Distributing forms and compiling forms data

Transcription

1 Distributing forms and compiling forms data Recent versions of Acrobat have allowed forms to be created which the end user can fill in with the free Adobe Reader and save what has been entered. The form can then be returned to the creator and the data from the form compiled. There are mechanisms simply allowing the form data to be saved with the free reader, and also mechanisms for returning the form via , again from within the free Acrobat Reader. Some of these functions were available in earlier versions of Acrobat, but required the user to have a full version of Acrobat in order to save the form data, didn t work if the file was opened within a web browser window or had some issues with users of web-based clients, such as Titan Mail and Google Mail. The following should create a form that will work with the free reader, whether opened in the desktop application version, or as a browser plug-in. (n.b. If you open a PDF from a web page, link, it will open in a browser plug-in version of Acrobat Reader. If you download a file, or receive it as an attachment, it will probably open in the desktop application version of Acrobat Reader.) These directions are for Version 9. Make the form extended Version 9 has a function where you can enable saving of forms with the data entered by the user with the free Adobe Reader. Previously, saving in Reader would just save a blank copy of the form. This function is not necessary if using the Distribute forms function that follows. If you just want the user to be able to save the form. but aren t neccesarily going to have them return it, or they re all saving it to a shared drive, this should be sufficient. If you re going to compile the data, you ll have to go through the Distribute form routine. One fairly minor issue with extended forms is that they can t be directly edited with Acrobat. When you try to open an extended form in Acrobat, it prompts you to Save as under a new file name before you can edit it. After editing, you have to re- extend the form before distributing. Forms and non-adobe Readers Some users may have applications other than Acrobat or Acrobat Reader with which they read PDF s. Notably, on the Macintosh OS, the application Preview is often selected by default to read PDF s. It is typical, but not universal that in these products that the user can still enter data and print the form, and if it is extended, save it. However it is unlikely that buttons, such as Submit, or calculation options will work. If you use any of these features, It might be a good idea to include a note that Acrobat or Acrobat Reader is required to submit the form., and include a link to the reader download: Under the Advanced menu, select Extend Features in Adobe Reader. You will be prompted with some of the warnings in the section above. Click Save Now.

2 Adding a submit button In order to use the Distribute forms routine, you must have a submit button on the form. Although the user can save a filled in PDF form with the free Reader and then attach it to an , you can add a submit button that will prompt them through the process and will also create a method to compile the form data. In order to do this you have to add a Submit button. Under the Forms menu, select Add or Edit Fields Select the Button tool from the Forms tool bar The cursor will change to a cross-hair. Draw out the button. A window will pop open prompting you to name the button. Name it Submit. Click the Show All Properties link. Click the Options tab on the Button Properties Window. Label the button. Button labels can only be one line, so make sure you haven t entered a label that s bigger than the button. You can use the type size and style functions on the Appearance tab to optimize the fit. You can also modify the size of the button if room allows. You might also want to modify the color and border options under the General and Appearance tabs to make the button prominent. Click on the Actions tab. From the Select Action menu, select Submit a Form and click Add

3 In the Enter a URL for this link box, enter mailto:[the complete address you want the forms returned to]. Click the radio button PDF The complete document. Click OK and close to close the Button properties dialogue box If you wish to compile the data for returned forms, you must follow through with this Distribute Forms routine (The resulting file will have the extended characteristics). If you have some standard protocol for saving PDF forms, to a shared drive for example, and don t want a Submit button to complicate things. you can use the appearance characteristics to make it invisible. Distribute the form. Under the Forms menu, select Distribute Form. (The command also appears on the Forms toolbar) You will receive an error message if you didn t put a Submit button on the form see previous page. You ll be prompted again to save the form.

