Form - Lock fields after input but not signatures.

[krs242]

Good Afternoon,

I’ve been reading through the Adobe forums as well as other areas on the net, but can’t seem to find what I am looking for.

At present we are doing the below:

1. User will open a pre-made PDF form in Adobe Acrobat 7 Standard, and input the necessary values for each field.
2. They will then print the form to acrobat making everything on the form non-editable.
3. Then they will send this new non-editable form to one of their supervisors, who would then review the form and insert their digital signature somewhere on the form.
4. The supervisor will then send the form to another supervisor who also reviews the form and creates their digital signature on the form.
5. Then the form is then sent to the manager where the same things happens. The manager will review the form and insert his digital signature somewhere in an open space on the form.

We want to minimize some steps here to make it easier for the users as well as make the form more organized.

Below is what we are trying to accomplish with this form.

1. User will open pre-made PDF form in Adobe Acrobat 7 Standard, and input the necessary values for each field.
2. The user will then push some sort of button that will lock all editable fields (EXCEPT the signature fields, these must be left editable).
3. The user then sends the form to the supervisor, who will review the form and insert their digital signature in the blank signature box at the bottom of the page (I have already completed this step)
4. This supervisor will then send the form to the other supervisor to be reviewed and digitally signed in the next available signature box at the bottom of the page and then it will head on to the next person to be reviewed and signed.

So what I am looking for is a way for the first user to lock the editable fields once they are completed filling them in, course except for the signature fields which are about 10 of them.

Can anyone give me some advice on how to accomplish this? Please do note that I am working with “Adobe Livecycle Designer ES2” as well as “Acrobat X Professional”. Would also be good to mention that I knew nothing of LiveCycle until about an hour ago. So I am very new on how this works. My knowledge on Acrobat Professional I would say is between average to advanced.

Kind Regards,

K

[Jono_Moore]

Check this example by Niall O'Donovan: http://www.assuredynamics.com/index.php/portfolio/lock-all-fields/

It has the script for locking all fields. Basically once that script runs you can add a few extra lines of code that explicitly open access to the fields you want to remain open. ( fieldName.access = "open"; )

[Jono_Moore]

Oh and I believe that script will work on subforms, so if you have all the fields you want locked under one subform hierarchy then you can lock everything in that subform hierarchy leaving other subforms unlocked.

[krs242]

This looks good Jono, thank you.

Though where do i start, like Ive said previously i am brand new to livecycle. Can you give me some step by steps on how i am able to proceed with this with at least dropping the code in to the form?

K

[Jono_Moore]

If you've never used Designer at all then you should probably look at some of the tutorials that come with it.

If you have the time I recommend getting J.P. Terry's book Creating Dynamic Forms with Adobe LiveCycle Designer, it's what got me started using Designer properly. http://www.amazon.com/Creating-Dynamic-Forms-LiveCycle-Designer/dp/0321509870/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpt_1

There are some good tutorials on Niall's site (linked above) and some good video tutorials here: http://truetechtroubleshooting.blogspot.com/

Are you familiar with scripting or JavaScript in particular?

Basically, if you're looking at Niall's example, the code is on the Click event of the "Lock all Fields" button which calls a Script Object (under Variables in the Hierarchy) called AssureDynamics. You need the script editor open so you can see what's going on Window>Script Editor or ctrl-shift-F5 to open it.

I don't think there's an easy way to copy Script Objects between documents, so you would need to insert a Script Object into your Hierarchy (right-click the topmost node in the hierarchy - probably "form1" and select Insert Script Object). Rename it to match "AssureDynamics" and then copy and paste the code from the Script Object in Niall's form into the Script Object in your form. You could then just copy and paste the button from Niall's form into your form.

[krs242]

Thanks again Jono, guess I will need to hit some books.

Im not familiar with scripting at all But will see if i can figure something out.

K

[michaelf6258272]

I am trying to use this script with Adobe Acrobat Pro. It doesn't have some of the features I think that LiveCycle has but I think it will do it. Any suggestions?

[MinusZero]

It is far simpler than you think. I also use ES2.

To be sure, you want to lock the fields and then have the signatures unlocked.

Firstly locking the fields.

Create a button and on the click event add:

In this example. there would be no way to unlock the fields again because the button disappears. You would hide a button somewhere else on the form to unlock if you wish. The access would be "open" to enable the field again.

Signature Fields

For the signature fields, change this setting in the final signature to completely lock down the form. Uncheck the box for all the preceeding signatures so the form stays open.

Incidentally, the drop down box has a setting to manage which fields are locked on signing, you can select specific fields for locking out while excluding others.

Signature 1

Signature 2

Signature 3

If you like, for the preceeding signatures, add a postSign event to lock down that single signature without locking the whole form.

Finished Example

-Fields are locked with button which is hidden

-First signature field is signed and locked while others stay open.

[mouslander]

MinusZero's approach will work, however if there are may fields on the document that needs to be locked this would take an unnecessarily long script.

I would simplify it with:

xfa.resolveNode("form1").access = "protected" // this will protect the whole document

signaturefield1.access = "open" // this will reopen and ensure  the signature field remains sign-able

button1.presence = "hidden" // this will hide the button

[Mogo-Leon]

digging up an old thread sorry.

this looks exactly like what i need, i am new to Adobe, can i how you use the info you have provided?

i have just finished large optioned 3 page form for wheelchair manufacturing. i want clients to be able to sign off on teh details once funding is approved, but when i use adobe sign, it leaves all options open for changes.

any help would be greatly appreciated.

cheers

[mouslander]

If you are using signatures on the form there is an option in the signature to lock fields after signing.

[MinusZero]

As mouslander said above, make sure this is checked in the signature field object properties to lock out the form and make it read only.