Acrobat Pro 9 with Designer 8.2 now available!
You can now purchase Acrobat 9 Standard, Pro and Pro Extended. You can also download Reader 9.0. An updated version of Designer (8.2) is included with the Pro and Pro Extended versions.
I’ve been using Designer 8.2 for quite some time now (working at Adobe does have its perks!) and I must say it’s much more stable than 8.1 and has a lot of really nice, new features to offer such as:
- major tab ordering UI update — we listened to your feedback and made this a whole lot better than it ever was before;
- hyperlink support;
- advanced text formatting with kerning, horizontal/vertical stretch, hyphenation, etc;
- enhancements to the Fragment Library (you can now edit Fragment Info metadata without having to open the fragment and you can also delete fragments right from the Fragment Library);
- contents of fields (text fields, numeric fields, etc.) and text objects can now be split across pages for a nicer layout;
- authenticated web service support.
Those are only the highlights. There are many other little but very significant updates that I’ll be sharing in future blog posts so stay tuned and in the mean time, get the free trial and check it out!
Acrobat/Reader 9.0 also has a host of new features including:
- native support for Flash (you can now embedded SWFs directly into your PDF documents);
- assemble various files together into a cohesive, branded package called a PDF Portfolio;
- and many more features that will enhance productivity and collaboration.
As usual, there are enhancements to XFA-PDF forms in Acrobat/Reader and I’ll be highlighting a few of those as well in future posts.
PS: Note that the standalone version of Designer has not been updated yet. I suspect it’ll be updated very soon however at this time, it looks like the only way to get Designer 8.2 is by downloading/purchasing Acrobat 9.0 Pro/Extended.
July 5th, 2008 at 7:31 am
Hi Stefan-
I have been charged with a huge data collection process of which I am a novice using Acrobat. I now have upgraded to 9.0; and have created the form, I have set up a MySql database on my server and want to make sure that since this will collect from over 1500 organizations, that the form correctly connects and interfaces with the database. I thought I verified the export of content with an Adobe agent into a spreadsheet for identification of fields and captures, but in fact it returns some erroneous data which I don’t understand.
If I could find or be mentored through this one setup and process, I would be clear about exactly how this is accomplished. I have reviewed a few of your articles and thought that I would give out a shout in case you had a more specific tutorial available. I now have the form set up to return to my email IN the original form itself, not just as .xml schema. I am handling this collection process for a state cancer agency whose web person knows less than I so I only want to collect the information, preserve its format in a pdf form, export the information in a database for storage and then convert it into the word template that we must publish in hard copy for a resource guide. The goal of course is to ease updating processes and maintain the data through the database itself and provide user responses on the site based on that database.
I could send you the file if it helps but after multiple calls to Adobe and hawking many of their tutorials, it leaves a lot to be desired for first timers.
Thank you so much!
Julie
July 8th, 2008 at 11:31 am
We’ve been using LiveCycle to create forms that are 508 Compliant and have found a major issue with creating a document in LiveCycle and saving it as a PDF. When brought into Acrobat there are several options that have been lost in the Form Properties menu. Under the advanced tab the Reading Options Language has been grayed out and has no value. Actually, everything in the Advanced tab has been grayed out with no values present. This is a problem because this effects how the Screen Reader interacts with the PDF.
I’ve been in touch with Adobe and JAWS (the screen reader) and neither of them have noticed this issue, though they both agree it is not good. Is there anyone with any sort of solution to this problem; maybe a third party software that rights this wrong or a way around it? And does anybody have an idea of what would cause this? Is there a known problem with integration between LiveCycle and Acrobat?
Also, has anybody been able to test the how a Screen Reader works with a Form done in Acrobat?
July 13th, 2008 at 8:53 pm
Julie Houston,
That sounds like an interesting project! I’m sorry you’re having a difficult time getting started. Based on what you wrote, it sounds like you’re wanting to create a PDF form that allows you to enter data you receive from another source into your MySQL database. If that’s the case, then you should have a look at my tutorials on ODBC (database) data connections: connecting a form to a database, selecting specific database records and displaying all records in a database. It so happens that I used MySQL databases for all of these tutorials so the material should be relevant to your situation.
July 14th, 2008 at 7:20 pm
Ian Hockett,
That’s certainly very frustrating! Unfortunately, I don’t have any advice to offer on that issue but for the benefit of other readers, are you seeing this when you use Acrobat 9.0 or an earlier version?
August 23rd, 2008 at 12:39 pm
Hi Stefan,
I love the LC tutorials and blogs. Really outstanding information and help. Although I’ve studied them all, I’m still having trouble with a simple LC form to add/insert records to an Access database. I want the form open to a new record (using an enabled usage rights Adobe Reader 7), so I’ve inserted the AddNew script in various events: Form-Ready, or Initialize event of the Update Button.
