About the Legacy Mode, I read that Designer 8.0 is supposed to intuitively know to open a form created with XFA 2.4 in legacy mode. But – it doesn’t seem to be working. I open the form in 8.0 and none of my database functionality works. But, if I use your workaround and insert the child element in the XML source directing it to use XFA 2.4 and then save the document with that change, the file now opens and works just like I expect it to. Is this a bug that it’s not opening it correctly in legacy mode to begin with?

Thank you for the reply Stefan. I can send a copy of the form to you – where can I get your email address? I’m thinking that we’re going to find that it is something about the ADBC data connections in my form. Does XFA 2.5 still support the ADBC object?

I’ll keep looking for the new documentation.

My data connections don’t seem to run at run-time in either Designer PDF preview mode or in Acrobat 8 (or Reader 8 for that matter). I don’t know if they work at design time since this is a form created with Designer 7.0 and the data connections are through ADBC rather than the data bindings most Designer forms probably use.

I’ve since uninstalled 8.0 from my machine – I kept getting a splash screen every time I opened Acrobat 8.0 saying that I was in the 30 day grace period (even though we have a production copy of 8.0 and a license number), and when I tried to click on the Download eLicense all I got were errors saying that my system was not set up correctly and I’d have to contact our Adobe rep for help.

I use Acrobat every day – it’s vital to the work I do. And this Designer form gets used 30+ times every day. So when it wouldn’t open correctly in 8.0, I started getting behind on work and finally had to uninstall it and reinstall 7.0 so that I’d be able to get work done. I will reinstall on another machine and follow your instructions above to see if that makes a difference.

I really appreciate your help with this. I love Designer – it has allowed me to create a form which saves me hours of work every week, so I’m anxious to know what I can do to keep the form working in newer versions. 🙂

LHigbee

LHigbee,

I’m very sorry that this issue has resulted in a lot of frustration on your part.

I will send you an email to the address you provided with your comment to solicit your form for further investigation. I can’t promise I’ll find a solution nor can I promise I’ll find it quickly but I’ll do my best to figure-out what’s going on.

As you do, I suspect it’s something with Acrobat’s support of ADBC via XFA forms. I assume you’re using ADBC via JavaScript in XFA events rather than using the usual ODBC data connections that are supported in XFA. Nonetheless, I’m surprised that your form would be broken in Acrobat 8.

LHigbee,

I did some digging and I believe I have found the answer to this problem.

It appears that ADBC was deemed a security risk and therefore has been disabled by default in Acrobat 8. The reason being that it makes no efforts to validate that the form’s user has agreed to permit the connection. In some ways, you could draw parallels between this and proctecting the SourceSet model in Acrobat 8 with XFA 2.5, as I mentioned in this post.

Fortunately, there’s a simple way to enable ADBC on a system and it can be found in the Acrobat 8 SDK Readme. Since that link is currently broken, here’s the excerpt you’re interested in:

ADBC Support

Acrobat Database Connectivity (ADBC) can now be turned on and off via a registry setting. To activate ADBC, create a registry key of type DWORD with the name “bJSEnable” and a value of “true” (1) in the following location:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Adobe\Adobe Acrobat\8.0\ADBC

This activates ADBC in Acrobat 8.0. In previous releases of Acrobat, ADBC was active by default. In Acrobat 8.0, this setting has been changed to require user intervention to activate ADBC because most users do not want to have ADBC accessible from PDF.

Windows shell command to activate ADBC:

reg add “HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Adobe\Adobe Acrobat\8.0\ADBC” /v bJSEnable /t REG_DWORD /d 1

Note that ADBC is still only available via Acrobat Standard or Professional and on Windows only. Reader doesn’t have the ability to use ADBC.

Can you give us/me a date for the availablity of the 2.5 XFA specifications?

Thanks.

Stefan,

Thanks for the information. I have found the current XFA 2.4 document very helpful especially when writing javascript.

Waiting a little longer for XFA 2.5 will, I am sure, be worth the wait.

Thanks,

Rick Kuhlmann

Stefan,

It appears that the ADBC is indeed turned off now with the 7.0.9 update. So I went in and added a new registry key for 7.0 based on the one you posted previously for 8.0.

I’m really quite miffed about this – turning ADBC off in an existing version when it worked in all previous updates is something I consider to be a HUGE, HUGE change. And I think that there should have been some warning that the 7.0.9 update turned ADBC off due to security issues. Is there anywhere on the Adobe site where there is documentation on what the 7.0.9 update includes? I didn’t see anything about it from the auto-updater feature within Professional. Where do I find out what each of these updates is going to change or fix before I update?

