Corrupted Acrobat file

[MarkWalsh]

I just had an issue with a PDF form which seems to have gotten corrupted. I haven't seen anything like this since Apple had an issue which would corrupt forms if opened and saved in Preview. This is similar to that, but not exactly.

Several of the fields have values entered into them which do not show until you click in the field. Once the value is edited, it remains visible. The field originally had custom format and keystroke scripts, but those are now gone. Not all of the fields, just some of them.

Are there any known issues with opening PDFs in any specific application that could cause this? I was told it was saved to our OneDrive, is it possible that this could be an issue?

[Amal.]

Hi MarkWalsh

We are sorry for the trouble. As described, values entered into the fields do not show until you click in the field.

Is this a behavior with a particular PDF file or with all the PDFs? Please try with a different PDF file and check. If its a file specific issue please share the file with us for testing.

What is the version of the Adobe Acrobat DC you are using? To check the version go to Help > About Adobe Acrobat DC

Make sure you have the latest version 20.009.20067 installed. Go to Help > Check for Updates

You may also try to repair installation (For Windows Only) Go to Help > Repair Installation and see if that makes any difference.

Also, please try to download the file locally to your computer and then open it with Adobe Acrobat DC and check.

For testing purposes, you may try turning off the security. Go to Edit (Windows), Adobe Acrobat/Reader DC (Mac) > Preferences > Enhanced Security > Turn off the protected mode and Uncheck the enhanced security > Click OK

Note: Please turn on the security after testing

Let us know how it goes

Regards

Amal

[MarkWalsh]

This happened on a specific file, I'm trying to determine what happened to it. These issues appear on multiple computers, both mac and PC.

The original version of the file works properly, but somehow the version sent to an associate bacame corrupted. There was custom javascript entered for the format and keystroke events for these fields, but some of the fields in the corrupted file do not have the code anymore.

I just noticed that the values display if 'highlight Existing Fields' is turned off. When turned on, the fields are highlighted, but the values don't show up (The highlighting obscures the entered value). Until I edit the value (although one of the fields won't accept keystrokes.), then the field values appear when the field does not have focus.

This is what it looks like when the PDF is opened, when the field receives focus, and when the field loses focus after editing:

I have pared the file down to just these fields, and removed all javascripts when I did this test. The top field is editable, but only shows the value when highlighting is turned on after it has been edited. The middle field will not let me edit the value, even though it is not set to Read Only, and the format is set to None.

Turning off Enhanced Security makes no difference.

[Amal.]

Hi there

We are sorry to hear that. As its  a file specific issue would you mind sharing the file with us for testing so we can check it at our end .

Regards

Amal

[MarkWalsh]

I have a file I can share, but i don't see any way to attach it to this forum.

[Amal.]

Hi there

Please upload the file to the document cloud https://documentcloud.adobe.com/link/home/  generate the link and share it with us.

Regards

Amal

[MarkWalsh]

Sorry for the delay, I got swamped with work, and lost track of this. Hope this link works.

CorrupteCorruptedFile.pdffdp.eliFd

[Bernd Alheit]

Not possible to download the file. Message:

We're not able to open this document. It's either corrupted, or the file type isn't supported.

[MarkWalsh]

How is this one

https://documentcloud.adobe.com/link/review?uri=urn:aaid:scds:US:54e61d92-66ca-490b-80a3-d48e031c405...

Edit: I don't know if this one is working any better, I followed the instructions to copy the link.

[Bernd Alheit]

I don't see any problem with this form:

[MarkWalsh]

That's odd. This is how it looks on my computer:

Are you on a Mac or PC? It is doing this both on my Mac and my PC. 

[Karl Heinz Kremer]

Which version of Acrobat or Reader are you using? 

[Bernd Alheit]

I have filled the form on MS Windows.

[Karl Heinz Kremer]

Never mind, I can see the problem with the latest version of Acrobat DC Pro. It looks like the file was modified by an application that does not create an appearance stream for the form fields. Is it possible that it was opened and modified with Preview on a Mac? Once I modify a field's contents, the field works correctly. There used to be a fix on Joel Geraci's blog on Adobe's web site, but that got "archived" by Adobe, and is no longer available. I'll see if I can find a backup somwhere. 

[Karl Heinz Kremer]

Found it: http://practicalpdf.com/the-practicalpdf-fix-form-utility/

And I just verified that the script fixes the problem, and shows the field contents. 

[MarkWalsh]

Thanks, I'll take a look at that.

I don't know if somebody opened it in Preview, I believe they did say they put it on our onedrive, although I don't know if they had multiple people trying to access it at the same time or not. They haven't been very helpful with explaining what was done.

I remember the 'Preview' issue years ago, but I thought that was fixed, Is it still an issue?

[Karl Heinz Kremer]

The version of Preview I am running (from macOS 10.14.6) handles the appearance stream, but still rewrites the file and puts itself into the "PDF Producer" file information field. From what I can see from your file, it was modified by Preview from macOS 10.15.4, which is a newer version than I am using. Based on the evidence, I would say it's a problem again. In general, I would stay away from touching any PDF file with Preview - it's messing with stuff it's not supposed to. 

[MarkWalsh]

Ah, I see that now in the properties, thanks. I didn't know to look there for that info.

I never use Preview for PDFs, this happened somewhere else in my company, and I wasn't getting any answers on who or what might have been done. They wanted me to 'fix' the problem, but they didn't seem to want to answer any questions to help me determine what the problem was.

Thanks for the input