use excel spreadsheet to fill in form

Forum|Forum|6 years ago
May 2, 2019
3 replies
833 views

Is there a way for me to create an Excel spreadsheet and use it to fill in information on a pdf form and have it linked so that the template updates if the spreadsheet is updated?

For instance I want to be able to select a lot and block from a community and have it fill in the FEMA community name, the FIRM panel, index date, revised date, flood zone, and 100 year flood plain. Then later if the index date or revised date of a panel change be able to change them in the spreadsheet and have the template reflect that change but I don't want any of the files that were created before the change to update. Perhaps auto mail merge would work?

Acrobat SDK and JavaScript

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Karl Heinz Kremer

Community Expert

I would do this from within an Excel macro, that would then push out information to your PDF file(s)

Look for the IAC API in the Acrobat SDK, that will allow you to “remote control” Acrobat.

jasons35699793Author

Known Participant

I have only marginal skill with excel and even less with JavaScript for acrobat. So far I have been creating templates for the neighborhood and then setting up calculations for various fields because the base form remains the same but certain aspects change for each lot block and address.

Thom Parker

Community Expert

Will this excel sheet always be on the same computer as the PDF? Will more than one person/computer be using it? It would be much easier if you just used a DB on a server, then write a server script to update the DB on a form submit from the PDF. That way the data is centralized.

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

jasons35699793Author

Known Participant

The excel sheets would be created individually for each neighborhood that the elevation certificates need to be completed for. Each municipality has different requirements so for instance one spreadsheet would contain the information for the city as well as the county where as any municipality that does not fall in a city limit would only require the county info. I would like to be able to create PDF templates for each neighborhood that will pull the info from the spreadsheets the research dept. creates to fill in most spots. I would include data such as city, zip, FEMA community ID, county, FIRM panel, Index date, revised date, flood zone and in some cases a value for the 100 year floodplain.

Joel Geraci

Community Expert

It's possible but not trivial. What programming skills do you have and do you need this to function in Acrobat Pro and Reader or just Pro.

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