Submit form by email - doesn't work

[_Roger_Kojecky_]

You create a form using the wizard, with prominent buttons to print and email the completed form as an attachment.



When the recipient has completed the form and used the button to submit/return it by email the attachment is not a modified/completed PDF but an XML file.



Some people may want an XML file because they are handling numerous returns for input to a data table. I don't. I expect the default for this feature to be a completed PDF. But this does not appear to be an option.



I have looked in vain for some way to select a Property 'Submit As' which offers the PDF option.



There are others in the forums bemused by this failure in the programming. Adobe, please tell us of a solution or fix, or at least improve the onscreen information to reduce expectations and warn users to save and attach completed forms manually. Better still, fix it with a Submit As PDF option.



Thanks

[_Aandi_Inston_]

> I expect the default for this feature to be a completed PDF. But this does not appear to be an option.



Yes, it is. You can do this by creating a regular button, not an

e-mail button, and setting it accordingly.



But just to be sure - are you aware that by default only people with

Acrobat (not the free Reader) could submit this form?



>There are others in the forums bemused by this failure in the programming.



Well, I wouldn't call it a failure in programming, but a lot could be

done in the design to make this more understandable and reduce

annoyance.



> improve the onscreen information to reduce expectations and warn users to save and attach completed forms manually



You realise that by default people with Reader can't do that either?



Aandi Inston

[Former Community Member]

When you say not the free Reader, does that include the newest version of Reader? What can be done using the newest version of Reader as far as forms being submitted? -- Thanks, Rhonda

[_Aandi_Inston_]

> What can be done using the newest version of Reader as far as forms being submitted?



Submitting in XML format.





Aandi Inston

[Former Community Member]

Rhonda,

Reader will only allow the end user to view the PDF form. Submitting, and filling in the form can only be done with Acrobat. The two exceptions to this are if the user is inside of the LiveCycle workspace tool. In this case Reader is able to complete and submit forms just like Acrobat can. The other exception is if the form itself has been Reader Extended. Then whatever rights were set up when the form was Reader Extended would apply when the form was opened with Reader. By default though the free Reader tool is not capable of allowing the user to fill in a form, or submit it by any means.

[Former Community Member]

Thanks Kyle.

Please forgive me for being so dense. I have Adobe Web Premium CS3 (hopefully that tells you what all I have) and Reader 8. Do I have the one that would have the Reader Extended option? -- Thanks, Rhonda

[Former Community Member]

Thank you Aandi but can you elaborate ? -- Thanks, Rhonda

[_Aandi_Inston_]

>Thank you Aandi but can you elaborate ? -- Thanks, Rhonda



I'm not sure I can, very much. This is the normal way of submitting by

e-mail (though "submitting by email" isn't very reliable and isn't

suitable for important or business purposes).



What is submitted is an XML file. This can be imported back, in

Acrobat, to fill the form again.



By the way, LiveCycle Reader Extensions is a separate product, costing

much more than the Creative Suite.



Aandi Inston

[Former Community Member]

Rhonda,

You'll have to forgive my ignorance, but I am unfamiliar with the Web Premium CS3 tool of which you speak. Reader Extensions is a feature that can be added to the LiveCycle ES installation at a give location. Someone can correct me if I'm wrong here, but I believe you need LiveCycle ES in order to reader extend PDF forms.



Any forms that are developed in designer, no matter how sophisticated they may be (dynamic in nature, with all kinds of business logic goodness built in, and buttons to do everything from print to submit via email), will just view as a static PDF with the free reader tool (ver 6.0, 7.2, 8.0, etc...). Reader extending a PDF file is an extra step that is done after the form has been completed (completion of development). LiveCycle ES allows for a user to perform many of the functions that Acrobat allows (filling in of forms, and submitting them) with just the free Reader client being loaded on the end users machine. Of course the form must be filled in through the LiveCycle workspace tool, and would appear to be a static PDF file if the form was downloaded and viewed with Reader outside of the workspace tool. Again, the exception to this being if the PDF has been Reader Extended.

[Former Community Member]

Thanks Kyle,

Web Premium CS3 includes: Bridge, contribute, Device Central, ExtendScript Toolkit 2, Fireworks, Flash Pro, Flash Video Encoder, Illustrator, Livecycle Designer, and Photoshop - plus of course the Acrobat 8 Pro. I also have Reader 8 and Distiller 8. I wonder if the ExtendScript Toolkit 2 could be the Reader Extended you all speak of. -- Thanks, Rhonda