Convert Table cells and their content to a form field with the same content

So it looks like the only way to do this would be through scripting and I'm not a scripter.

Here's what I'd need the script to do specifically, it will be easier to understand by looking at the example.

We would need the script to find the last column of each table except for the header (the bit that says 'SALE') and turn those cells into form fields with the text from within those cells (ie. the product code) as the name of those 'form fields'. The product code text within the last column are all formatted with a unique Paragraph Style if that were needed for the script to identify them.

So my question is, does that sound scriptable, and how would I go about getting it done?

Thanks

Barry 🙂

If you are in no rush then I could add it as a new rule for my ID-Tasker - but PC/Windows only. 

Hi Barry,

There's no built-in way to populate text fields with default text using InDesign alone.

This is something that can be done with my (not-free) FormMaker add-on, though: https://www.id-extras.com/products/formmaker/

What even FormMaker can't do, yet, is convert a table full of info into a table of text fields, one per cell, containing the contents of each cell. It's actually a nice idea, and is definitely scriptable.

Here is a suggestion and if you are interested I can go into more details.

Acrobat can import tab delimited data into existing form fields of a PDF. Create the master Indesign document with form fields in the table as you have shown. Then you could create a master spreadsheet that contains the data that you would need for the print version. Import data in Acrobat. The spreadsheet could be used by the customer so they could import their data into the PDF. For the print version, you can flatten the PDF of all form fields and create a static document.