How to Auto-Populate based on selection of particular items in a drop down menu?

[Michael.Walker8]

Good Morning Everyone,

This is my first time using the forums here. First, let me start by introducing myself. I am Michael and I am currently serving in the United States Army. I am not an expert when it comes to Adobe but do know a few basic things. I have done some research on the forums which has helped me create a pretty solid form in Adobe Acrobat Pro. I serve as a Brigade School NCO which essentially means I service over 1,000 soldiers to get them to whatever school they require. With any school request we need what is called a "Service School Worksheet" which is essentially a military memorandum formatted to enter pertinent student data that is required to process school actions. I created this form to standardize the worksheet so everyone's will look exactly the same which is why I was using drop downs and script to force capitalization of everything on the form. At this point the form is pretty solid but I need some assistance with a few other things. I have the form setup so that the soldiers leadership can sign but data can be changed in case a school request needs to be changed after it is approved.

What I would like to have is when certain drop downs are selected it will automatically populate data in other drop down fields. I will do my best to explain what this will look like in order to provide all the data necessary for someone to help me out. I have the following fields on my form which I need to auto-populate:

FISCAL YEAR: Drop down box, which simply is the fiscal year the school will take place.

SCHOOL CODE: Drop down box, the training system uses codes which will have a select number of courses under (I will attempt to attach this)

COURSE NUMBER: Drop down box, each course has its own course number assigned to it.

COURSE TITLE: Drop down box, the name of the course.

REPORT DATE: Date box, the date the soldier reports to school.

START DATE: Date box, the date the school actually starts.

END DATE: Date box, the date the school ends.

For the fields School Code, Course Number and Course Title I have them set so users of the form can enter their own information if need be. What I would like the form to do is when a school code is selected it will auto-populate data for the course number field (I will attach examples). Based on the course number selection I would like the form to auto-populate the course title field. This is the most basic functions I would like to have automated. I will try to explain in even greater detail to clarify. In the example I will attempt to attach this is what it will look like:

School Code is 071 and under school code 071 these are the course numbers:

010-11B10 (R) - INFANTRYMAN

010-11C10 (R) - INDIRECT FIRE INFANTRYMAN

010-ASI J3 - BRADLEY INF FIGHTING VEH SYS MASTER GUNNER

010-ASIB4 - SNIPER

11B10-OSUT - INFANTRYMAN

11B10-OSUT (ST) 1 - INFANTRYMAN

11B10-OSUT (ST) 2 - INFANTRYMAN

11C10-OSUT - INDIRECT FIRE INFANTRYMAN

11C10-OSUT (ST) 1 - INDIRECT FIRE INFANTRYMAN

11C10-OSUT (ST) 2 - INDIRECT FIRE INFANTRYMAN

2-7-C20B - INFANTRY BASIC OFFICER LEADER-BRANCH

2-7-F1 - OFFICER CANDIDATE SCHOOL

2E-F173/011-ASI6B - RECONNAISSANCE AND SURVEILLANCE LEADERS

2E-F206/010-ASIB8 (MC) - HEAVY WEAPONS LEADERS

2E-F207/010-F28 (MC) - STRYKER LEADER

E-SI3X/010-F25 (MC) - BRADLEY LEADERS

2E-SI3Z/010-ASIB1 - INFANTRY MORTAR LEADER

2E-SI5P/SQIP/011-SQIP - AIRBORNE

2E-SI5Q/011-ASIF7 - PATHFINDER

2E-SI5S-5R/011-SQIV-G - RANGER

2E-SI5W/011-ASI5W - JUMPMASTER

7B-SI7Q/570-SQI2 - COMMON FACULTY DEVELOPMENT-DEVELOPER

920-F61 (MC) - MARKSMANSHIP MASTER TRAINER

9E-F18 - BASIC OFFICER LEADERS (DIRECT COMMISSION)

9E-F56/920-F47 (MC) - ADVANCED SITUATIONAL AWARENESS-ADVANCED

9E-F57/920-F48 (MC) - ADVANCED SITUATIONAL AWARENESS BASIC (ASAB)

9E-F59/950-F38 (MC) - DISMOUNTED COUNTER-IED TACTICS MSTR TRNR

9E-F64/920-F54 (MC) - COMBATIVES MASTER TRAINER

9E-SI5K/920-SQI8 - COMMON FACULTY DEVELOPMENT-INSTRUCTOR COURSE

In the example above all the course numbers under school code 071 are listed on the left and after the "-" is the course title. So at this point if the user of the form selects 071 as the school code it should automatically populate the course number field with the data above. When the user selects the course number the course title field should populate the title for the course. I don't know if this would also be available in the reverse order. As you can see the course codes are kind of complicated so if it also worked in the reverse that would be stellar. So if the user of the form uses the drop down field for course title and selects Pathfinder for instance it should also automatically populate the course number and the school code. I am not sure if this is a possibility but would be amazing if that would work that way.

I know I am already asking for a lot as it is but I was also curious if a script could be input to automatically populate all the data in the form. Each course number has its own corresponding title but each course also has its own classes that begin and end on different dates. In the fields i mentioned above there is a report date, start date, and an end date. If it is possible to select a course based on the fiscal year, the course number, the course title, and a class number could it auto populate report, start, and end dates based on the class selected? I know this is a bit complicated and this portion would need to be edited for each fiscal year listed. Thanks in advance for any help that can be offered.

[Thom Parker · Accepted solution]

You need to write shorter questions. Here's an article on setting values from a list:

https://acrobatusers.com/tutorials/change_another_field

You can find out everything you want to know about list programming here:

https://www.pdfscripting.com/public/List-Field-Usage-and-Handling.cfm

[Michael.Walker8]

My apologies, I didnt mean to write a novel but wanted to provide all the details so it would'nt need to be asked. Thanks for the information but this may be too complex for me to figure out.

[Thom Parker]

When looking for a solution to a problem, it's a good idea to cut it down to the basics, to a single issue. This also helps when asking questions. It think that if create a simple test form, that only has the minimum fields on it for solving one issue, then you'll find the tutorials will be be simpler.

[try67]

This is a complex task. It requires some advanced scripting know how. I've developed several (paid-for) tools that allow you to set it up easily, without having to write any code. All you need is a spreadsheet that contains all the possible combinations that you want to have.

You then run the script on the file and it sets it all up for you. You can find them here:

Custom-made Adobe Scripts: Acrobat -- Create Cascading Dropdowns (this one can be used to create "cascading" drop-down fields, ie. a selection in field A determines the values shown in field B; A selection in field B determines the values in field C; etc.)

Custom-made Adobe Scripts: Acrobat -- Populate Fields From Dropdown (this one can be used to populate multiple, non-drop-down, fields, based on the selection made in a drop-down field, ie. a selection in drop-down A determines the value of the text field B, the radio-button group C and the text field D, etc.)

[ls_rbls]

Hello,

Where you able to get help in this project yet?

Ive been working on a similar PDF and maybe I can share what has work for me with my form.

[Enthusiastic_Rocket1587]

I'm interested in what worked for you.

I'm not a programmer.

[ls_rbls]

Sure, I was able create a similar  PDF project with the direct help of Try67 and the excellent articles of Thom Parker.

It was adopted very quickly by many users at work (not a commercial solution, though).

I am currently working on a similar PDF workflow but more advanced.

Just let us know what do you need help with exactly to assist you better.