So, this leaves me with a rather large dilemma – it’s obvious I’m going to have to stop using ADBC for the data connection in my form. But in the alternate methods, I’m not sure I understand how it would handle locating an Access database that is in different locations on each of 20+ computers. Do you know where I could find more info on that? I guess I just don’t quite grasp how it would work.

Thanks again for all your help.

LHigbee

Hey I read over this and I apear to not be able to solve my problem by adding the .clone to my project I still get the

This operation violates your permissions configuration

Error now I am a newbie but here is what I am doing…

I create a data dropdown and I set the text value to a column called name and the hiddenvalue t0 the auto increment ID. Once the item is selected from the drop down I have the user click a refresh button like in the 7 code and use the same code given there

if (Len(Ltrim(Rtrim(DataDropDownList.rawValue))) > 0) then
$sourceSet.DataConnection.#command.query.commandType = “text”
$sourceSet.DataConnection.#command.query.select.nodes.item(0).value = Concat(“Select * from testDb Where ID = “, Ltrim(Rtrim(DataDropDownList.rawValue)) ,””)
//Reopen the Dataconnection
$sourceSet.DataConnection.open()
endif

Any ideas guys?

thanks

Hello Stefan,

Regarding Form Certification/Ubiquitization,can you tell me where can I read more about Form Certification?

I need to find a solution to this situation:

My forms have scripts that change the layout of the form depending on who is opening it (for instance, if the user is from the financial department or form any other department).
At the same time, each kind of user needs to digital sign the form.

So for instance, a user at the financial department opens a form and see specific text in some text fields or he can even see specific input fields (some can be hidden).

After he digital sign the document another user from another department will open the form, but while opening the form, the scripts in the form will change some text in the text fields and hide (or not) some sections or some input fields.

Despite the form is being programmatically changed, this user need to see the digital signature from the first user, and the signature needs to be valid. He will then place his own digital signature on the document.

I know Adobe as the LiveCycle Designer workflow for doing this, however my solution can´t be dependent of a specific technology. Plus, I think that while using livecycle workflow, these different views of the forms would be accomplish with rules that would create different files. However, I would like to accomplish this kind of functionality using only one file.

Is this possible?

Thank you

I’m having the same problem that Jackie noted above. I’m using Adobe Acrobat 8 Professional and LiveCycle Designer 8.0. I’m trying to add a drop down list and Refresh button to a form to allow the user to go to any record in the database. I’m using the code described in the article ‘Adobe LiveCycle Designer 7.0 Providing interactive database lookup from forms,’ modified by addition of a clone(1) reference as suggested.

Here’s my code for the Refresh button:

var oDC = $sourceSet.FCGDB.clone(1);

if (Len(Ltrim(Rtrim(SelectID.rawValue))) > 0) then
//Change the commandType from TABLE to TEXT. TEXT is the equivalent of SQL Property

oDC.#command.query.commandType = “text”

//Set the Select Node. Select in this case will be whatever the SQL Property you want.
oDC.#command.query.select.nodes.item(0).value = Concat(“Select * from fcg1 Where ID = “, Ltrim(Rtrim(SelectID.rawValue)) ,””)

//Reopen the Dataconnection
oDC.open()

endif

Adding the .clone(1) reference solved the permissions error, but now I get the following error:

accessor ‘oDC.#command.query.commandType’ is unknown.

Any ideas what the problem might be?

Thanks for any assistance.

Hi advance
I’m design form with Adobe Designer. I can’t send data
to database access or sqlserver.
I hope give me and to learn me what I doing
thanks

osama,

I’m afraid I’ll need some more details about the problem you’re running into.

What exactly is your form attempting to accomplish?

Are you getting a specific error message when you run your form in Acrobat?

Have you checked the Acrobat JavaScript Console for error messages (press “Ctrl + j” in the Preview tab or in Acrobat to show the console)?

What versions of Acrobat and Designer are you using?

Stefan,

Can you provide me some clarifcation? Can I have a form that I designed in lifecycle 8.0 with data access, enable it in professional and have it work in reader 8.0. After talking to adobe support, they didn’t seem to think that reader has data access.

Stefan,

I am having the same problem that Jackie and Doug had with the “accessor ….. unknown” error. I have tried the cloning method and have “explicitly requested a reference” to the cloned object like you advised Doug. I am still gettin the same error. Here is my code:

——————————————–
var oDataConn = Ref(xfa.sourceSet.DataConnection.clone(1)) // get a *reference* to the data connection object (you’ll get an error if you try to get it by value)
oDataConn.#command.query.commandType = “text”;
oDataConn.#command.query.select.nodes.item(0).value = “SELECT * FROM main WHERE ((AppID)=2242);”
oDataConn.open();
——————————————–

My data connection seems to be working fine – I get the first record in the database upon previewing the pdf. When I click the button with the above code attached to it with the plan of getting another record (AppID 2242 in this case), I get the accessor unknown error.

