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stanleydenman
Known Participant
September 13, 2023
Question

Data via VBA code to PDF form

  • September 13, 2023
  • 2 replies
  • 1686 views

I have been on chat all afternoon with acrobat pro support.  I am sorry, but Adobe really needs to step up the training for their people.  I have been utilizing the following solution on my laptop to get client data from Microsoft Access to a PDF form by filling an xfdf form.  After my code runs I open the xfdf file and I have my nicely filled pdf.

Not working on desktop. Specifically,  the xfdf does fill, because chatgpt (way more helpful than adobe chat) told me to open the xfdf in notepad and see if data was there.  But if I try to open that xfdf file in Acrobat I get the following:  

 

"Adobe could not open ssa1696.pdf because it either not a supported file type or because the file has been damaged (for example it was sent as an email attachment and wasn't correctly encoded.)

To create an Adobe acrobat document, go to the source application.  Then print the document to Adobe PDF"

 

All 3 agents I encountered on chat recited robotically "xfdf is not a supported file".  One had me remove than reinstall Adobe Pro with no change in results.  I think I can have hand-entered the data for 5-6 clients in the time I have spent on this today.

 

 

    This topic has been closed for replies.

    2 replies

    Bernd Alheit
    Community Expert
    Bernd AlheitCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    September 14, 2023

    This works for me:

    1. I fill a form in Acrobat
    2. I export the data as xfdf
    3. I exit Acrobat
    4. I open the xfdf file in Acrobat
    Bernd Alheit
    Community Expert
    Bernd AlheitCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    September 14, 2023

    What happens when you open ssa1696.pdf in Acrobat and import the data?

    S
    stanleydenmanAuthor
    Known Participant
    September 14, 2023

    If  I open the target pdf form in "prepare form" mode, go to "import data" and select the xfdf file, it will populate my form.  I was hoping for a way to pull this off programmatically.  As it is in the VBA code when I go to the target form nothing has filled and the xfdf will not open in Adobe.  But if I open the xfdf in notepad it has been filled with the data from MS Access.  I think I might be missing a step in the VBA to set the values to the pdf form:

    Private Sub Command76_Click()
    On Error GoTo ErrHandle
    Dim xmlDoc As MSXML2.DOMDocument60
    Dim fields As IXMLDOMNodeList, field As IXMLDOMNode
    Dim pathToXML As String, myvar As String
    Dim ClientMiddle As String
    Dim MiddleInitial As String
    Dim ClientSSN As String
    Dim ClientPhone As String

    Set xmlDoc = New MSXML2.DOMDocument60
    pathToXML = "C:\Users\stand\Desktop\ssa1696.xfdf"
    xmlDoc.Load pathToXML
    xmlDoc.SetProperty "SelectionNamespaces", "xmlns:ns='http://ns.adobe.com/xfdf/'"

    ClientMiddle = Nz(Me.MiddleName.Value, " ")
    ClientMiddleInitial = Left(ClientMiddle, 1)
    ClientSSN = Me.SSN.Value
    ClientPhone = Me.HomePhone.Value


    Set fields = xmlDoc.selectNodes("//ns:field")

    For Each field In fields
    Select Case field.Attributes.getNamedItem("name").Text

    Case "ClientSSN"
    field.selectSingleNode("ns:value").Text = Format(ClientSSN, "000-00-0000")

    Case "ClientFirstName"
    field.selectSingleNode("ns:value").Text = Me.FirstName.Value

    Case "ClientMiddleInitial"
    field.selectSingleNode("ns:value").Text = ClientMiddleInitial

    Case "ClientLastName"
    field.selectSingleNode("ns:value").Text = Me.LastName.Value

    Case "ClientMailingAddr1"
    field.selectSingleNode("ns:value").Text = Me.MailingAddr1.Value

    Case "ClientMailingAddr2"
    field.selectSingleNode("ns:value").Text = Nz(Me.MailingAddr2.Value)

    Case "ClientMailingAddrZip"
    field.selectSingleNode("ns:value").Text = Me.Zip.Value

    Case "ClientMailingAddrCity"
    field.selectSingleNode("ns:value").Text = Me.City.Value

    Case "ClientPhone"
    field.selectSingleNode("ns:value").Text = Format(ClientPhone, "000-000-0000")

    Case "ClientMailingAddrState"
    field.selectSingleNode("ns:value").Text = Me.State.Value


    End Select
    Next field

    xmlDoc.Save (pathToXML)
    ExitHandle:
    Set field = Nothing: Set fields = Nothing: Set xmlDoc = Nothing
    Exit Sub

    ErrHandle:
    MsgBox "Error occurred:" & vbCrLf & _
    "Error Number: " & Err.Number & vbCrLf & _
    "Description: " & Err.Description & vbCrLf & _
    "Source: " & Err.Source & vbCrLf & _
    "URL: " & pathToXML, vbCritical
    Resume ExitHandle

    End Sub

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