OK first off you should be able to use 1.3.3.4 quite easily (refer to the wiki to add the scribus repository for debain to your list - very easy to do.) It stable enough that you are not really beta testing.
1.2.5 also exists although I haven't tried installing it from the debain repository.. (See http://wiki.scribus.net/index.php/Getting_Scribus_on_Ubuntu/Kubuntu_up_and_running ) Then look at: http://wiki.scribus.net/index.php/Your_first_PDF_form_with_Scribus You possibly need to describe a little more what you want to do... what database? Do you simply mean a short list of options? If so they can be typed into the text box that makes up the Drop Down Menu... Otherwise I suspect you may be looking at JavaScript?? Calum On Thu, 2006-11-09 at 09:30 -0800, John Jason Jordan wrote: > I am trying to create a PDF form that is editable. Editable PDF forms > became possible after the release of Adobe Reader 7.0 and Acrobat 7.0 > Professional. In an editable PDF file you can have controls, like text > boxes, radio buttons, check boxes, drop-down lists, and others. The > controls can even be tied to a database. Forms like this have existed > in the world of word processing for a long time. Companies would create > a form and lock it so that employees could only enter data in the > controls, then print it out and send it to someone (management, etc.). > Now we have Acrobat 7.0 and Reader 7.0, so management can now make the > form a PDF file. > > I wish to use this technology to create editable PDFs as student > exercise tools. Think of drop-down boxes where the student chooses the > correct answer from a list. Or think of multiple-guess questions where > students click on a radio button in front of the correct answer. Or an > essay question with a text box where students can type their answer. > This can be used for exams, but an even better use would be practice > sheets. Instead of making flash cards, the professor can make an > editable PDF for the students to practice on. They can print their > answers, but cannot save a copy or overwrite the original PDF. So after > they finish the practice form they can correct it and, if they didn't > get a good enough score, reopen the PDF and start over again with a > fresh copy. Over time a professor can create a library of such editable > PDF forms which can be recycled each time the professor teaches the > course. > > A professor is supposed to do this using MS Word (for the forms) and > Acrobat 7.0 Professional (for the PDF creation). But I thought it > should be possible under Linux. OpenOffice.org can create the form > ( have done so), but when the form is exported to PDF OOo sets the font > for all controls to Helvetica, regardless of what the user set in the > Properties sheet for the control. When Adobe Reader 7.0 opens the > resulting PDF file, it doesn't have Helvetica, so it substitutes its > own font. And its internal font lacks a lot of characters I need for > linguistics work (characters in the International Phonetic Alphabet). > Setting the control to Helvetica on export to PDF is by design and hard > coded into OpenOffice.org. There are no plans to change it. > > So there's the problem. I must abandon OOo and seek something else. In > discussing this online, someone suggested that Scribus could do this. > Indeed, I have had Scribus 1.2.4.1 on my Ubuntu Dapper amd-64 laptop > for some time. I have used it occasionally for small projects, but have > never become proficient in using it. So just now I fired it up and > poked around a bit. It does have controls (Insert PDF Fields) and it > looks as though it could do the job for me. However, I can't find any > documentation on how to use the features. E.g., I placed a combo box on > a page and can't figure out how to link it to a database so it will > display choices, or how to give the control a drop-down button. Maybe > those features are not available (but it appears that they are). Is > there a detailed discussion somewhere on how to use the PDF fields? > > On another note, version 1.2.4.1 is all I can install on this computer. > I realize there are later versions (I have been reading this list for > some time), but they are not available via Synaptic. And anyway, I'm > not really into being a beta tester, unless I have no other choice to > get a functionality that I need. > > Thanks in advance. > _______________________________________________ > Scribus mailing list > Scribus at nashi.altmuehlnet.de > http://nashi.altmuehlnet.de/mailman/listinfo/scribus > -- > This email has been verified as Virus free > Virus Protection and more available at http://www.plus.net
