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MatthewTingeyAMUCU
MatthewTingeyAMUCU
Participant
May 20, 2016
Answered

Using a Digital Signature Field, "Execute Once Signed" Javascripts are Not Working on Spawned Template.

  • May 20, 2016
  • 2 replies
  • 1027 views

I've been searching all over and can't find a solution to this problem.

I have fields that display the current date after the digital signature field is completed.  We're doing the signing via a physical signature pad (using an add-on called Topaz.GemSignPlus).  When I set up the fields, it works beautifully (and I've done this dozens of times before on many other forms); it shows the signature complete and verified and the date populates into the read-only "Date Signed" text field.  But when I make my form page into a template and spawn copies of the template it doesn't work.  Javascripts that I have set-up on other fields (usually triggered on MouseUp) work just fine on the spawned template.  I can even get MouseUp and OnBlur scripts to work from the Digital Signature field, and those will work just fine on the spawned template (but are not an ideal solution because they end up showing as a change and invalidates the signature verification).  So I really need to be using the the "Execute Once Signed" section of the Digital Signature field, but the Javascripts refuse to run from this section on the Spawned Template pages.

I am spawning my templates maintaining the original field names (necessary for functionality of other scripts), so I am technically ending up with two copies of each field (Signature#0 on the original hidden template which the user cannot access or view and Signature#1 on the newly spawned template).  I'm suspect this part of my problem, because I've noticed in the Javascripts that all my MouseUp and OnBlur scripts get edited with Annot1, Annot2, Annot3, etc. on each spawned template, but the "Execute Once Signed" scripts don't do that part about the Annot.

I'm running Acrobat XI versions 11.0.16 on Windows 7.

This topic has been closed for replies.
Correct answer Karl Heinz Kremer

In that case, it's very likely a bug. If something works sometimes, but not all the times, it's a pretty good candidate for a bug report. You can report bugs in Acrobat here: Feature Request/Bug Report Form

2 replies

Karl Heinz Kremer
Community Expert
Karl Heinz KremerCommunity Expert
Community Expert
March 29, 2017

I must have missed your original post.

I just checked with Acrobat XI, and I see a slightly different behavior: All non-signature fields are available on the newly spawned pages, and they have the same names as the fields on the original template and all other pages spawned from that template. The signature however is only on the first spawned page, and does not show up on any other spawned pages.

This is what I would have expected.

You can copy and paste a non-signature field, and have an identical copy of the first one. Actually, you don't have a new form field, you have a new instance of the original field. That is why you automatically get any data entered in one instance to show up in the other instances. This does not work with signature fields: you can only have one instance of a  signature field. If you try to copy and paste a signature field, nothing will paste.

What you are trying to do cannot work. You need to redesign your solution.

MatthewTingeyAMUCU
MatthewTingeyAMUCUAuthor
Participant
March 29, 2017

I'm actually only making one copy of each spawned form, so it is not an issue regarding having multiple copies of a signature field.

I'm using the spawn template as a workaround for the fact that I can't show/hide pages in Adobe Reader (which the majority of our staff use).  By default the templates are all hidden, and it spawns and deletes them as needed as a "show page" and "hide page" workaround.  Reader lets me spawn pages and delete spawned pages, but I can't show/hide regular pages or create/delete regular pages.  The form works beautifully for the most part including the signature fields.  The only issue I have is that the "Execute Once Signed" script that exists on all of my signature fields to populate a "date signed" field doesn't consistently work.  It actually works sometimes, just not all the time.  Sometimes it won't work on one particular signature field, I clear the signature and try again, and then it does work.

So I know the issue has nothing to do with the structure of my form, my javascripts, or how I'm using the spawn template functionality.  There's just something causing the "Execute Once Signed" script to not be kicked off.  I suspect this issue has to do with the spawned templates, simply because this is the only form I have this issue with, and it's the only form I'm using the templates with.  But it could also just be due to the length of the form (it's several dozen pages long with dozens of signature fields).  Whatever the case, there is something that prevents that script from triggering sometimes.  It feels like a software bug to me...

Karl Heinz Kremer
Community Expert
Karl Heinz KremerCommunity ExpertCorrect answer
Community Expert
March 29, 2017

In that case, it's very likely a bug. If something works sometimes, but not all the times, it's a pretty good candidate for a bug report. You can report bugs in Acrobat here: Feature Request/Bug Report Form

MatthewTingeyAMUCU
MatthewTingeyAMUCUAuthor
Participant
March 29, 2017

Nearly a year later and I'm still experiencing this issue.  Does anyone have any suggestions!?

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