I have searched your forums thoroughly and cannot seem to find anything that will allow me to implement this type of solution without having my client spend thousands of dollars on LiveCycle Forms. CAN THIS WORK???

thanks in advance….

Jeff Drouet,

Assuming you’re running your form in Acrobat Standard or Pro (or you’ve extended the form and you’re running it in Reader), you should be able to do this.

The only thing I can see wrong with the script you posted is the following line:

oDataConn.#command.query.select.nodes.item(0).value = “SELECT * FROM main WHERE ((AppID)=2242);”

More specifically, I question the use of “nodes.item(0)” after the “select” property. “select” doesn’t contain any nodes, which would explain the “accessor unknown” error. Try removing that and using only “select” (in FormCalc, you don’t have to specify “value” since it’s used by default):

oDataConn.#command.query.select = “SELECT * FROM main WHERE ((AppID)=2242);”

Hello Stefan

I am having exactly the same problem as Jeff Drout. I am using Adobe Acrobat 8.1 and LiveCycle Designer 8.0 trial version, Adobe Reader 8.1.
Pdf is Acrobat 8 (Static).
Code works in Acrobat, breaks in Reader 8.1 at exactly first line even when it is “Reader Extended”. It looks like sourceSet collection is empty when user clicks the
button which results in accessor unknown error ($sourceSet.nodes.length=0).

Here is the code
var oDC = Ref($sourceSet.DataConnection.clone(1))
oDC.#command.query.commandType = “text”
oDC.#command.query.select = Concat(“Select * from Brod Where BrodID = “, BrodID2.rawValue, “”)
oDC.open()

I can send you pdf and mdb.
Thank you very much in advance.

Hello Stefan,
I reached your blog while searching for a sample that demonstrates use of clone function. We are using Designer / FormServer 7. As per XFA 2.4 doc, I can modify the template model before data merge.

Since combs do not work on non-interactive static PDF, I am planning to write a function to simulate combs. I have added vertical lines in a subform which I turn on or off. This still leaves issue of character spacing. I am thinking of adding series of 1 char text fields dynamically. I am able to clone a field. But I don’t know how to add it to the template DOM.

Thanks in advance.

Update

Changing to:
——
var oDB = xfa.sourceSet.BBCC.clone(1)
xfa.sourceSet.BBCC.#command.query.commandType = “text”
xfa.sourceSet.BBCC.#command.query.select.nodes.item(0).value = Concat(“Select * from dbo_BB_vw_MergeDocuments Where JobDescription = ‘”, JobSelect.rawValue, “‘”)
oDB.open()
—–

Results in: Error: This operation violates your permissions configuration.

Stefan, thank you for replying. I have done a lot of vb and dotnet stuff over the years but this LiveCycle is down-right irritating.

Code is now:

—-
var oDB = xfa.sourceSet.BBCC.clone(1)
oDB.#command.query.commandType = “text”
oDB.#command.query.select.nodes.item(0).value = Concat(“Select * from dbo_BB_vw_MergeDocuments Where JobDescription = ‘”, JobSelect.rawValue, “‘”)
oDB.open()
—-

Resulting in:

Error: accessor ‘oDB.#command.query.commandType’ is unknown.

Stephan, finally got it working, thanks for all the feedback. (you realize you’re the only one on the internet with productive advice on LiveCycle right?)

The only problem I have left is getting it to work in reader. It craps out in reader with a script error. Do I have to “extend” the form? If so, what does that mean and how do I do that? Once again Adobe IS NOT intuitive on this.

Here is the final working code for the Dropdown.

*************************************

—– topmostSubform.Page1.JobSelect::initialize: – (JavaScript, client) —————————

// This dropdown list object will populate two columns with data from a data connection.
//
// sDataConnectionName – name of the data connection to get the data from. Note the data connection will appear in the Data View.
// sColHiddenValue – this is the hidden value column of the dropdown. Specify the table column name used for populating.
// sColDisplayText – this is the display text column of the dropdown. Specify the table column name used for populating.
//
// These variables must be assigned for this script to run correctly. Replace with the correct value.

var sDataConnectionName = “BBCC”; // example – var sDataConnectionName = “MyDataConnection”;
var sColHiddenValue = “ContractAdmin_Key”; // example – var sColHiddenValue = “MyIndexValue”;
var sColDisplayText = “JobDescription”; // example – var sColDisplayText = “MyDescription”

