Enhancing Adobe Acrobat Forms with JavaScript: Take Your Forms to the Next Level!

by Jennifer Harder

Overview

Take your PDF forms to the next level! In this book, you’ll learn various ways to further improve your PDF forms using simple JavaScript coding. You’ll also discover how a few lines of code can speed up your workflow when working with multiple PDFs in Action Wizard.

Enhancing Adobe Acrobat Forms with JavaScript covers up-to-date, real working examples that you can easily download and practice with and edit to suit your own projects. This book also shows workarounds and solutions to various form issues you might encounter. Feel empowered by it and improve your PDF documents!

JavaScript has been a part of Adobe Acrobat for many versions. However, few people use its features and focus mainly on using basic form properties, never delving deeper into Acrobat’s full capabilities. While information on the web can be helpful, if you don’t know enough about how to use JavaScript in Acrobat you will be left with poor results. JavaScript can be difficult to learn, but it does not need to be scary. This book explains in simple steps for beginner to intermediate level so that you can take full advantage of Acrobat’s capabilities for your own projects.

What You Will Learn

• Learn simplified field notation and basic JavaScript for Acrobat

• Work with buttons that can be used for navigation

• Improve form navigation and printing of forms

• Add various types of alerts and custom validations to improve client-entered-data

• Learn the basics of how to prepare a form for e-signing

Who Is This Book ForThis book is for anyone who needs to create forms for clients or websites. Students, lawyers, accountants, and human resources will be able to take their work to the next level by streamlining their workflow and utilizing advanced JavaScript features in Adobe Acrobat.

Read Full Overview

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781484294697
Publisher:	Apress
Publication date:	06/27/2023
Edition description:	2nd ed.
Pages:	746
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.25(h) x (d)

About the Author

Jennifer Harder has worked in the graphic design industry for over fifteen years. She has a degree in graphic communications and is currently teaching Acrobat, and Adobe Creative Cloud courses at Langara College. She is also author of several Apress books and related videos.

Table of Contents

Part 1: Basic Form Improvements

Chapter 1: A Fundamental Forms Primer

Sub -Topics:

• Forms Review

• Fields Refresher

• Properties Refresher

o Text Box Field Properties and New Date Field Properties

o Dropdown Properties

o List Box Properties

o Check Box Properties

o Radio Button Properties

o Button Properties and Image Properties

o Digital Signature Properties

o Barcode Properties

• Tab Properties Refresher

• Setting Field Tab Order using the menu options

• Clearing a Form while working

Chapter 2: Introduction to Actions

Sub – Topics:

• Getting Started

• Rating Forms Value Averaging and Sum: Working with Text Fields

o The Validate Tab

• Page 2 of Project: The Calculate Tab for the Grand Total Using Sum

• Sum and Averaging Using Check Boxes or Radio Buttons with Text Fields

o Using Radio Buttons on Page 3 of the Project

o Using Check Boxes on Page 3 of the Project

o Learning how check boxes can become radio buttons

• Basic Action Button Triggers for Reset Buttons and Printing Buttons

o Reset Button

o Print Form Button

Chapter 3: Creating a QR Code Custom Stamp

Sub - Topics:

• Customizing Your QR Code Stamp

• QR Code Creation

• Using the Stamp Tool

• Final Thoughts: QR Code for Professional Printing

Chapter 4: Buttons, Navigation, Form and Non-Form Actions

Sub - Topics:

• Creating a Button Icon

o Example of a Button as a Label Only

• Non-Form Properties Actions

o Pages

o Bookmarks

o Web Hyperlinks

o Rich Media Non-Form Navigation Buttons

o Layers Basic Actions

o Other Non-Form Actions

• Triggers for Actions

• Choose an Action That Requires No Code

• Newsletter Navigation with Buttons

• Form Navigation with a Button as Helpful Hint

• Adding a Comb of Characters

• Before Comb and After Comb

• More Action Triggers to Show and Hide

o Hide and Clear Fields Button

• Set Layer Visibility

o Using Bookmarks

o Using Buttons

Part 2: Simplified Field Notation and Basic JavaScript

Chapter 5: Introduction to Simplified Field Notation and JavaScript

Sub - Topics:

• Getting Started

• Text Field, Date, and Dropdown Menu Properties

o Action Tab

o Format Tab

o Validate Tab

o Calculate Tab

o Check Box, Radio Button, Image Field, and Button Properties

o List Box Properties

o Digital Signature Properties

o Barcode Properties

o Global Document JavaScript

o Web Links and References

o Regular Forms vs. E-Sign Forms

• JavaScript and Acrobat on the Document Level

Chapter 6: Basic and Complex Calculations

Sub - Topics:

