My understanding of PDF forms is that they are just like any other web
form except that instead of being presented as HTML they are PDF. So
when you have people "save" a web form, you wouldn't have them save
the HTML file on a server. You have them submit the data that gets
saved in a database or something. Same with PDF forms I would think.
Submit the data instead of saving the PDF file.
</quote>
Close, in a sense there are two ways of "saving" a pdf form. One is just as you described, a pdf form is presented in a web browser and/or stand alone pdf reader, data is entered in form fields built into the form and some sort of submit button or other action is triggered and the data is sent to the server as a standard http form post header where it can be processed by what ever tool is on the server to do so.
The other action that maybe allowed, depending on various configuration options, is that a user can fill out the pdf form and then save a new pdf file locally with the contents of the form and the data. This option is lesser known, since it can not be done with the free Acrobat PDF reader. With the free reader, the data is never saved, only the blank form. To have the ability to also save the data in the pdf file, the user must be using one of the licensed for a fee Acrobat PDF tools.
<quote -Kevin >
Then for reporting I would use a tool to merge the data stored in a
database with a template file to recreate the printed form. Here we
would probably try using Crystal Reports to generate the printed
files. There are other tools out there to create the printable
reports, even creating PDFs.
<quote>
That of course would work fine, but you can also do it all in the pdf form. Using FDF(I hope I got this acronym correct) you can merge a pdf form with a data source to create a dynamically completed pdf form. Since you presumably already have the pdf form created to collect the data, it is pretty easy to report it back into the same form using FDF.
The biggest caveat I would provide is that when I was working with all of this back in 2000, the creation of a pdf from was a very tedious affair. The form generation tools built into the Acrobat PDF editor back then where not the easiest to use to create anything of even modest sophistication. It's not that it couldn't be done, just that it couldn't be done quickly and easily.
--------------
Ian Skinner
Web Programmer
BloodSource
<file:///C:\Documents%20and%20Settings\iskinner\Application%20Data\Microsoft\Signatures\www.BloodSource.org> www.BloodSource.org <http://www.BloodSource.orgSacramento>
Sacramento, CA
"C code. C code run. Run code run. Please!"
- Cynthia Dunning
Confidentiality Notice: This message including any
attachments is for the sole use of the intended
recipient(s) and may contain confidential and privileged
information. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure or
distribution is prohibited. If you are not the
intended recipient, please contact the sender and
delete any copies of this message.
[Todays Threads] [This Message] [Subscription] [Fast Unsubscribe] [User Settings] [Donations and Support]
