Later in the code you use an element of one of these arrays to get two field objects:

var eventTarget = this.getField(chkbx[i]);
fld = this.getField(regtype[i]);

This code is unnecessary since "chkbx[i]" and "regtype'i] are already field objects. The code should be

var eventTarget = chkbx[i];
fld = regtype[i];

Or why not just use "chkbx[i]" and "regtype[i]" directly.

Also as Try67 pointed out, "i" is not defined, so the code won't work anyway until it is.

Also, in the "if" statement:

if ((eventTarget.isBoxChecked) && (eventTarget.value == "yes") && (fld.value == "member") && !this.hideWarning1)"isBoxChecked" is a function so it has to be called with the argument deliimiters "()". In fact, this funntion requires the instance index of the check box as input. The second comparison (eventTarget.value == "yes") is redundant. Remove it. And if you are using "!this.hideWarning1" to block execution of the warning message, it should be the first test in the "if" statement.

The one very important piece of information that you haven't answered is: are the check boxes "Reg.Type" and "Reg.Event.Workshop" multiple instances of the same check boxes, i.e. you have 10 check boxes named "Reg.Type"? or did you actually all the check boxes ""Reg.Type.1" thru "Reg.Type.10"?

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]

Okay. Got rid of those two lines and modified the 'if' statement.

I've added the line Try67 gave me, but I'm not sure if I placed it correctly within the script.

I thought I had. The only other time I've used it in another script, which was called from within the checkbox being referenced, I wrote it as:

(event.target.isBoxChecked)

But this time I am calling the function from a different checkbox ("Reg.Event.Workshop") to find out if another checkbox "Reg.Type" is checked.

[b]I'm not sure how to write it then. Please show me.[/b]

You mentioned this to me in [url=http://www.acrobatusers.com/forums/aucbb/viewtopic.php?id=19617]another thread[/url], but I found it actually necessary in order to prevent the alert message from executing a 2nd time when and if the checkbox is unchecked.

It's placement in the 'if' statement didn't seem to matter in my [url=http://www.acrobatusers.com/forums/aucbb/viewtopic.php?id=19617]other script[/url].

I thought I made that clear in my OP and that you'd be able to tell by my arrays.

There are 10 checkboxes with parent/child naming (is that the right phrase?) whose widget (did I use that term corectly?) is the 'number':

* Reg.Event.Workshop.1
* Reg.Event.Workshop.2
* Reg.Event.Workshop.3
* etc.

There are 20 radio/checkboxes with parent/child naming whose widget is the 'number', in 10 groups of 2 each. Every 2 radio/checkboxes have the same child (widget) number with different export values (member or non-member):

* Reg.Type.1
* Reg.Type.2
* Reg.Type.3
* etc.

Every row of my form also has a respective field ("Reg.Name.1"; "Reg.Name.2"; "Reg.Name.3"; etc.) for a registrant's name. The user has to identify (by selecting the checkboxes of each applicale row) if the registrant is a member or non-member (of my business association) and which event they want to attend. (There is a third group of checkboxes for the other event but that is irrelevant to this script.)

[b][u]What I want my script to do[/b][/u]
Calling the doc level script [u]from each[/u] Reg.Event.Workshop checkbox [u]so that it looks at [b]that row's coresponding[/b][/u] Reg.Type radio/checkbox; Generate an alert message:

* If Reg.Event.Workshop.1 is checked & Reg.Event.Workshop.1 has export value of "yes" & Reg.Type.1 has export value of "member" & the alert message hasn't been checked off to hide it.
* If Reg.Event.Workshop.2 is checked & Reg.Event.Workshop.2 has export value of "yes" & Reg.Type.2 has export value of "member" & the alert message hasn't been checked off to hide it.
* If Reg.Event.Workshop.3 is checked & Reg.Event.Workshop.3 has export value of "yes" & Reg.Type.3 has export value of "member" & the alert message hasn't been checked off to hide it.
* Etc.

Okay. Here is my current code:

Ok, so let me see if I have this straight. You have form with a number of Rows. In each row there are some fields, "Reg.Event.Workshop.1", "Reg.Name.1", "Reg.Type.1", etc. Where the ".1" in these names represents the Row Number. Is this correct?

On each line there are at least two check boxes named "Reg.Type.#", where the export value of one of the check boxes is "member". Is this correct? Or is the is the member check box the only one on the line with the "Reg.Type.#" name?

You stated that you want this function to work on a per row basis. In order to do that the code in the function has to be aware of the current Row. The way this code is constructed it checks all rows at the same time. This is not necessary. You only need to check a specific row. There are two ways to do this. 1) pass the row number into the function from where it's called in the check box, or 2) deconstruct the name of the checkbox, where the function is called from, to find the Row number. The arrays the code builds should be placed outside the function since they only need to be defined once, when the form is first opened.

You also stated that you are new to both Acrobat and programming. This task you are trying to perform is not a simple one. It is not suitable for a noob. As you've been finding out you need much more experience and knowledge to perform this task effectively. So you have two choices, learn more or hire a developer. You can find lots of video tutorials, articles, sample scripts, and files at www.pdfscripting.com. I would suggest you watch the free videos. In particular the ones on Form scripting basics, which covers the very concept you are struggling with here.

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]