Enhancing Adobe Acrobat Forms with JavaScript: Take Your Forms to the Next Level. 2 Ed

Table of Contents....4 About the Author....14 About the Technical Reviewer....15 Acknowledgments....16 Introduction....17 Part I: Basic Form Improvements....26 Chapter 1: A Fundamental Forms Primer....27 Forms Review....27 Fields Refresher....39 Properties Refresher....48 Text Box Field Properties and Date Field Properties Dialog Boxes....49 Dropdown Properties Dialog Box....50 List Box Properties Dialog Box....52 Check Box Properties Dialog Box....53 Radio Button Properties Dialog Box....54 Button Properties and Image Properties Dialog Box....55 Digital Signature Properties Dialog Box....56 Barcode Properties Dialog Box....57 Tabs Refresher....58 Editing Your Form with the More Menu and Right Pane....68 Setting the Field Tab Order Using the Menu Options....70 Clearing a Form While Working....79 Summary....82 Chapter 2: Introduction to Actions....83 Getting Started....83 Rating Forms Value Averaging and Sum: Working with Text Fields....85 The Validate Tab....88 The Calculate Tab for the Grand Total Using Sum....93 Sum and Averaging Using Check Boxes or Radio Buttons with Text Fields....96 Using Radio Buttons on Page 3 of the Project....98 Using Check Boxes on Page 3 of the Project....104 Turning Check Boxes into Radio Buttons....106 Basic Action Button Triggers for Reset Buttons and Printing Buttons....110 Reset Button....110 Print Form Button....114 Summary....118 Chapter 3: Creating a QR Code Custom Stamp....119 Customizing Your QR Code Stamp....121 QR Code Creation....122 Using the Stamp Tool....128 Final Thoughts: QR Code for Professional Printing....132 Summary....134 Chapter 4: Buttons, Navigation, Form, and Nonform Actions....135 Creating a Button Icon....136 Example of a Button as a Label Only....140 Example of a Button Combination of Icon Only....143 Nonform Properties Actions....145 Pages....145 Bookmarks....148 Web and Custom Hyperlinks....152 Rich Media Nonform Navigation Buttons....159 Layers Basic Actions....161 Other Nonform Actions That Can Affect Sticky Note or Markup Tools Indirectly....164 Triggers for Actions....164 Choose an Action That Requires No Code....166 Newsletter Navigation with Buttons....174 Form Navigation with a Button as a Helpful Hint....178 Adding a Comb of Characters....181 Before Comb and After Comb....182 More Action Triggers to Show and Hide....185 Hide and Clear Fields Button....188 Set Layer Visibility....191 Using Bookmarks....192 Using Buttons....195 Summary....197 Part II: Simplified Field Notation and Basic JavaScript....198 Chapter 5: Introduction to Simplified Field Notation and JavaScript....199 Getting Started....200 Text Field, Date, and Drop-Down List Properties....201 Actions Tab....201 Format Tab....202 Validate Tab....204 Calculate Tab....204 Check Box, Radio Button, Image Field, and Button Properties....205 List Box Properties....206 Digital Signature Properties....208 Barcode Properties....209 Global Document JavaScript....210 Web Links and References....217 Regular Forms vs. E-Signature Forms....217 JavaScript and Acrobat on the Document Level....219 Summary....219 Chapter 6: Basic and Complex Calculations....220 Getting Started....221 Sum Value....223 Simplified Field Notation....225 JavaScript Custom Calculation Script....228 Final Thoughts on Working with the Calculate Tab....232 JavaScript Script Validation for Displaying Zero....235 The Final Line of Code....237 Drop-Down Alternatives....239 Set Field Calculation Order....240 Resetting Your Field of Focus....242 Summary....246 Chapter 7: Format Calculations....247 Number Formatting....250 Formatting with a Percentage....253 A Workaround for the Percentage....255 Reset Fields with JavaScript....261 Date Formatting....262 Date Formatting with JavaScript....264 Time Formatting....271 Time Formatting with JavaScript, a Custom Example....276 Comb of Characters for Dates....280 Special Formatting....281 Final Thoughts....282 Drop-Down Alternatives....283 More Information on Adding Decimal Places and Leading Zeros....283 Summary....284 Chapter 8: Various JavaScript Alerts, Notes, and Time Stamps....286 Alert Types....288 Create a Document JavaScript....289 Viewer Version and Validation Alert....293 Document Actions....296 Document Will Close....297 Document Will Print....298 Alerts Working with Buttons....299 Adding a Comment Note, Signature, and Time Stamp....302 Signature Field and Time Stamp....308 Summary....313 Chapter 9: Create Help for Clients with Rollover Text and Alerts....314 The Rollover Method....315 Mouse Enter....320 Mouse Exit....321 Longer Array Example (Optional)....321 Extra Noncustom JavaScript Check Box Example....322 How to Show and Hide Fields with JavaScript....323 The