// Search for sourceSet node which matchs the DataConnection name
var nIndex = 0;
while(xfa.sourceSet.nodes.item(nIndex).name != sDataConnectionName)
{
nIndex++;
}

var oDB = xfa.sourceSet.nodes.item(nIndex);
oDB.open();
oDB.first();

// Search node with the class name “command”
var nDBIndex = 0;
while(oDB.nodes.item(nDBIndex).className != “command”)
{
nDBIndex++;
}

// Backup the original settings before assigning BOF and EOF to stay
var sBOFBackup = oDB.nodes.item(nDBIndex).query.recordSet.getAttribute(“bofAction”);
var sEOFBackup = oDB.nodes.item(nDBIndex).query.recordSet.getAttribute(“eofAction”);

oDB.nodes.item(nDBIndex).query.recordSet.setAttribute(“stayBOF”, “bofAction”);
oDB.nodes.item(nDBIndex).query.recordSet.setAttribute(“stayEOF”, “eofAction”);

// Clear the list
this.clearItems();

// Search for the record node with the matching Data Connection name
nIndex = 0;
while(xfa.record.nodes.item(nIndex).name != sDataConnectionName)
{
nIndex++;
}
var oRecord = xfa.record.nodes.item(nIndex);

// Find the value node
var oValueNode = null;
var oTextNode = null;
for(var nColIndex = 0; nColIndex < oRecord.nodes.length; nColIndex++)
{
if(oRecord.nodes.item(nColIndex).name == sColHiddenValue)
{
oValueNode = oRecord.nodes.item(nColIndex);
}
else if(oRecord.nodes.item(nColIndex).name == sColDisplayText)
{
oTextNode = oRecord.nodes.item(nColIndex);
}
}

while(!oDB.isEOF())
{
this.addItem(oTextNode.value, oValueNode.value);
oDB.next();
}

// Restore the original settings
oDB.nodes.item(nDBIndex).query.recordSet.setAttribute(sBOFBackup, “bofAction”);
oDB.nodes.item(nDBIndex).query.recordSet.setAttribute(sEOFBackup, “eofAction”);

// Close connection
oDB.close();

*******************************************

And here is the final working code for the buttton.

*******************************************

—– topmostSubform.Page1.Button1::click: – (FormCalc, client) ————————————

var oDB = Ref(xfa.sourceSet.BBCC.clone(1))
oDB.#command.query.commandType = “text”
oDB.#command.query.select.nodes.item(0).value = Concat(“Select * from BB_vw_MergeDocuments Where ContractAdmin_Key = ‘”, JobSelect.rawValue, “‘”)
oDB.open()

Stephan, I think the problem reader is having is with the FormCalc for the button.

I am going to try and change:

******************
—– topmostSubform.Page1.Button1::click: – (FormCalc, client) ————————————

var oDB = Ref(xfa.sourceSet.BBCC.clone(1))
oDB.#command.query.commandType = “text”
oDB.#command.query.select.nodes.item(0).value = Concat(”Select * from BB_vw_MergeDocuments Where ContractAdmin_Key = ‘”, JobSelect.rawValue, “‘”)
oDB.open()

**************************

To JavaScript.

The problem is I don’t know Java. Oh well, that’s never stopped me before.

… to be updated later …

Vinayak Sapre,

Modifying the Template DOM is certainly not something that will continue to work with later versions of Designer and Acrobat (and I can’t say that I was aware this was actually ever possible) but if you can and want to do it, then I think you would have to get the subform’s child list (a treeList object) and use its “append” method to add the cloned object to the subform:

theSubform.nodes.append(theTextEdit.clone(1));

What Now *%$@!

Dropdown was displaying all records in the database and working fine. After spending 5 days on the forms and mathcing up all the fields I was finally done!

So I thought

During final testing today the Dropdown has decided to now only dispaly the first 5 records. ??? (!#$%&@!)
I double and triple and quadruple checked the code and nothing has changed.

I do not want to think I have wasted 5 days of matching fields to the form.

Any thoughts?