4 You have to make a choice of how you want to collect the responses. The first requires a paid subscription to Acrobat.com, and the third requires some specialized software to be running on your servers. Choose the middle one Manually collect responses in my inbox. Click Next. You are then prompted for the method you wish to use to send out the form. The warning about the end user license agreement (EULA) refers to this clause For any unique Extended Document, you may only either (a) Deploy such Extended Document to an unlimited number of unique recipients but shall not extract information from more than five hundred (500) unique instances of such Extended Document or any hardcopy representation of such Extended Document containing filled form fields: or (b) Deploy such Extended Document to no more than five hundred (500) unique recipients without limits on the number of times you may extract information from such Extended Document returned to you filled-in by such recipients. Nor withstanding anything herein to the contrary, obtaining additional licenses to use Acrobat Pro or Acrobat Pro Extended shall not increase the foregoing limits (that is, the foregoing limits are the aggregate total limits regardless of how many additional licenses to use Acrobat Pro or Acrobat Pro Extended you may have obtained).

5 The first choice Send it automatically... opens a dialogue box in which you can enter the recipients addresses, attaches the form, and provides some standard directions about filling in and submitting forms and provides a link to the free Adobe Reader. You can add additional text if you wish, which will persist for subsequent forms you create. When you click Send, it launches your client and creates a new with each recipient in the BCC field, and the message, with the form attached. The checkbox Collect name and from recipients... causes a dialogue box asking for this information to be displayed when the Submit button is clicked. This information is then included when the response is compiled, but is not displayed on the returned form itself. If you selected this option, this information is required. The form can t be submitted without filling these in. The second option simply asks you to specify where the special distributable form is to be saved. If you are using a web-base mail client, you can then use it to send out the form, or it can be linked to from a web page. When you click Finish, Acrobat will launch Tracker, with which you can keep track of forms you have distributed and with the appropriate set-up, follow and update responses.

6 When you finish the Distribute Forms procedure, Acrobat creates two files in the directory you specified, with additions to the file name. The file with distributed added is the form which you distribute to your respondents. It now includes special features which allow it to be saved and which cues Acrobat Reader to display a special response bar and prompt the user in responding. This does not depend on the appearance of distributed in the file name. It s only there so you can distinguish between your original file and this special distribution file. The second file is a special Acrobat Portfolio file that accumulates data from the returned files and lets you export that data to a spreadsheet. What the user sees When the user opens one of these distributed forms, whether in Adobe Reader as an application or as a browser plug-in, they see a banner which prompts them to fill in the form, and adds a Submit Form link. Either this link or the Submit button you placed on the form will submit the form. If you clicked the Collect name & from recipients to provide optimal tracking option, when they submit the form, they will see this dialogue box asking for name and . If you selected this option, this information is required. They can t submit the form without filling these in. If you didn t select that option, they will go directly to the next dialogue box.

7 The next dialogue box prompts them to identify how they send . If they select the first option, a desktop application, clicking OK will launch their client, create an with the address that was specified in the Submit button action, and attach the filled in form. If they select the second option, Internet , it will open a standard file dialogue box, offering the original file name, but allowing them to change it. They would then have to access their web based . create a new message, address it to you, and attach the saved form. Note that this internet process no longer supplies them with your address, so somewhere on the form or in your directions you have to specify the address to which the form has to be returned. Compiling form data When you receive the s with the filled in forms attached, open the attached file. When the file opens, it will prompt you to add the file to the responses file you created with the Distribute forms procedure. The path to the responses file as it existed when you first created it will be filled in, but you can browse to the file if you ve moved it.. The responses file is actually a specially formated Acrobat Portfolio. What you see is an index page that lists all Acrobat files that have been added to the portfolio, allows you to view any of the files, and in this case, displays the data Adding a file to the portfolio actually makes a copy of the returned form within the portfolio., so the attachments themselves do not need to be stored. Since Acrobat offers the existing file name when your respondents choose Save, many of these files will have the same filename. When adding files of the same name to the responses file, Acrobat adds a number to give each file a unique name. If your client won t allow you to open attachments without downloading them to your computer (most web based clients), you will have to save them before adding them to the responses file. if you are storing them in the same directory, you will have to change the name slightly to avoid new files overwriting older ones with the same filename. The home page of the responses portfolio displays a list of the files that have been added along with the data that has been entered. You can use the menu on the left to Filter find files that match an entry in any or multiple fields on the form, Export save the data as a CSV file that can be imported into a spreadsheet. Add add one or multiple files without opening them.