advice from experience

[EL_Dot]

I've decided that LC is a fit for my next project and I'm looking to wade through it to find the tools I should specificially look at to develop my document.  My project is creating a rather large checklist that will simplify a code review process.

To give context of the checklist, the statements will be similar to these:

"A clear width of 60" is provided on the interior side of the entry door"

"Multiple bathrooms are provided in the unit"

"An accessible path is provided directly from the unit to the exterior of the building"

With each statement, there will be a pulldown either "Yes", "No", etc.

The end product will be a single PDF that an individual can use, and this file will not be sent to anyone else.

The main elements I would love to be able to provide within the PDF are:

1. Pulldown menus will enable and disable other parts of the PDF dependent on the answer given.  Ability to grey out the disabled areas, or abbreviate them to minimize space is a plus.

2. Be able to hover over a part of the checklist will show a "bubble" that will have more information about that particular section, to minimize space.

3. Create links within the document that will move the user to a different page of the document.  Ability for the document to remember which section was viewed previously is a plus.

My questions are, are all these elements feasible?  Which tools will I need to focus on to get these results?  If it would be best to hire expert help to complete this, where do you recommend looking?

Great advice from here in the past, thanks as always

[Niall_O_Donovan]

Hi,

Firstly because the form will be potentailly used for code compliance in relation to building regulations, just check if the user is going to print off a blank form and use that to complete the survey. They might then come back to the office to fill the results into the PDF. Ifthat is the potential case, then drop downs are not the friendliest when printed out. A series of radiobuttons "Yes", "No", "N/A" may work better.

You can still script against the rawValue of the group of radio buttons to make other elements visible/hidden or open/readOnly.

Depending on whether the form is going to be used in printed format may direct you to disabling (greying out) fields as opposed to hiding. Both approaches are relatively easy to script:

Visibility is one line of script:

clearWidth.presence = "hidden"; // you will need a flowable layout if you want the form object to move to close the space

Greying out may take a few lines depending on the visual affect you want:

clearWidth.access = "readOnly"; // locks the field

clearWidth.caption.font.fill.color.value = "235,235,235"; // greys out the caption

clearWidth.border.fill.color.value = "235,235,235" // greys out the box

The second requirement is very straight forward. If you click on an object you can go to the Object / Accessibility tab (if this is not open in you workspace you can turn it on in the Windows menu). This provides a space for typing in a tooltip (hint in a bubble when the user hovers over a field). If you leave this blank then the tooltip will be the caption of the field, which isn't particularly useful. When typing in a tooltip you can press Alt and Enter to input new lines.

The third requirement can be provided with straightforward script "setFocus". Acrobat keeps track of the previous view. If the user holds Alt and presses the left arrow on the keyboard they are brought back through previous views. A simple instruction in the notes page should cover this.

I think everything you want (for the form) is achievable in LC. The help file will give you guidance on the solutions above.

Good luck,

Niall