Here is the dropdown’s code again…

——–Begin Code——

var sDataConnectionName = “BBCC”; // example – var sDataConnectionName = “MyDataConnection”;
var sColHiddenValue = “ContractAdmin_Key”; // example – var sColHiddenValue = “MyIndexValue”;
var sColDisplayText = “JobDescription”; // example – var sColDisplayText = “MyDescription”

// Search for sourceSet node which matchs the DataConnection name
var nIndex = 0;
while(xfa.sourceSet.nodes.item(nIndex).name != sDataConnectionName)
{
nIndex++;
}

var oDB = xfa.sourceSet.nodes.item(nIndex);
oDB.open();
oDB.first();

// Search node with the class name “command”
var nDBIndex = 0;
while(oDB.nodes.item(nDBIndex).className != “command”)
{
nDBIndex++;
}

// Backup the original settings before assigning BOF and EOF to stay
var sBOFBackup = oDB.nodes.item(nDBIndex).query.recordSet.getAttribute(“bofAction”);
var sEOFBackup = oDB.nodes.item(nDBIndex).query.recordSet.getAttribute(“eofAction”);

oDB.nodes.item(nDBIndex).query.recordSet.setAttribute(“stayBOF”, “bofAction”);
oDB.nodes.item(nDBIndex).query.recordSet.setAttribute(“stayEOF”, “eofAction”);

// Clear the list
this.clearItems();

// Search for the record node with the matching Data Connection name
nIndex = 0;
while(xfa.record.nodes.item(nIndex).name != sDataConnectionName)
{
nIndex++;
}
var oRecord = xfa.record.nodes.item(nIndex);

// Find the value node
var oValueNode = null;
var oTextNode = null;
for(var nColIndex = 0; nColIndex < oRecord.nodes.length; nColIndex++)
{
if(oRecord.nodes.item(nColIndex).name == sColHiddenValue)
{
oValueNode = oRecord.nodes.item(nColIndex);
}
else if(oRecord.nodes.item(nColIndex).name == sColDisplayText)
{
oTextNode = oRecord.nodes.item(nColIndex);
}
}

while(!oDB.isEOF())
{
this.addItem(oTextNode.value, oValueNode.value);
oDB.next();
}

// Restore the original settings
oDB.nodes.item(nDBIndex).query.recordSet.setAttribute(sBOFBackup, “bofAction”);
oDB.nodes.item(nDBIndex).query.recordSet.setAttribute(sEOFBackup, “eofAction”);

// Close connection
oDB.close();

Fixed it. Changing the Data Connection ADO properties to READ ONLY made the error go away. All works now.
What I don’t understand is why that did not cause any problems duing the intial dropdown testing.

Eric Horde,

That’s a really frustrating problem indeed! I’m glad you figured it out in the end.

I’m curious: Did you mean for this data connection to be read-only in the first place or were you wanting to use it as a read/write data connection?

Found it.

xfa.host.print(1, “startPageIndex”, “endPageIndex”, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0);

In order…

Print User Interface
Start Page
End Page
Silent Mode
Shrink to Fit
Print As Image
Reverse Order
Annotations

Eric Horde,

Thanks for taking the time to explain your project. It’s really cool that you’re able to save 3-4 hours of work filling those forms!

Pick my brain? Sure but you’re going to fast for me to keep up! I’m glad you found what you were looking for. In the future, you should use the LiveCycle Designer ES Scripting Reference to get that information (see the print() function details on page 389). You can find other helpful documentation under the “Develop” tab on the Adobe LiveCycle ES Documentation site.

Hello to everybody, i’m writing from Italy (Rome).
I’m at my first experience with Adobe Livecycle (i’m a VB programmer), and I need a form that read from and write into an Oracle table.
With more difficult (and a big help from this site) I realized all that I need, but now there is a problem:
Our PDF does not work with all the computers of the Company, even if there is Acrobat Writer 8 and the Oracle Client installed.
I converted all the scripts from FormCalc to JavaScript, then tested the Connection (inside the LiveCycle designer of the problematic pc) and there is no problem.
But in run-time, no actions is performed.
With the FormCalc the error is the classic accessor $sourceSet.DataConnection.clone(“1”) is unknown.
In JavaScript no errors but no action at least.
I manually debugged row by row and seems that the xfa.sourceSet connection is empty!!
the value of the xfa.sourceSet.nodes.length is zero!!!
Why this happens on certain pc?
All the pc have the same installation: Acrobat 8 professional with LiveCycle, Oracle Client, Windows 2000 Professional.

Does anybody have some ideas?

Thanks a lot

Massimiliano

Adding a button that does

sourceSet.BBCC.requery();

fixes the dataconnection refresh issue.

Shouldn’t this take place on some kind of “form open?” process though?

Massimiliano Pecoraro,

Unfortunately, I don’t have any suggestions. All I can say is that if there is a problem on certain PCs and not others, the problem would likely be between Acrobat and the database. When you create a data connection in Designer, it merely attempts to access the database to get the structure of the records it will load but it may do it in a different way that Acrobat does. When you’re running the form in Acrobat (i.e. at runtime), Acrobat is the application attempting to establish the connection to the database as defined in the form’s data connection. That’s probably “clear as mud” — I think this one is out of my hands.

