Email submit button not working after uploading to website

[lbrooks31]

I have created a pdf form for patients to fill out. It works fine in Acrobat, however, when I load the document to the website, the "Submit" button does nothing.

[Thom Parker]

Do you mean that you are viewing the website version in the browser? Submit buttons only work in Acrobat or compatible PDF viewers, of which there are only a few. Usually a browser will have it's own PDF viewer that has very limited capabilities. You need to ensure the PDF is only viewed in Acrobat or another decent PDF viewer.  

[lbrooks31]

I guess that was what I was needing to know. When up upload the fillable form, I can add the patient info. However, I have added a submit button at the bottom to send to the doctor's office with all info completed. What would be another solution for this type of process?

[Thom Parker]

Unfortunately, filling out forms on a browser PDF viewer is dangerous. Not only don't they implement the various PDF actions, many do not correctly implement form data handling. So filling out a PDF on a browser can cause all kinds of problems. 

The best solution is to ask the user to down load the form and fill it out on the free Acrobat Reader. One way to do this is to obscure the PDF with a layer that is basically instructions and a warnging message. 

You'll find an example and tutorial on how to do this here, but it requires a membership.

https://www.pdfscripting.com/public/Lite-Document-Security-Description.cfm

[Thom Parker]

Another option, if you are using <a> tag to link to your PDF, is to use the "download" attribute. For most browsers it will cause the linked file to be downloaded (and displayed in the system viewer), rather then shown in the browser viewer. 

[AkanchhaS]

Hey there,

Thanks for reporting this to us.

Would you mind confirming the Acrobat version you are working on? Did you install the latest patch and started noticing this behavior after that? Have you experienced this issue in past?

Let us know the:

• Open Acrobat DC>Help>About Acrobat DC
• OS version, Win or Mac?

We need more details for further investigation on this.

Thanks,

Akanchha

[Test Screen Name]

Sorry if you’re already on top of this but I have to mention it... Please bear in mind that you should submit only to an https script on a web server. It would potentially be a serious breach to send patient info by email. There is little to be gained, and much complexity added, by working in PDF, an HTML form should be fine for this. 

[Thom Parker]

Well yes, there are HIPPA rules for all this kind of stuff. I was only speaking to the technical issues.  

However, won't submitting the PDF to an HTTPS work as well? I have not properly explored secure submissions in Acrobat, but I would assume they have this covered?

[Test Screen Name]

Each browser has its own PDF implementation. Some treat forms as dead, flat files with no actions; some have fillable forms with no JavaScript, some have limited JavaScript. An http/https submit - not via JavaScript - is the one most likely to work in a browser, at least on a computer. On tablets and phones all bets are off. I really must re-emphasise my advice to use an HTML form if you want to be nice to users in a variety of situations. (If using an in-practice kiosk, decisions may be entirely different).

[Thom Parker]

Andy, I was only asking about HTTPS submit from Acrobat/Reader (I think I strongly implied this in my question). Not about the various crap PDF viewers in browsers and such.