Adobe pdf checkbox automatically selects all options - pdf

I hope this is correct forum since it may have to do with programming, otherwise tell me where to post
I am filling out this application, which must be typed. Software is Adobe Acrobat Reader DC, Version 15.009.20069.28170
http://www.nyc.gov/html/dcas/downloads/pdf/misc/mgsp_application_2016.pdf
When I select Checkbox, it automatically selects ALL options, i.e.
and
How to fix this? Thank you.

With Reader, you can't do anything on the form. And the software to view it is innocent.
What you can do is contacting the issuer of the form, and let them know that the form is messed up.
I had a look at this form, and it is a disgrace as a fillable form (you may quote me on that… credentials on answers.acrobatusers.com).
Obviously, the creator of the form made a nice layout in InDesign, created a PDF and then let the automatic field recognition run over it. With the checkboxes, it looks as if that person added a checkbox, and then drag-copied (or copy/pasted) it (more likely the latter, because the checkbox fields are not aligned, just slapped over the checkbox symbol in the base document) — and did not adjust their export values.
Obviously, this form has not been tested at all, because if so, this would have been noticed. Also, as an electronic form, it is useless, because of the field naming caused by the automatic field recognition.
…just a "nice" example: for phone numbers, the area code is visually separated from the number, and appears between parentheses. That lead to two fields. The field for the area code is named "Phone", the field for the number is named "undefined 1".
Rant mode off…
If you have Acrobat at hand, you can open the form, go to the Prepare Form tool, and change the export values of the checkboxes.

Related

MS Word checkbox control not checkable when saved as PDF

I have a MS Word document that implements a form people can fill in. It is mostly just table cells that represent text fields people can type in and checkbox controls that allow them to check the box to select an option. I then save the document as a PDF document.
When I test the PDF form by selecting the "fill and sign" option, I've found that some checkboxes are "checkable", but others are not. They were all added to the form the same way, so I'm at a loss as to why some work and others do not.
I've looked at the properties of the control, but am not seeing anything different from a working checkbox vs a non-working checkbox.
Has anyone run into this? Any ideas on what could be wrong? Is there a MS forum that might be a better place for this question?

why does selecting "refresh fields on keyword change" load a whole new document?

Notes 9.01
Why does a new document on the web change unique IDs every time you refresh it?!? this causes all kinds of issues. Obviously it is a different document, so maybe I should re-phrase that, but I think you know what I am saying.
I have a listbox field, with the setting to "refresh fields on keyword change" selected. This allows hide-whens to recalc, and other fields to recalc. I also have a computed text showing the current #DocumentUniqueID.
choices are: "Select one":"one":"two":"three"
When using this form on the web, in a new document, and I pick something in this field from the drop-down, it refreshes the form, and the choice I just picked is removed and "Select one" is what is showing again.
Once the document is saved, this stabilizes and you do not switch documents, and field values do not get cleared. I just want to understand the logic of this and find out how other people work around this.
Any feedback would be great. If I am doing something stupid, please tell me, I can take it.
Matt
I don't know what the "all kinds of issues" that you're dealing with are, but for as far back as I can remember, Notes documents have not had a stable #DocumentUniqueID value (or any at all, actually) prior to being saved for the first time. It's been my practice, and I think pretty widely accepted practice, not to write code that would have issues with that. If it's been necessary to depend on some unique value in the document prior to the first save, I've always used a computed-when-composed field with #Unique for its value.
My suggestion would be to not use "refresh fields on keyword change" for a form used on the web. The way I would handle it is to use some JavaScript to handle that.
Personally I would do this, in your situation:
Add jQuery to the form, you can easily put a CDN link in the page
header.
Write a JavaScript function called (for example)brecalculateFields(). This function would calculate field valuesband perform hide/show of fields/sections of the form.
Set a class for all fields where you want to trigger a recalc of the fields when the value is changed. I would call the class recalcForm.
Bind the function recalculateFields() to the changed event of all fields with the class recalcForm.
You may want to bind the function to a few other events as well, depending on what type of fields you have on the form.
$(".recalcForm").on("change", function(e) {
recalculateFields();
});
$(".recalcForm").on("blur", function(e) {
recalculateFields();
});
I have blogged about this in the past, hopefully you can use some of the info there:
http://blog.texasswede.com/using-jquery-to-emulate-notes-hide-when/
http://blog.texasswede.com/jquery-a-flexible-way-to-showhide-sections/