I just had a thought: Could it be that on some PCs, you’re running Acrobat and the form under a user that has more privileges than on others (hence it works on some machines and on others it fails silently when attempting to connect to the database because of a user rights access violation)?

Stefan, thanks for your reply.
The user was always the same, probably there is some technical problems just in some PCs.
Otherwise the thing is not so tragic, we tested the application on PCs with the standard installation and it works fine!!!
I have just another curiosity: I opened my document (positioned inside our LAN) with Internet Explorer from a PC that has no Oracle Client installed, and the doc was unable to establish the connection.
So is not possible to realize server-side connections? If our “mission” was the document be avalaible for Internet Users what was the right way?

Excuse me for my horrible english, and thank you so much for your very usefull blog!

Max

Stefan,

I’ve spent most of the weekend working through this blog (and many others), mostly trying to get the standard database form example to work (using the dropdown box and refresh button referenced exhaustively here). Yes, I have a much better understanding of the process, but I have a few very fundamental questions that are still not clear.

My company has a website with many PDFs that customers can fill out and mail in – think of them as order forms. Because certain fees are changing rapidly, they want to make the PDFs dynamic, so that data (prices, e.g.) can be pulled from a database to populate the forms. This way, the myriad of PDF files do not need to be altered, as I’m hoping to distill the number of files down to a minimum.

Anyway, I’m unclear as to what tools will really make this work. I’m sure the customers will be using Adobe Reader. I got the example form to work with Adobe Pro, and it will work with Reader as long as the data is only initialized (the Refresh button will not work in Reader). The database connection was fairly simple, but will that work on a website form?

In short, I want to pre-populate PDFs using a database and put them on a web site to be read by Adobe Reader. I don’t anticipate pulling the data back into the database. Can this be done with the techniques listed in the blog, or do I have to go to the XML / ASP.NET or whatever route? And do we need Reader Extensions or some of the Enterprise software packages? The choices are mind-boggling. I would very much appreciate your input on this.

Thanks,

Roman

Roman Shypailo,

The main issue with forms that have database connections is the fact that if the PDF is connected directly to a database via an ODBC data connection, everyone who opens the PDF must have the same DSN configured on their system to connect to the database. If people outside your organization will be using this PDF, this likely won’t be a viable option.

To get around this problem, you would typically create a public-facing web service and connect your form to it. The idea is that the web service would connect to the database and pull-out the necessary data. This option is also much more secure than exposing your database on the Internet…

Finally, if users of the PDF will be using the free Reader to fill-out the form, the PDF will either need to be extended with data import capabilities using LiveCycle Reader Extensions ES or you’ll have to use LiveCycle Forms ES to serve-out the pre-filled (with your database data) PDF to the client (browser).

I summary I think you have the following options:

1. Connect your form directly to the database:
   1. everyone has the DSN configured and uses either Acrobat Standard or Pro to open the form.
   2. read-extend your form and users can use Reader or Acrobat to open the form.
   3. use LC Forms to serve the PDF to the browser. Reader Extensions is not needed and users can use Reader or Acrobat to open the form.
2. Connect your form to a web service, web service to the database:
   1. Acrobat Standard or Pro is used to open the form.
   2. read-extend your form and users can use Reader or Acrobat to open the form.
   3. use LC Forms to serve the PDF to the browser. Reader Extensions is not needed and users can use Reader or Acrobat to open the form.

Howdy Stefan! It seems like every time I google for a Designer problem/solution your name ends up on the very top of the result list, great work!

Now I have an issue with a form I’m trying to glue together, what I want is a ‘address book’ function where I pick a name out of the (now working) listbox that is populated with data from a SQL server, in two different dataconnections.

One DB is ADRLIST containing catID and catName.
Other DB is ADRDATA that contains KundeID, Navn, Avdeling, Addresse, Postnummer and Sted.
Both data connections are linked to the same SQL database, just displaying different (except KundeID) info.
The data is in one table named ‘Kunder’

I also have a collection of Textboxes linked to ADRDATA; Avdeling, Addresse, Postnummer and Sted.

This is my SQL query for ADRLIST
SELECT KundeID AS catID, Navn AS catName FROM Kunder ORDER BY Navn
(My reason for changing the variablenames for KundeID and Navn is basically so it’ll be easier on the eye for me.)

