The following usage details describe the best practices
and limitations for integrating your Forms Experience
Builder application
with a PDF.
- Selecting PDF types:
- PDFs must allow the input of information to be populated by data
that is collected in a Forms Experience
Builder application. Adobe™ Acrobat Pro is the primary tool that
is used for creating PDFs where you can complete fields, and can be
used to reliably create or modify existing PDFs to make them compatible
with the Forms Experience
Builder document integration feature.
- In some cases, Adobe Acrobat
Reader extensions are removed by Reader after the document is populated.
- XFA PDFs have partial support when they have “compatibility
mode” enabled.
- Encrypted PDFs cannot be populated.
- Some PDF documents are intended only for printing and have no
data entry fields. These PDFs cannot be populated.
- A number of freely available PDF authoring tools on the web do
not create compatible PDFs. Some PDF documents that are created or
modified with these tools might appear to have direct text entry support
but do not allow completion of fields.
- If a PDF has limitations that make it unusable for populating
with data from Forms Experience
Builder, you can still attach the PDF to the
form and it is returned unmodified. This is useful if you want to
return a static PDF containing detailed instructions.
- Populating fields in a signed PDF document results in a validation
warning message that is displayed by the PDF Reader. The warning message
tells users unsigned changes were added after the document was signed.
- When you work with languages that contain extended character sets,
be sure to match the language of the Forms Experience
Builder form with the Language/Font of the PDF
item. Any character or glyph that is missing from a font is omitted
from the value that is passed.
-
Note: The default Preview application on Apple iOS devices might not render filled PDF forms
properly. iOS users need to use a proper PDF rendering application, such as Adobe Reader, to see the
filled out values. You can use the iOS
Copy to/
Open in
feature to open PDF forms in Acrobat Reader for iPhone and iPad to view filled form data.
- Mapping information:
- Values can be mapped to PDF Text Fields that
are marked as readonly. You can populate a PDF
from values that are collected in the Forms Experience
Builder form, while the PDF remains unmodifiable
through direct entry.
- The design time exercise of creating a map to indicate how data
moves from application to the PDF are made much easier when items
on both sides are properly named. When you use the Forms Experience
Builder mapping dialog, if items in the PDF do
not have recognizable names, Adobe Acrobat
Pro can be used to modify the PDF.
- Take care to understand the format and constraints of the item
you are mapping to and from. In some cases, a poorly matched map
results in a blank item in the PDF because no value is mapped. For
example, mapping a Number into a PDF Date
Text Field, or mapping multiple selections from a Select
Many choice item into a PDF Radio Group.
In other cases, a value appears in the PDF but might result in constraint
violations within the PDF. For example, mapping an unconstrained Single-Line
Entry into a PDF Field.
- Multi-lined values cannot be mapped to single lined text fields
in a PDF.
- The Export Values for PDF choice type items
can be determined by inspecting the PDF with an editing tool. The Export
Values are also displayed as part of the Description property
in the extra information hover text within the Forms Experience
Builder mapping
dialog. To see the Export Values, hover over
the information icon next to any PDF item in the list to be mapped.
For a successful map, the Saved Value for the Forms Experience
Builder item
should be adjusted to match the Export Value.
- To map choice items, the Saved Value for
the selected choice must match the Export Value for
the available choice in the PDF item. The Export Value is
used as an indicator of whether a particular choice in the item is
marked as selected, or turned “on”. This note is applicable to Forms Experience
Builder choice items such as Select
One, Select Many, Drop
Down, Survey, and Choice
Slider.
- When you map a Check Box to a PDF Check
Box, the Export Value is automatically
determined so no special consideration needs to be made around matching
the Export Value.
- Select Many
- A Select Many can be mapped into a PDF Radio
Group. However, configure the Select Many with
a constraint that allows only one choice selection so the constraints
of the PDF Radio Group are not violated
- A Select Many should not be
mapped to a cluster of PDF Check Boxes if the
PDF Check Boxes do not have unique Export
Values. In this case, the Forms Experience
Builder form might need to be altered to replace
the Select Many item with a cluster of individual Checkboxes.
- A Select Many maps well to a PDF List
Box Multi-Select but can also be mapped to a cluster of
PDF Check Boxes by creating multiple maps.
One map from the Select Many to each Check
Box in the cluster. When mapping from a Select
Many to a PDF Check Box, the Saved
Value of a selected choice must match the Export
Value of the PDF Check Box for
the PDF check box to be turned on.
- Each question in a Survey must be mapped
separately, and must use the same rules for mapping as a Select
One or Select Many.
- Forms Experience
Builder tables are repeating rows of data and
cannot be mapped directly into a PDF.
- Some Forms Experience
Builder items that cannot be mapped are Image, HTML
Fragments, Text, Button, Line, Media, Web
Link, Attachment, Page
Navigation, Section, and Tabbed
Folder.
- Some PDF items that cannot be mapped are Button, Digital
Signature, Image, and Text.