PDF to autopopulate from an XML on a server

[aeromon1]

HI Everyone

Brand new to building PDF's with Livecycle and have big dreams/hopes

What i would like to do it this...

I have a website where clients can download a PDF form which they can fill out and fax/email to me.

Basically, i would like the PDF to have a table which has the following headings - Product ID, Description, Price, Quantity, Total

I would like for them to download the pdf only to their computer and have an XML sheet on my server. When they type in the Product ID (which will be unique to some clients), the description and price fills in and then they can type a quantity, and the form is all filled in nice and neat (which they can then print and fax or email to me)

So i need 2 peices of my puzzle

1) can i have a sheet to autopopulate the other feilds based on an XML file on another server ??? (something like www.blahblahblah.com/data.xml as a data source- this way i can edit the XML file whenever i need to)

2) i need some examples/tutorials/information as to how to build such a sheet with autopopulation. I tried creating a data connection with a sample XML sheet, but have never worked with Livecycle or XML before and am struggling with this...

Thanks So much!!!

[Niall_O_Donovan]

Hi,

Just to warn you that the capabilities of your form may be restricted depending on whether the user has Acrobat or Reader and if (and how) you have Reader Enabled your form, before you send it out.

Here is a summary:

http://assurehsc.ie/blog/index.php/2010/05/using-livecycle-forms-in-acrobat-and-reader/

There are two ways of applying Reader rights:

• One is using Acrobat Standard v9 (or Acrobat Professional v8). However there are licensing restrictions, see the EULA.
• The other is LiveCycle Reader Extensions ES2, which is a server product and is intended for processing large volumes of data. There is additional costs involved, talk to an Adobe rep in your area. 

Stefan Cameron has some excellent web service call resources on his blog:http://forms.stefcameron.com/

Here are some resources that you might find helpful:

http://www.adobe.com/go/learn_lc_scriptingBasics

http://www.adobe.com/go/learn_lc_scriptingReference

http://www.adobe.com/go/learn_lc_formCalc

http://www.adobe.com/devnet/livecycle/articles/Adobe_XML_Form_Object_M odel_Refer ence.pdf

http://www.adobe.com/devnet/acrobat/pdfs/lc_migrating_acrobat_xmlform. pdf

And a very handy resource (and while it is for version 6 it is still very good because of the way it is laid out):http://partners.adobe.com/public/developer/en/tips/CalcScripts.pdf

The help file also helps with syntax and LC Designer comes with templates/examples.

Lastly, check out the Developer's Network on http://www.adobe.com/devnet/livecycle/

Hope that helps,

Niall