My SQL query for ADRDATA
SELECT KundeID, Navn, Avdeling, Addresse, Postnummer, Sted FROM Kunder ORDER BY KundeID

This is my my variables in the default listbox in designer 8.0.
var sDataConnectionName = “ADRLIST”; // example – var sDataConnectionName = “MyDataConnection”;
var sColHiddenValue = “catID”; // example – var sColHiddenValue = “MyIndexValue”;
var sColDisplayText = “catName”; // example – var sColDisplayText = “MyDescription”;

Now all of the above are working (afaik) as it should, my problems are with the Change script I am (trying) to use to display the contact information of the people in the address book .

Script is in FormCalc, my scripting knowledge are next to nil so I’ve already given up trying to work it out in js.

var xDB = Ref(xfa.sourceSet.ADRDATA.clone(1))
var xKundenummer = xfa.event.newText
var xId = $.boundItem(xKundenummer)
xDB.#command.query.commandType = “text”
xDB.#command.query.select = concat(“SELECT Avdeling, Addresse, Postnummer, Sted FROM Kunder WHERE KundeID = “, xId, ” “)
xDB.open()
xDB.first()

Could it be an issue with me only having one table and basically cat KundeID to.. compare and find KundeID in the same Table? Although on different data connections.

The error I am getting now is;

“Error: open operation failed. Incorrect syntax near ‘=’.”

I’ve looked over the code probably 15 times, compared and cross compared to other similar snippets and I just cant figure out what is wrong.
Also, I’ve noticed Ref($sourceSet… and Ref(xfa.sourceSet… are both used, are there any differences?

Either way if I could get some assistance with this script I would be forever grateful (and so would my boss!) as it is the last part of a huge form-rewamp in my company.

Geir Istad,

When in FormCalc, there’s no difference with “$sourceSet” and “xfa.sourceSet” — they mean the same thing. “$sourceSet” is just a short-cut (not much of one, but that’s what it is).

As for the script error, I’m a little puzzled. Does the error message give you a little more context, like a line number? Your script looks fine to me. You could always try the Syntax Checker in the Script Editor to see if it would flag the line with the error (in Designer 8.1+, the errors will appear in the Warnings palette) or you can check the Log palette to see if there’s more information there.

Hello,

These pages have always been great help, but now I don’t seem able to solve my problem w/o even more help.

Which problem?
Well, a data connection works in Acrobat Pro, but not in Reader. And I’ve “extended” the form.

My set-up:
– Dev-env = LiveCycle Designer v8.05.2073 (on WinXP, everything fully patched)
– Form = Acrobat 7 (Dynamic) XML Form
– Form “extended” with Acrobat Pro 8.1.2 tru “Enable Usage Rights in Adobe Reader…”
– Choices:
— ODBC to System DSN
— Javascript, not Formcalc
— Legacy mode (yes, I’m lazy)
—– I’v entered:

Here’s the script to retrieve data depending on user input:

var oQuery = xfa.resolveNode ( ‘sourceSet.mw.#command.query’ ) ;
oQuery.select.value = ‘ SELECT * FROM [EMPDATA$] WHERE ID = ‘ + IDinput.rawValue + ‘ ; ‘ ;
xfa.sourceSet.mw.open();
xfa.sourceSet.mw.close();

This works like a charm in Acrobat Pro 8 versions on various machines (configured with the needed system DSN) , but not in Reader (7 or 8) on those same machines.
And it won’t work either in Acrobat Pro 7.
It seems that those versions (Pro 7 & Reader 7 or 8) don’t know “xfa.sourceSet”.

How do I get this workig in Reader 7 AND 8?

Hi Stefan…..Im beginner to the Adobe Livecycle designing…So plz can u forward me the code or an example code with explanation for the below task…..
I need to design a pdf form which includes (textfields,checkboxes,dropdownlists and many other controls…)…..My task is : On a button click I have to insert the filled form data into sql database……My E-mail Id is : suresh0534@gmail.com

Suresh talla,

I suggest you have a look at all of my data binding articles/tutorials. There’s lot of information and examples there to get you going.

Thanks for Reply…Stefan Cameron

We have successfully inserted the data from PDF Form into the Sql DataBase using WebServices in Dotnet. Now the Problem is :

I have created a LoginPage in Dotnet( i.e ASPX Page) to Authenticate User…..On successfull Login I want to display the Same UserName on the Acrobat Form ( i.e PDF Form) when the PDF Form gets loaded for the first time…………So my question is how to pass the UserName From ASPX Page to PDF Form……If possible plz send the example code…..

