open another pdf from an existing pdf form

[Former Community Member]

Hi Experts,

I have a complex 10 page interactive form with lots of user entered fields (100s of them) - on field validation I want to show another pdf having all the details of the invalid entries in the parent form. xfa.host.messageBox() does provide me with a popup, but the no of fields make it unsuitable for showing in a messageBox() instead I want it to be displayed in a separate pdf form which will open up once user clicks submit button on the form.

Also I would like to know if there is any way to link the second form to the first one so that when the user clicks on any entry of the validation error log in the second form he will be directed to the first form with the field having missing entry or wrongly populated being highlighted.

Thanks in advance.

Regards

Rohit

[Niall_O_Donovan]

Hi Rohit,

It is possible to link PDFs but this would mean you have to distribute both the form and the second PDF. Check out 'Hyperlinks' in the LC Designer help file.

I think it would be easier to have the content of the second PDF, as hidden pages at the end of the form. Then if the validation fails you are just making the hidden pages visible and setting focus to the first page of the now visible content. A button can then be scripted to hide the support pages again.

Also it will be much easier to provide linkage between the error message and the object that failed validation, because they will both be within the same form.

John Brinkman has a good example of a form that provides validation feedback to the user: Validation Patterns: Part 3 but I am not sure that this is the most up to date version.

Hope that helps,

Niall

[Former Community Member]

Thanks Niall for that approach - I will try that out and update you if it fits our requirements.

Regards.

Rohit

[Niall_O_Donovan]

Hi Rohit,

Visually you can change the look and feel of the support pages, so that the user knows the form from the support:

Here is a form with a help button. The help pages are normally hidden and the users only sees these pages when they explicitly ask for them. Hitting the button will make the help pages visible and move the focus to the first help page.

The help pages have a blue background (the colour is visible on the screen, but doesn't print off - save ink):

Niall

[Former Community Member]

In the latest version of designer you can have all of the validation errors reported at the same time. They will appear in a common message box.

You can set these settings in the File/Form Properties/Form Validation

Paul