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AIA

PDF BRIEFING: An introduction to electronic forms. By Simon Hurst

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30th May 2006
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Form: "a printed document with spaces in which to write"

Most of us come across a range of different forms. Paper-based forms allow information to be entered manually and the form can then sent by post, fax or scanned and emailed. Electronic forms allow information to be entered interactively and, in addition to printing and using the standard delivery methods, enable the form data to be transferred directly or submitted electronically by email.

It is perfectly possible to use Acrobat to convert any kind of existing form to a PDF document which can then be emailed or placed on a website for a user to print out and complete. However, the real power of Acrobat's form design tools lies in the ability to provide a quick and easy, but also flexible and sophisticated, method of producing electronic forms. Not only can these be easier for the user to complete, but they also enable the transfer, collection and collation of the data to be automated.

The power of PDF forms comes from the partnership between Adobe Reader and the Acrobat form design tools. Because Adobe Reader is free and the vast majority of users will already have it installed, a lot of the power of a PDF form can be provided by Adobe Reader, allowing the form creation tools in Acrobat to be simple and straightforward to use. As a result, even intelligent, interactive forms can be created in Acrobat with no more programming expertise than is required to build a spreadsheet. Furthermore, you can deal with the collection of data from the form simply by adding one of the pre-configured 'submit' buttons and specifying the email address or web address to which the form data should be sent. Of course, being a PDF document, the form can always be printed out as well.

The tools
So, what form design tools are available in Adobe Acrobat? To get the full range of tools, you will need the latest version of Acrobat Professional. The Adobe Designer form design module is one of the key differences between Acrobat Standard and Acrobat Professional.

Some basic form design tools have been available in Acrobat for many years and can still be found in the latest version in the Advanced Editing section of the Tools menu. However, following Adobe's acquisition of a specialist form design applications supplier, a far more comprehensive and sophisticated form design environment has been provided in the shape of Adobe Designer, or Adobe LiveCycle Designer to give it its full name.

While the Advanced Editing tools make it easy to convert an existing form into an electronic PDF form, Adobe Designer allows you to create and convert simple forms as well as more intelligent interactive documents.

For example, an intelligent PDF form can carry out built-in calculations or display or hide content and form fields depending on the data entered elsewhere on the form. Ensuring the user can enter the information required easily and accurately is only part of the task. The Adobe tools also make it easy to control how the data will be collected and collated for use. This could be as simple as using Acrobat's Create Spreadsheet From Data Files option to automatically turn a group of form responses into a spreadsheet, or as powerful as automating the flow of data throughout an organisation, and outside of the organisation with its business partners, using the Adobe LiveCycle family of products.

Easier than it sounds?
Having established that PDF forms can be an ideal solution for the simplest to the most complex of data collection and data transfer requirements, how does it work in practice?

At its simplest a form contains two types of thing: content, whether text or graphics and interactive fields or buttons that allow for input or actions. On paper-based forms, input fields are simply blank spaces or boxes in which you write. On an electronic form, fields but can be given the intelligence to initiate calculations or data processing, or to change the content of the form and show or hide other fields.

A simple form is likely to be static. It will present fixed content, with one or more input fields and one or more buttons to initiate actions. A dynamic form on the other hand will adjust according to the data entered or actions chosen. For example, on an expenses form a 'detail' button could be added to the form so that when the user clicked on it an additional area of the form would appear containing further input fields for the user to enter multiple lines of detail for a particular expense transaction.

Whether static or dynamic, the basics of form design are similar. If you are creating a new form from scratch you start with a blank 'sheet of paper' and simply drag content, fields and buttons on to the form. The Designer interface provides clearly visible help at all stages. For most form fields you will just need to decide which type of field you need ' for example will the user enter text, a number or a password, or tick a box? You can then drag the appropriate field type from the field library and position it on your form. Apart from entering text content and possibly giving it a descriptive name, little else needs to be done. For more interactive field types ' lists and buttons for example ' you will need to provide further information. A List box field lets you type in the items to appear in the list for your user to select, and a Submit by email button needs the intended recipient's email address.

Once you have added the relevant content and fields to the form you can distribute it via email, as a printed document (depending on the use of interactive fields), or you can place it on an internal or external website for users to complete and submit online.

Practical forms
The Adobe Designer tools make it possible to create interactive contact or order forms for a website, without needed to have experience of web design. The Designer tools allow you to add content and input, add a Submit by Email button with a designated recipient address and then just copy it to the web server. The form could be accessed via a simple link from existing web pages or by including the link in an email.

Only a bit more effort is required to create an expenses form that lets users choose from lists of expense types, automatically performs calculations such as VAT, currency conversion, or mileage rates, and also calculates any required totals. Building this intelligence into the form could employees time entering the information and improve the accuracy and reliability of the information entered. Even better, the information can be extracted electronically and transferred directly into an accounting application.

As covered elsewhere in the PDF and Adobe Zone, Companies House has based its new web-based Dormant Accounts filing system around online Acrobat Forms.

There's more?
Designer makes simple forms simple to produce, but also includes some extremely powerful features. Here are some examples of the advanced techniques which will be covered in more detail in future articles:

  • Link a form to a database or other source of data. Include information from that data source on your form and use PDF forms to update your enterprise data
  • Work with the XML data that your form generates
  • Convert form data to a barcode to enable hard copy forms to be scanned
  • Security, passwords and digital signatures
  • Use form server to automate form generation and distribution and data capture
  • Create forms for workflow server to facilitate Business Process Integration (BPI)

    Further reading
    The coverage of this aspect of Adobe Acrobat will gradually increase within PDF and Acrobat Zone. For now, have a look at the Diary articles on forms:

  • PDF Diary: Companies House pilots PDF forms for dormant accounts.
  • PDF Diary: The 15-minute online form
  • PDF Diary: A better way to create electronic forms
  • The main Adobe websitecontains a wealth of information, not only on the Adobe products themselves but also on how they are used in practice. There is also a solutions area organised by industry, including a Financial Services section, that covers both product and technical information and user case studies. The advanced features are covered in detail in the LiveCycle section of the site.
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