Stefan –

I am trying to populate a dropdown list (filtered) and am using Designer 8.2. The following code works correctly in Acrobat Pro 9.0 but fails in Acrobat Reader 8:

var sEmployeeName = xfa.event.newText
var sEmployeeID = $.boundItem(sEmployeeName)
var oDataConn = Ref($sourceSet.connEmployeeEmail.clone(1))
var sReturnMail = sEmployeeName
oDataConn.#command.query.commandType = “text”
oDataConn.#command.query.select = concat(“SELECT EmailAddress FROM Contacts WHERE ContactID = “, sEmployeeID, “;”)
oDataConn.open()
oDataConn.first()
oDataConn.close()

When it fails, I get that “accessor ‘xfa.sourceSet.connEmployeeEmail.clone(“1”)’ is unknown. Any ideas??

Stefan –

Thank you for the reply. Perhaps you misunderstood my question. I have extended the PDF for data access in Reader. I am able to access unfiltered data from my DSN using the Reader. However, when I attempt to populate a filtered dropdown list using the above script, it fails in Reader and gives me the “accessor ‘xfa.sourceSet.connEmployeeEmail.clone(“1″)’ is unknown” message.

Stefan –

I used Acrobat Pro’s “Extend Feature in Adobe Reader” tool.

Hi Stefan,
First of all I have thank for your web site. It’s very helpful to me.
I have 2 drop down list on my form. Both of them is connected to Access databases. (Countries and cities.) I want to select country on first drop down list then I want to show just selected country’s cities on the second drop down list.
What I did till now is;

I wrote this on first drop down list’s “change” event

var sCategoryId = country.rawValue
var oDataConn = Ref(xfa.sourceSet.DataConnectionCOUNTRY.clone(1))
oDataConn.#command.query.commandType = “text”
oDataConn.#command.query.select = concat(“SELECT * FROM COUNTRY WHERE IL_ID = “, var sCategoryId)
oDataConn.open()

I don’t have any message but i doesn’t work? Do you have any idea?

Thank in advance..

Hi Stefan,
I have changed my script as you advice.

I wrote the script (below) on first DDL’s (drop down list) exit event. But nothing happens.. I choose “A” from first DDL but still get all list of second DDL.

form1.#subform[0].buyuk::exit – (FormCalc, client)
var sCategoryId = buyuk.rawValue
var oDataConn = Ref(xfa.sourceSet.DataConnectionKUCUK.clone(1))
oDataConn.#command.query.commandType = “text”
oDataConn.#command.query.select = concat(“SELECT * FROM KUCUK WHERE KUCUKID= “, sCategoryId)
oDataConn.open()

I have uploaded pdf and access db at this link. Could you please have a look at it?
http://www.medyasoft.com.tr/poc/tuik/ddl.rar

Thank in advance..

Hello,
Am trying to create simple pdf form using livecycle 8.0
Wheni nter employeeid, it should display employee info
but i get “This operation violates your permission configuration”

xfa.sourceSet.DataConnection2.#command.query.commandType = “text”

Please help…am using Acribat 8 to view/run it

also, if possible please let me know if i can use ASP page to output query on PDF form….i am trying to print mailing labels using PDF document

Stefan,
I’m am completely confused and ready to give up. I have a form created in Adobe LiveCycle Designer 8.2 ES to run in Adobe Acrobat Standard and Pro 9.0. Currently the company has job jackets with all customer and job information filled in by hand. I created the form so the info could be typed in and printed onto the jacket. I was able to link the form to a database of customer info so instead of keystroking all the customer info it’s now in drop down lists. I’ve been trying to find a way to update or link the info so once the customer’s name is entered all the customer specific info fills in (i.e. business name, address, email etc.) I know nothing about writing script. I’ve been going through these messages for months and still can’t seem to figure out what to do. I don’t even know what script to write. I’ve tried using the suggestions in many of these messages but nothing works. Do you have any suggestions? Everything I’ve tried comes back with errors from accessor errors to scripting syntax errors.

Just wanted to tell you all know how much I appreciate your postings guys.
Found you though google!

Mark A,

Unfortunately, extending the PDF with Acrobat does not enable the PDF for “data import” — which is required for importing data from a data connection in Reader. You would need to extend the form using LC Reader Extensions to enable data import, or execute the data connection on the server using LC Forms.

Ed,

I’m stumped! I don’t see anything readily apparent in your script that looks like it might be causing that issue.

Things I’ve learned over the past that might help in situations like these are:

• sometimes it’s better to use JavaScript than FormCalc
• a query that results in columns named ‘name’ or ‘id’ can have adverse affects on the form since ‘name’ and ‘id’ are attributes on almost every XFA object there is (the XFA processor gets “confused”)

Perhaps the “delayed open” has something to do with this? Do you need to set that?

Are you certain of the version of XFA you’re using?