Adobe Acrobat

2010-11-09 11:20:56

Doug Barber

Registered: Nov 9 2010

Posts: 2

Greetings all:

I have been trying to figure out if what I need it even possible - o I thought I would post my question here. With luck some of the guru's around here can help.

The issue I have is our business (and many other) submit bid quotes that always close at set time and date. The standard business is to create your quote, print your bid and send it to the contact Authority via courier or something. Over the past several years, it has become clear that we need a more efficient way to move our bid submissions to the contract authority than putting it on a jet and flying it across the country.

With the above in mind, I'm wondering if it possible to create your bid in a PDF form and email it to the Contact Authority. Set the PDF up so the recipient (CANNOT) open it till a prescribed time and date.

As case in point would be I have a tender closing in NY at 2-PM local time on Nov 09,2010. So I create my bid and mail it into the client. The client receives it but cannot open the document till the tender close time of 1400 Hrs, Nov 09/10. Because this tender is a public opening - the Contract authority would normally go into a boardroom and open any and all bids that have arrived prior to the close time. In my case they would then just open my PDF up on a laptop and have access to my bid just like they do with my competitors and their paper bids.

Does anyone think this is possible? Even if it were not possible in Acrobat, the potential users of this type of feature would not have an issue of creating the PDF and then running it through some type of software that would give us the ability to control the opening time.

Thanks in advance for taking the time to read this and consider it.

Cheers
Doug

My Product Information:
Acrobat Pro 8.1.7, Macintosh

2010-11-10 00:54:37

UVSAR

Registered: Oct 29 2008

Posts: 1357

There are plenty of ways to do the opposite and expire a PDF on a certain date and time, but no out-of-the-box solutions I know of to restrict opening *until* a point in the future, and yet supply the document in advance. You can of course password-protect the file and send them the password separately by email or phone, but I doubt your tender process allows that type of real-time contact.

You can do something with JavaScript to check the system time and perform an action on the file (such as displaying a dialog box with the password for an attachment), but (a) it's never secure as anyone can inspect the code or change their computer clock, and (b) if the recipient has a non-Adobe PDF viewer or has disabled scripting, it won't work at all. Either way it's probably too involved for the recipient to bother following your instructions when (from their point of view) an envelope with a printout inside is so trivial to deal with.

2010-11-10 05:56:44

Doug Barber

Registered: Nov 9 2010

Posts: 2

Thanks you sir.....

I knew of the ability to expire a PDF. So logic told me there (might) be a way yo do the opposite and make the "Opening" Time Sensitive. Oh well maybe someone at Adobe will see this and put this feature into the next version.

Thanks again

Doug

2011-01-09 22:51:54

pdfer

Registered: Dec 23 2010

Posts: 28

Hello Doug,
I'm no AcroPro but not a novice either. Here's a code I use:

function Expire()
{
// Get the current date and time
var rightNow = new Date();
// Setup End Date
var endDate = new Date("January 12, 2011 11:15:00 AM");
if(rightNow > endDate)
{
app.alert("The trial period has expired. Contact the owner for additional access rights.", 1, 0);
this.closeDoc()
}
}

// execute check expiration code
Expire();

I found it on this web site. It works well. But, it only times out forward. I, like yourself, needs a timer that counts down, not only forward, but does not allow backwards clock setting. You can try the enclosed code. Perhaps, you can alter it to suit your need. If you do please let me know.

Jackson C.

2011-02-07 13:59:20

Michelle Graham

Registered: Nov 16 2010

Posts: 6

I need help creating a timer in an adobe form.
the user enters a time and I need a field that uses the users time minus the system time and subtracts that from the 2 hour limit and shows a timer with alerts for time left.
If the user entered 2:00 and its 2:30 now, I need a timer that has 90 minutes to fill out the form and alerts.

Michelle Graham

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Make PDF time sensitive.....