• Getting Started

• Sum Value

• Simplified Field Notation

• JavaScript Custom Calculation Script

• Resetting Your Field of Focus

• Final Thoughts

o The Final Line of Code (Setting the 0 value to blank)

o Dropdown Alternatives

Chapter 7: Format Calculations

Sub - Topics:

• Number Formatting

• Formatting with a Percentage

o A Workaround for the Percentage

• Date Formatting

• Time Formatting

• Final Thoughts

o Dropdown Alternatives

Chapter 8: Various JavaScript Alerts, Notes and Time Stamps

Sub - Topics:

• Alert Types

• Create a Document JavaScript

• Viewer Version and Validation Alert

• Document Actions

o Document Will Close

o Document Will Print

• Alerts Working with Buttons

• Adding a Comment Note, Signature, and Time Stamp

Chapter 9: Create Help for Clients with Rollover Text and Alerts

Sub - Topics:

• The Rollover Method

o Mouse Enter

o Mouse Exit

o Extra Non-Custom JavaScript Check Box Example

o How to Show, Hide Fields with JavaScript

• The Default Text Method

• The Alert Method

o Customer’s Full Name

o Date

o Customer Order Code

o Customer’s Company Name

• How to Duplicate Text for multiple fields and make fields read only with JavaScript

• Final Thoughts

Chapter 10: Various Types of Formatting with JavaScript

Sub - Topics:

• Adding Global Formatting to Text Fields

• Color Properties

• Multi-Line Buttons

• Multi-Line Text

• Complex Formatting Using Check Boxes and Text Fields

• Rich Text Formatting for Text Fields and Comments

• Silent Printing

• Options for Submit Button using email

• Final Thoughts

Part 3: Working with More Complex Forms

Chapter 11: Validation with Text Boxes, Alerts and Radio Buttons

Sub - Topics:

• Money Transfer Example

• Changing the Shipping Price Using Radio Buttons

• Additional Checkbox and Radio Button examples with JavaScript and Text Fields and how to change data.

• Text Field Validation with Regular Expressions

o Telephone Validation

o Name Validation

o Account Number Validation

o Email and URL Validation

o Another Phone and Date Example with Two Variables

• Final Thoughts

Chapter 12: Working with Dropdown Menus

Sub - Topics:

• Current Skills Request Form

• Parts Order Form

• Final Thoughts

o Load a Lengthy Single Dropdown or List Menu

Chapter 13: Working with List Boxes

Sub - Topics:

• List Box Priority List with Control Buttons

o The Add Button

o The Delete Button

o The Clear or Reset Button

o The Up Button

o The Down Button

• Check Box, Dropdown, and List Box Example 1

• Check Box, List Box, and Multi-Dropdown Example 2

• Button Slide Show Variation

o Extra Example Priority List Improved

• Final Thoughts

o Hidden Fields

o Using List Boxes for Number Rating

Chapter 14: Advanced Navigation: The Popup Menu

Sub – Topics:

• The Popup Menu Example

• Final Thoughts

Part 4: Beyond the Basics

Chapter 15: Action Wizard and JavaScript

Sub – Topics:

• Working with Action Wizard

o Reuse JavaScript from Chapter 8

• Is It a Custom Action or a Custom Command?

o Create and Manage Custom Commands

Chapter 16: Multi-State Check Boxes

Sub - Topics:

• The Problem of Multi-State Check Boxes

• Bonus Star Rating Idea

• Select All or Deselect All Check Boxes at Once

Chapter 17: Importing an Image into a Button

Sub - Topics:

• Creating the Button

Chapter 18: Multiple Formatting

Sub - Topics:

• The Problem of Multiple Formatting

• Option 1: Do It Yourself

o Price Script

o No Price Script

o Adding a Degree Symbol and Formatting range

• Option 2: Call a Professional

Chapter 19: Digital Signatures and Barcodes

Sub - Topics:

• Digital Signatures and Security

• Barcodes

Chapter 20: What are E-Signature Forms and Web Forms?

Sub - Topics:

• A brief Look at E- Signatures and Resources

• What are Web Forms, do they have JavaScript? and related Resources

Part 5: Putting It into Practice

Chapter 21: Homework Assignments

Sub - Topics:

• Homework Assignment 1: Show and Hide

• Homework Assignment 2: Working with JavaScript to Create Formulas

o Area of a Circle (A = π r 2 )

o Field: CircumferenceRow1 Circumference of a Circle (C = 2 π r )

o Field: VolumeRow1 Volume of a Sphere (V = 4/3 π r3 )

o Field: FahrenheitRow1 Celsius to Fahrenheit to Formula. (°C x 9/5) + 32 = °F.

o Field: CelsiusRow1_2 Fahrenheit to Celsius Formula. (°F - 32) x 5/9 = °C

• Homework Assignment 3: Custom Validation and Regular Expressions

• Homework Assignment 4: Personal Dropdown Menu and Definitions Text Box