Default Text Method....326 The Alert Method....330 Customer’s Full Name....331 Date....335 Customer Order Code....339 Customer’s Company Name....341 How to Duplicate Text for Multiple Fields and Make Fields Read-Only....343 Set Fields to Read-Only with JavaScript....347 Final Thoughts....348 Summary....349 Chapter 10: Various Types of Formatting with JavaScript....350 Adding Global Formatting to Text Fields....351 Color Properties....357 Array and Variable Examples of Formatting Properties....358 Multiline Buttons....362 Multiline Text....365 Complex Formatting Using Check Boxes and a Text Field....370 Rich Text Formatting for Text Fields and Comments....378 Comment Example....382 Final Thoughts on Formatting with Text....384 Silent Printing....386 Options for Submit Button Using Email....389 Summary....394 Part III: Working with More Complex Forms....395 Chapter 11: Validation with Text Boxes, Alerts, and Radio Buttons....396 Money Transfer Example....397 Alternate Way to Work with Radio Buttons Without Alerts....406 Changing the Shipping Price Using Radio Buttons....410 Additional Radio Button Example with JavaScript and Text Fields and How to Change Data for Time....420 Setting Up the Text Fields....424 Check Box Variation with Date Text Fields....426 Notes on Changing Formatting Options for Radio Button, Check Box, and Button Style....427 Formatting for Buttons and How the Following Properties Can Be Affected....429 Formatting for Radio Buttons and Check Boxes....430 Text Field Validation with Regular Expressions....432 Telephone Validation....434 Name Validation....438 Account Number Validation....441 Email and URL Validation....442 Another Phone and Date Example with Two Variables....443 Final Thoughts on Formatting Fields....446 Summary....449 Chapter 12: Working with Dropdown Lists....450 Current Skills Request Form....451 Parts Order Form....460 Drop-Down Lists with Select Dates and Discounts....482 Final Thoughts....487 Load a Lengthy Single Drop-Down or List Menu....487 Tips on Changing Custom Formatting for Drop-Down Lists with JavaScript....490 Summary....491 Chapter 13: Working with List Boxes....492 List Box Priority List with Control Buttons....493 The Add Button....498 The Delete Button....499 The Clear or Reset Button....500 The Up Button....500 The Down Button....501 Check Box, Drop-Down, and List Box: Example 1....505 Check Box, List Box, and Multi-Drop-Down: Example 2....512 Button Slide Show Variation....522 Extra Example Priority List Improved....523 Final Thoughts....532 Hidden Fields....532 Using List Boxes for a Number Rating....534 Notes on Changing Custom Formatting for List Boxes....534 Summary....535 Chapter 14: Advanced Navigation: The Pop-Up Menu....536 The Pop-Up Menu Example....537 Add a Pop-Up Menu Using a Bookmark....544 Final Thoughts....549 Summary....550 Part IV: Beyond the Basics....551 Chapter 15: Action Wizard and JavaScript....552 Working with the Action Wizard....553 Reuse JavaScript from Chapter 8....564 Is It a Custom Action or a Custom Command?....565 Create and Manage Custom Commands....566 Summary....567 Chapter 16: Multistate Check Boxes....568 The Problem of Multistate Check Boxes....568 Bonus Star Rating Idea....578 Select All or Deselect All Check Boxes at Once....580 Summary....584 Chapter 17: Importing an Image into a Button....585 Creating the Button....586 Summary....591 Chapter 18: Multiple Formatting....592 The Problem of Multiple Formatting....592 Option 1: Do It Yourself....596 Price Script....598 No Price Script....599 Adding a Degree Symbol and Formatting Range....606 Option 2: Contact a Professional....611 Summary....613 Chapter 19: Digital Signatures and Barcodes....614 Digital Signatures and Security....615 Working with Digital Signatures and Other Adobe Security Tools....624 Signature Field Formatting....632 Create a Security Puzzle....633 Barcodes....638 Summary....641 Chapter 20: What Are E-Signature Forms and Web Forms?....642 A Brief Look at Request E-Signatures and Resources....644 What Are Web Forms?....662 Summary....698 Part V: Putting It into Practice....699 Chapter 21: Homework Assignments....700 Homework Assignment 1: Show and Hide....700 Homework Assignment 2: Working with JavaScript to Create Formulas....719 Area of a Circle A = π r 2....721 Field: CircumferenceRow1 Circumference of a Circle C = 2 π r....722 Field: VolumeRow1 Volume of a Sphere V = 4/3 π r3....722 Field: FahrenheitRow1 Celsius to Fahrenheit to Formula. (°C x 9/5) + 32 = °F.....722 Field: CelsiusRow1_2 Fahrenheit to Celsius Formula. (°F - 32) x 5/9 = °C....723 Homework Assignment 3: Custom Validation and Regular Expressions....726 Homework Assignment 4: Personal Drop-Down List Menu and Definitions Text Box....737 Summary....746 Index....747