The problem happens when opening in Adobe Reader (any version 7, 8, or 9), even though I’ve extended the usage rights to enable import/export to databases–the infamous Script failed error reports 2 errors, 1 for the .addNew() and the other “. . . Error: accessor ‘$sourceSet.DataConnection.update()’ is unknown.” I’ve developed my forms in LC version 8 and also in the trial version 9, but still I run in to the same issue. I’ve tried system DSNs (which fail silently and DSN-less connections which work great in Acrobat Standard 8–except for a few instances of Acrobat wanting to update to a newer version–which is not allowed–IT holds the only administrator privileges) My time is running out for making this work. It needs to work in Adobe Reader 7.
Any help you can give me and I will be your friend (and Adobe’s for life)!
But please keep in mind, I cannot do the adobe ES server option. My company only employs < 80 and resources are extremely tight! I need this application for Document Control Requests. Requests will be made via the form into the database where the requests to revise, update or create new documentation will be tracked and prioritized. The database will send confirmation emails once they submit their requests via the Adobe LC form opened in Reader version 7 on most machines. We are audited by the FDA for CGMP compliance and our systems have software that been validated using Reader 7 in conjunction with the validated software.
Thanks in advance for your help!
Debbie
August 23rd, 2008 at 5:11 pm
Hi Stefan,
One more note about the Adobe Reader 7.0 database connection failure. I was able to stop the infamous accessor errors in Adobe Reader for the $sourceSet.DataConnection.addNew() and Update by adapting the connection script for the submit to database button. The connection works great in Acrobat 8.0 with a system DSN and with a DSN-less connection string, but silently fails to connect to the database in Adobe Reader (there are no error messages). Here’s my test form script (just testing 3 fields) which was adapted from one of your earlier posts:
—– form1.#subform[0].Button1::initialize: - (JavaScript, client) ——————————–
xfa.sourceSet.DataConnection.addNew();
—– form1.#subform[0].Button1::click: - (JavaScript, client) ————————————-
// Database control button >> update the current record with any changes.
$record.DataConnection.Title.value = Title.rawValue;
$record.DataConnection.Instruc.value = Instruc.rawValue;
$record.DataConnection.Just.value = Just.rawValue;
xfa.sourceSet.DataConnection.update();
xfa.sourceSet.DataConnection.close();
Again, this works perfectly in Acrobat 8.0 Standard and Adobe Professional 8 and 9, but it will not work in any Adobe Reader I’ve tried. I uninstalled and installed 3 different Reader versions on my test computer at home (7, 8, 9)–they all fail to connect to the database even though I’v extended the usage rights via Adobe Professional before trying in Adobe Reader.
Also, in case anyone would like to know how to do a DSN-less connection for a Microsoft Access Database that works in Acrobat Standard or Professional, here’s the instructions (also adapted from an earlier post by a blogger):
Create a new form in Adobe LC. From the menu: File / New Data Connection. At the Dialogue Window, select OLEDB Database and click Next. In the field “Connection String” paste in the connection string below (after you change the path name, folders, and database name to the location of your Access Database: you may also use a UNC \\server\share\ instead of a drive Letter):
Provider=MSDASQL;Persist Security Info=False;Data Source=MS Access Database;Extended Properties=”DSN=MS Access Database;DBQ=H:\DocControl\DCRManager\STL\DCRManager_STL.mdb;DefaultDir=H:\DocControl\DCRManager\STL\DCRManager_STL;DriverId=25;FIL=MS Access;MaxBufferSize=2048;PageTimeout=15;”
After you paste in the corrected connection string. select the radio button for table and use the drop down menu to select which table you’d like to connect to in the database. If you don’t see any tables, then check the connection string to be sure you have the path and names correct. After you select the table, click next, I leave the fields empty for User and Password and click finish.
You should see all of the fields from the database on the left in the Data View Palette. I select the purple colored Data Connection to drag and drop all of the fields onto the blank form. It’s a quick and easy way to get the form started.
Switch to preview PDF view and check to make sure the connection works. Then you just need to add the Javascript (above) for the submit to database button and everything should work fine in Acrobat Standard or Adobe Professional. I only wish it would work in Adobe Reader. I’ve tested the DSN-less connection on other computers at work in Acrobat Standard and everything is perfectly peachy–but not so for Adobe Reader.
If you have any suggestions, Stefan, or if anyone else knows how to solve the Adobe Reader connection to a database Riddle, please let me know. I need to get my form working, or I’ll have to start from scratch again and develop something like Data Access page. Remember, I must go low cost for this solution.
Thanks again!
Debbie
August 25th, 2008 at 4:02 pm
Debbie Freshwater,
Unfortunately, the problem is that the free Reader cannot, on its own, connect to a database and import/export data. This functionality must be either (1) enabled in the PDF using LiveCycle Reader Extensions ES or supported on the server with LiveCycle Forms ES.