Participant

Question

Edit multiple dropdown menus at the same time

Forum|Forum|6 years ago
December 23, 2019
2 replies
2082 views

Help!

I've been furiously working on a fillable PDF using Acrobat DC and I have (literally) thousands of dropdown menus that I would like to edit simultaneously. The problem is that the Javascript that I'm trying to edit will not allow me to choose the "Validate" tab if I select more than 1 dropdown to edit.

Is there a way to do this without having to individually select each dropdown menu validation tabs to edit?

More specifically, I want edit all the dropdowns from this:

var f = event.target;
var fv = event.value;

if (fv == "4") {
f.fillColor = color.green;
}
else if (fv == "2") {
f.fillColor = color.yellow;
}
else if (fv == "1") {
f.fillColor = color.red;
}
else {
f.fillColor = color.white;
}

To this:

var f = event.target;
var fv = event.value;

if (fv == "4") {
f.fillColor = color.green;
}
else if (fv == "2") {
f.fillColor = color.yellow;
}
else if (fv == "1") {
f.fillColor = color.red;
}
else if (fv == "D") {
f.fillColor = color.blue;
}
else {
f.fillColor = color.white;
}

Thank you in advance!

This topic has been closed for replies.

try67

Community Expert

If you're using the same script for all fields then you should really put it in a doc-level function and then just call it from the field's event (which you can set using the method described by Thom Parker above).

That would make editing the code later on much, much easier, as you would only need to edit it in one place.

H

hireggieAuthor

Participant

Thank you, Thom and Try67. I'm new to Adobe and I don't know a thing about scripts (or programming) except what I have researched and been able to put together.

If I purchase the subcription, will it be fairly straight forward or do I need some basic knowledge on how scripts work?

To put things in perspective: i don't know what you or Thom are talking about:

1- Convert your "Validation" script into a string, and then use the "field.setAction()" function to set the script to all the dropdowns.

2- put it in a doc-level function and then just call it from the field's event (which you can set using the method described by Thom Parker above).

Does that matter or is the said tool subcription require basic computer skills that seem to elude me?

Thanks guys and happy holidays!

Thom Parker

Community Expert

Try67 has a point, forget converting the code to a string. It's much easier to use a document level script, especially if any changes need to be made later.

To be successful at doing the tasks you'll need to do to get this done, you'll need to learn a bit about scripting in Acrobat. So getting a subscription to PDFScripting.com would be a big help.

Here are the task you need to perform.

1. Convert your code into a function.

2. Place that function code into a Document Level Script

3. Create a script to loop though all the fields on the form and add a function call to each of the fields where it is needed.

So for #1:

function SetDropdownColor()

{

var f = event.target;
var fv = event.value;

if (fv == "4") {
f.fillColor = color.green;
}
else if (fv == "2") {
f.fillColor = color.yellow;
}
else if (fv == "1") {
f.fillColor = color.red;
}
else if (fv == "D") {
f.fillColor = color.blue;
}
else {
f.fillColor = color.white;
}

}

Thom Parker - Software Developer at PDFScriptingUse the Acrobat JavaScript Reference early and often

Thom Parker

Community Expert

Yes, Convert your "Validation" script into a string, and then use the "field.setAction()" function to set the script to all the dropdowns.

You'll find a helper tool here that converts scripts to strings (it's not free).

https://www.pdfscripting.com/public/JavaScript-to-Text-Converter.cfm

Thom Parker - Software Developer at PDFScriptingUse the Acrobat JavaScript Reference early and often

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