Require a textbox to have value in FIllable PDF - pdf

Question

I have a fillable PDF file. I would like to require that a TextBox has a value when the user saves the PDF document i.e. the value is not blank.
Here is what I tried:
(1) Setting the "Required" field on the "TextBox".
PROBLEM: That didn't do much except color the textbox red.
(2) I tried to use the following code in the "onBlur" event:
f = getField(event.target.name)
if (f.value.length == 0)
{
f.setFocus()
//Optional Message - Comment out the next line to remove
app.alert("This field is required. Please enter a value.")
}
PROBLEM: If the user never clicks this box there is no problem
(3) I tried to use the "Validation" tab and run a custom JavaScript.
PROBLEM: If you don't click on the box there is no validation so it is perfectly happy to leave the textbox blank if the user forgets to fill it in
OK, I am out of ideas... Anyone?

Answer 1

Since you are using Acrobat JavaScript I assume you use a viewer that supports and executes Acrobat JavaScript. In this situation you can set the document's WillSave action to a custom JavaScript action and perform validation here. I'm not sure if you can cancel the save operation but at least you can display an alert if the validation fails.
UPDATE: This script will loop through all the fields and display and alert if the field value is empty.
for ( var i = 0; i < this.numFields; i++) {
var fieldName = this.getNthFieldName(i);
var field = this.getField(fieldName);
if (field.value.length == 0)
{
field.setFocus()
app.alert("Field " + fieldName + " is required. Please enter a value.")
}
}
Put the script in document's Will Save action and it will run every time the user saves the form. In Acrobat you set this in Tools > JavaScript > Set Document Actions and select Document Will Save.