Checkboxes to generate letter

I am currently building a User form for some letters we use at work and I would like to design the userform to generate the letter with mostly just checkboxes. e.g.
Your application cannot be completed until the following is received:
A Statutory declaration providing a statement in regards to your: financial situation
In the above example I would need two checkboxes.
Checkbox 1:
A statutory declaration providing a statement in regards to your:
Checkbox2:
financial situation
I guess the question I am asking is in two parts:
1: How do I get checkboxes to generate text?
2: How do I get multiple checkboxes to generate text against the same bookmark/s?
I may not need a Statutory Declaration, I may need a "certified copy of:" ---"bank details, proof of identity, proof of citizenship"
As you can tell from the user form it's pretty extensive and all the checkboxes in the lower half of the form need to generate text.
Grateful for any advice or direction or resources or anything.
In theory, you might store the text to be inserted in your letter in the Check box's caption property and use code to insert the text into your letter when the box is checked. I think this is cumbersome and recommend that you use the caption for a caption, for example, "Statutory declaration". If it is checked such a paragraph is inserted into the letter, else it is left out.
The required declaration may include one or several of many items. Since you are thinking of check boxes, you could have one for each "bank details", "proof of identity", "proof of citizenship". These selections are very short and could be placed in the caption property. But if the texts are longer or of greatly varying lengths I would recommend the use of text boxes instead. So, if Cbx1 is clicked, the text of Tbx1 is inserted etc.
Alternatively, if only one item is required you might consider a dropdown. Or you might use a list box with multiple choices. In principle, I think that using different systems for different levels of decision making helps the user to find his way through your form. For example, use check boxes to select paragraphs (the full text of which might be shown in adjacent text boxes), and then switch to list boxes, option buttons, dropdowns or check boxes which look completely different to specify the contents of the selected paragraph. All of that detail might as well be hidden until the user has checked its box.

What is the difference between fields and formfields?

in word pressing alt+F9 can display "FieldCodes"
How can I access this programmatically using vba and pair them with the formfields?
You can access the field code by ? Application.ActiveDocument.Fields(1).Code
And you can access the form fields by Application.ActiveDocument.FormFields(1)
But is there any guarantee's about the indices matching?
Can a formfield ever not be a Field? can a Field ever not be a formfield?
Will changing these away from FORMTEXT have any unintended side effects, or are these basically nice and friendly linking id's / display values allowing you to view them and swap between them with ease?
Edit: I've come up with the following to get the fields Code. I'm still unsure if it's a good idea to edit them or not, or what they represent.
Application.ActiveDocument.FormFields(1).Range.Fields(1).Code
Fields are general objects, they can be :
document's properties (built-in or custom),
mailing / mergemail,
calculation,
form fields,
...
A form fields is an field for inputs.
Take a look at the links in the tag info of word-field, there is a lot of interesting things!
And you can access them by their own collections (press F2 in VBE to use Object Browser).
For Fields the general collection is in Application.ActiveDocument.Fields,
but you can find them in a lot of objects (check with Object Browser!).
Take a look at that answer to have an idea of the other objects in which you can find it! ;)
To my knowledge, there is no possibility nest something inside a FormField, like you can do in a Field.
I'm not sure to understand that question :
"Will changing these away from FORMTEXT have any unintended side effects,
or are these basically nice and friendly linking id's / display values
allowing you to view them and swap between them with ease?"
If you want to create a Form that users can fill, you'll need to stick with FormFields.
If you want to display values at specific places in a document, Fields is the way to go.
I'd even suggest Custom Document Properties for a general use, and MergeMail for Mailings. ;)

How to create non-exclusive checkboxes with the same name in an Acrobat/PDF form

In Acrobat Professional, I create multiple checkboxes and assign the same name to each checkbox, but a different export value. With this, the checkboxes seem to behave like radio buttons: Acrobat only lets me check one of them. If the first is checked, and I click on the second one, Acrobat unchecks the first one.
If I assign different names to the checkboxes, then they do behave independently. However it would make things easier for my code that fills out the form if the name could be the same. Is it possible to create non-exclusive checkboxes (i.e. real checkboxes) that have the same name in Acrobat?
(For reference, this is the PDF I created: 20110503-exclusive-checkboxes.pdf)
Judging from the PDF Reference, it's impossible to create independent checkboxes with the same name.
In fact, a PDF Viewer should use the name to detect which checkboxes will form a check box field.
See Adobe's PDF Reference, 8.6.3 Field Types, Check Boxes (page 648) for more information.
Use the same name and export value for all your checkboxes and they will checked/unchecked together. Adobe Acrobat supports this, it is also permitted by PDF specification.
Can't be done.
That is the very definition of how you define radio groups in a PDF.
You can have different check boxes "foo.MyCheck", "bar.MyCheck", and so forth, and all are different fields. Different parent fields can have children with the same local name but different fully qualified names. Not a problem.
What is it that you're trying to do, anyway?
Adobe Acrobat versions 8,9 and X allow you to create non-exclusive checkboxes. Although, this allows you to create non-exclusive checkboxes, Orbeon does not recognize these fields.
Once you create the initial checkbox,
Right click the check box and select "Place Multiple Fields..."
http://i.stack.imgur.com/ASj3Q.png
In the Create Multiple Dialog box modify the number of fields needed (down/accross)
http://i.stack.imgur.com/gYOoU.png
Then select the other checkbox properties to modify the Export Values