Can't get a prompt to collect dataset.
Hi Tamilgodi,
I have looked at your posts to LiveDocs and the Adobe responses.I can't see your screenshots, but here goes...
Overall I would think that the management of forms has improved in Acrobat 9 (personal opinion).
It doesn't matter whether you are emailing the form out to users and then getting the responses back by email, OR if you are hosting the forms on Acrobat.com (or your own server).
The first step is to prepare your forms before you send them out. Open the form in Acrobat and select Forms / Distribute Form... This will automatically setup the a distribute version of the form and the responses file. Each of these will be based on your original form name (see below).
At this stage you can send out your distribute version of your form either by email or using the free Acrobat.com service. The second option does give you tracking facilities and the abilty to re-email participants.
Either way when you start to get responses back you just open Acrobat and select Forms / Compile Returned Forms... This will allow you to specify the _responses file (that Acrobat automatically generated in the first step) and all of the individual responses you have received.
When you click OK, Acrobat will open up a portfolio with all of the responses in a list. You can open each form and see the individual responses. You can also rack and stack the responses using the tools on the left.
Note that if you use the Acrobat.com service then the Tracker will automate this process for you.
I hope that helps,
Niall
Hi Tamilgodi,
I don't see the screenshot, but let's work on...
In relation to previous versions, I think that "Datasets" are no longer applicable to v9. Acrobat automatically stores the responses in the "_responses.pdf" file. This is provided you have distributed the form through Acrobat first.
I think you are using Acrobat Standard v9. That is not an issue as the Acrobat.com should be a feature of the Standard version.
The help file for Standard also states:
Acrobat provides several distribution options in the Send For Shared Review and Distribute Form wizard. When choosing an option, consider the security needs for the distributed file, what servers or websites your recipients can use to download the file, and how you want to receive comments or form data.
Acrobat.com
Acrobat.com is a free, secure web service that works with Acrobat. Participants download a file from Acrobat.com, and add comments or forms data using Acrobat. When finished, participants publish comments or submit secure form responses to Acrobat.com. Form responses are also stored on your hard drive as they are returned. When using Acrobat.com, you can also allow reviewers or form submitters to open and share the PDF in a live chat session.
Internal server
You can use your own internal server location if your recipients work behind a firewall and all have access to a common server. The server can be a network folder, Microsoft SharePoint workspace (Windows only), or a web server folder. You can include a link to your distributed PDF or send it as an attachment in an email message. For reviews, published comments are uploaded to the server. For forms, responses are stored on your hard drive as they are returned.
Note: Web server folders are not available for form distribution.
When you specify your own server, the wizard prompts you to save a profile with the server location and the distribution options you chose. The next time you distribute a PDF, the saved profile is available as an option in the wizard.
The Distribute Forms wizard has an option for sending a form as an email attachment. You can send the form using your own email client, or use the wizard to create an email message in which the form file is attached. Once your recipients fill out and submit the form, the responses are returned to your mailbox. Each response is copied into a master response file.
The email attachment option is not available in the Send For Shared Review wizard. To start the wizard for an email-based review, choose Comments > Attach For Email Review.
The following are the screenshots of what I see when I distribute forms to Acrobat.com. Click Forms / Distribute Form... I hope that you have similar choices:
We have previously set up a free account on Acrobat.com. When you click Next (above) Acrobat logs you into your Acrobat.com account (it may ask for your log in details).
Once Acrobat has resolved the email addresses (it could't resolve the above addresses). It will open the tracker window, which was in my previous post. At this stage the form is distributed and the receipents will have received their notifications.
One issue you may be having is that the receipents have to be using the free Acrobat Reader version 9 as a minimum. Now I know that you have the Standard version, but it may be that your system also have the Reader installed. I would recommend that you download the Reader v9 as well and see if that resolves it.
I appreciate that you are experienced in distributing forms, and I only include the screenshots to show you what I am seeing.
I really hope that this helps,
Niall
Hi Niall
I am using Acrobat 9 Pro. I also downloaded reader 9 and tried but there was no difference. Currently I have both. I don't undertand the reason for the form to be returned with an error meesage saying that the recipient does not have acrobat 9 or reader 9.
I also cannot see the following option.
http://forums.adobe.com/servlet/JiveServlet/showImage/2524/02-05-2009+12-10-02.pngIs there some setting I need to change in my acrobat?
BR
Tamilgodi
Hi Tamilgodi,
OK, try the following:
- Set up an account with Acrobat.com (if you don't have one already) www.acrobat.com;
- Look at the preferences, to see that you can connect to and manage your Acrobat.com account (see below).
The options do not specifically turn on or off Acrobat.com. So I don't think that there is something you need to do to get this to work.
This should work; I am at a bit of a loss as to why you are having trouble.I have had a good look at the Acrobat.com blog and forum - here are a few posts that may help:
http://forums.adobe.com/thread/425823?tstart=0
http://forums.adobe.com/thread/425102?tstart=0 (this indicates that your email client may be an issue)
If that does not work, it might be worth putting a post to the Acrobat forum or the Acrobat.com forum.
Sorry I can't be of more help!
Good luck,
Niall
PS Even if you cannot log into Acrobat.com or distribute your form using Acrobat.com you should be able to following the steps above to prepare a form for distribution by email ("_distribute.pdf"). When you get the responses back by email, use the "_responses.pdf" to collate responses. These are the only components you need, you do not need datasets.
In relation to the form itself, please check the target version in the Form Defaults window, if this is set too high (Version 9 or later) then users with earlier versions may not be able to open the form. Try setting the target version to "Version 7.0.5 or later". When you have changed this go to the Warnings Tab to check if your form has features that are not compliant back to version 7, if this is the case then you could try Version 8 or change the functions.
Hope this works....
N.
Hi Niall
I appreciate all your help. I will post my question at Acrobat forum.
For your information, I can't see Acrobat in Preferences too! After Accessibility comes Batch Processing (see pict below)
Thanks and have a nice day!
BR
Tamilgodi
