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Topic: Projecting Access Database info onto PDF form
Conf: (P-PDF) Beginners, Msg: 23747
From: jchalek
Date: 7/11/2001 01:06 PM

On 7/10/2001 8:55:00 PM, Little_Man22 wrote:
>Hi Doug,
>
>The problem is that an Acrobat
>Reader file already exists...I
>don't have to create any
>forms. What I'm trying to do
>is get the data from my
>database and somehow link it
>with the fields on the
>pre-existing application so
>that all of the fields line up
>and I can print applications
>for all of the clients in my
>database using their unique
>information.
>
>Thanks again,
>Ryan.

What we are saying is that you need the full Acrobat product, which contains a Forms tool. You then use the Forms tool to draw Acrobat Forms text boxes, check boxes, radio boxes, etc. as needed exactly over the places where they already are on the existing PDF. You literally "line up" your data with your fields by "drawing" these fields where you want the data to go. That's what was meant by "build a PDF form." If there isn't already a series of actual Acrobat form fields in place such as I just described (not just something that looks like a form when you print it out), you will need a full copy of Acrobat to do this part of the work.

You will end up with form "fields" that you will assign unique names to (also using the Acrobat Forms tool). You will then programmatically use these names to assign values to the fields from data pulled from your database, using either the FDF toolkit (if your end users are going to be using the free Reader -- which is the easiest scenario to deal with), or ADBC if everyone involved is going to have a full copy of Acrobat and is going to be using WinOS (a lot less likely).

For more details, you really need to read up on Acrobat Forms in the Acrobat Guide (under the Help menu in the full Acrobat product) and also the documentation that comes with the downloadable FDF Toolkit on Adobe's website.

Hope this helps.