Adobe Acrobat 8 Professional

PDF Forms: Capturing Data

Using forms to capture information can assist in the timely collection of data; however, getting a large amount of data into a useful format can be time-consuming and overwhelming. You can instead use optional hidden form fields to capture the data to a data file as the user completes the form.

Prior to capturing data, you must create a data file using the following steps:

Establishing a Share for Collecting Data
Establishing a File for Data

Once the data file is created, you must modify the form within Acrobat by using the following steps:

Fields for Capturing Results to a Data File
Inserting the Optional Hidden Form Fields

Establishing a Share for Collecting Data

The file that will hold your data must be located on a special forms data directory (share). This allows information to be sent to the file each time a user completes the form, although the user cannot otherwise access or make changes to the directory where the form data is stored. If you do not already have access to a data share, you must establish an account to gain access.

NOTE: When your account on the forms data directory has been created, you will receive a confirmation email. This message will contain the name of the share you need to map to and the directory name to use, so you can create the initial file and retrieve its data.

Send an email message to web@uwec.edu
Include the following information:
* Your name
* Web publishing account name
* Names of others needing access
* Email addresses of others needing access
* Whether access is needed for Macintosh or Windows computer(s)
Follow the instructions in the confirmation email to map to your forms data share

Establishing a File for Data

The file that will be used for capturing the data does not need to contain any data, but you must at least create an empty file to store the data in. When users complete the form, their data is appended to the end of the file.

Map to the location of your forms data share
NOTES:
This information was sent to you in the confirmation email.
For information on mapping a drive, see Connecting to Network Drives.
Once the network drive is mapped and open, from the Folders list, select your forms data share
In the Contents list, right click » select New » Text Document
In the Name field, type a name for the document
NOTE: The filename should not include spaces.
Press [Enter]
The new file for data capture is created.

Fields for Capturing Results to a Data File

The following table explains the hidden form field names and values used to store form results in a data file. These hidden fields ensure that the form data is sent to your data file, which can then be read in a Microsoft Word table, a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet, or even a Microsoft Access Database.

NOTES:
We strongly recommend that anyone wishing to use these options be familiar with importing files with delimiting characters.
In order for any of your form information to be captured to a data file, all these fields must be included.

Field Name	Value
append_db	The value must specify the path and filename of the data file. Format: directoryname/filename.txt (note that the -f of your share name is not included in the directory name) EXAMPLE: If your share name is joesmith-f, and the text file you created is named data.txt, you would append your results to joesmith/data.txt NOTES: The initial blank data file must be created on the server prior to using the script. For more information, refer to Establishing a Share for Collecting the Data.
db_fields	Specify the fields which should be appended to the text file. Format: fieldname,fieldname,fieldname EXAMPLE: realname,email,phone NOTES: Any field not specified in db_fields will not be appended to the file. Field names are case sensitive.
db_delimiter	Specify the separator character to be used between fields in the data file. Avoid using common characters (e.g., : @ / ). We recommend using characters that are less likely to be entered by users (e.g., % ^ ; \| ).

Inserting the Optional Hidden Form Fields

You must be using the UW--Eau Claire forms processing script in order to have your form's data sent directly to a data document. In addition to the script, you must insert the three hidden form fields discussed in this document.

Open the PDF file that you will use for the form
From the View menu, select Toolbars » Forms
The Forms toolbar appears.
Click TEXT FIELD TOOL
Position the cursor on the page where you want the text field to begin
Click and drag the mouse until the text field reaches the desired size
Release the mouse button
The Text Field Properties dialog box appears.
Select the General tab
In the Name text box, type the name of the appropriate hidden form field
In the Common Properties section, from the Form Field pull-down list, select Hidden
Select the Options tab
In the Default Value text box, type the appropriate value for the hidden form field
Click CLOSE
Repeat steps 3-12 until you have entered all the needed hidden form fields