Tab order issue

[Former Community Member]

Could use some help. I can't get the tab order to work. I have set the tab order and my document has a logical field order, but it keeps skipping over certain fields. The funny thing is that if I move one of the fields down 1/2 an inch, it'll work. This of course makes the document look bad however. Can someone tell me why the tab order would be completely ignored if I just shift a text field?



thanks

[Former Community Member]

Hi Ryan, are you using Acrobat or Designer to create your form? Tab order is a little different depending on the tool.



If you are using Acrobat then the tab order can be controlled using the page properties window. With Designer, you have a menu option that allows you to change the "Z-Order" by clicking on the fields in the order you wish them to tab.



You can also code the positioning using script if you do get stuck.

[Former Community Member]

I am using Designer 7. I used the "View tab order" and put them in the proper order, but it still skips certain fields. The form I am creating is pretty basic. Any chance I could e-mail this form to you in order to show you what I'm talking about?

[Former Community Member]

Sure Ryan, email to lsutton (at) adobe (dot) com.

[Former Community Member]

any solution to this issue? I am having the same problem. it does not remember the tab order

[Former Community Member]

We ultimately got around this issue with some java code added. We found that the radio buttons were definitely contributing, so we took them out of the order, hence forcing the user to mouse click to these. I'd suggest matching your hierarchy to your tab order first if you haven't already done so. This tended to fix some of the tab order between text fields at least.

[beniakawa]

How do you take java button out  of the tab order?

[Former Community Member]

yes I just noticed that our hierarchy is not in the correct order. I will move the items around and see if this helps. Thanks for the tip.

[Former Community Member]

that didn't help. i must be honest and say that if you have a tab order helper that you can choose the number for the controls tab order and it doesn't go in that order, its nuts and its wasting time trying to sort it out. what is the point of being able to set the tab order if it doesn't work?

[Former Community Member]

Ok I have figured it out. In the "PDF structure" tab you need to have everything lined up as well, in the same object. IE

. It is totally unstrcutured compared to the rest of the PDF but it fixed my problem and this is with the radio buttons as well.

[Former Community Member]

I just downloaded Adobe Acrobat 8.0 and I am using Adobe LiveCycle Designer. I am having the same issue. I click on the tab order. I order the fields (numbers verify that I have the order I want) and guess what? When I hit the tab key, the cursor goes in a different order from field to field than what I have seleted.



HELP! This is really going to confuse the people I am creating the form for.

[Former Community Member]

When you check the XML representation of the form, does the traverse ref attribute contain the value of the next field on your form?

[Former Community Member]

I would make sure your hierarchy is in the same order as your tabs as well.

[Former Community Member]

Ah ha! I was not aware of this xml file. I moved the out of order field from the bottom to the third position in this file, where it belonged, then renamed the toolTip. It works now.



Thank you for your very quick reply!

Sherry

[Former Community Member]

Same issue, have checked and Hierarchy, PDF Structure and XML Source all in correct order. But tabbing through the document is still in the wrong order.



Using LiveCycle Designer 8.0



The project I'm looking at is thousands of pages of existing pdf and word applications that need to be made into forms.



Is there a solution to this problem or do I need to look elsewhere for a product that can do this?

[Former Community Member]

I'm having the same problem!! I've completed the form exactly the way I wanted it in LiveCycle 8.0. However when I check it in Adobe Reader my tabs are all messed up. My Hierarchy is the same order as my tabs, My XML Source has already been changed so the form will work with Adobe Reader 6.0. I've even cleared the tab order in Adobe Reader. Any suggestions?

[Former Community Member]

I got a reply from Adobe. In LiveCycle, Save As - Adobe 7, then it works. On some exisiting forms that are not following the order, I needed to go back through reseting the tab numbers before it settled in to the correct order in Reader.

[Former Community Member]

I'm experiencing the same tabbing issue and have not found any answers to it. My Hierarchy is correct, checked the XML file and still nothing. I started off with Designer 8 so I can't save as - 7.

[Former Community Member]

I was having this problem and Saving As Acrobat 7 (instead of Acrobat 6) , then resetting the Tab sequence worked for me.

[Former Community Member]

Can someone tell me how a user can tab between radio buttons. I have set up radio buttons, but can't seem to tab between the buttons, only arrow through. My webmaster is requiring tabbing between the buttons.

[Former Community Member]

If you created your form in Designer 7 or later I don't think you can. Using the arrow keys between radio buttons is the new norm I believe. Someone correct me if I am wrong.