import operation is not supported?

[jkitzy]

So, I have a Acrobat Form on my company SharePoint site that users access. During the completion/review of the form, the fdf is sent to managers for review, then the completed form's fdf is sent for central collection of the data.

However, users are receiving this message when trying to open the fdf in the email. I double checked, and the reference in the fdf is pointing to the correct location. This is on an intranet.

Can anyone help me understand why this message is popping up?

Thanks a million

[Thom Parker]

Acrobat has issues with PDF and FDF files being in different domains. There are also Reader restrictions on importing an FDF.

So is the document reference in the fdf an URL? and if so, does this import operation work in other situations. For example, when the PDF and FDF are in the same domain? When the PDF file is already open? When performed from Acrobat Pro?

[jkitzy]

Thanks for your reply. The flow is basically this:

1. Open the pdf on a SharePoint site and complete it.
2. Click a button that calls a JavaScript this.submitForm.
3. The submit goes to a mailto: URL. And that's working fine.
4. When the reviewer gets the fdf, it points back to the SharePoint site in the /F parameter of the fdf. I double-checked that address in the fdf, and it's correct.
5. It's giving that error now whether it's opened in Reader DC or Pro DC, and whether I have the file open or not. Very weird.
6. The URL is valid and cutting and pasting it from the /F (using a text editor) and pasting it into a browser works fine.

I guess what I could do is have the submitForm embed the pdf, but that's sort of what I wanted to avoid. I wanted to just get the fdf so I can then process them to process the data from the 60-ish completed forms I'll get each month.

I could also try the distribute/track in Adobe, but I've never really played with that, and it doesn't really give me the options to flow the data from the person completing the form to reviewer, then to the approver, then to me.

Make sense?

[Thom Parker · Accepted solution]

Don't use the Acrobat Distribute. That locks you into their workflow.

I'm not sure, but it's possible that this is either a new security restriction with DC or a bug.  Sometimes it's hard to tell. It's also possible that sharepoint is getting in the way, but given the message I don't think that's the case.

One solution is to submit so that the URL (F entry) is not included in the FDF, set the bExclFKey parameter to false.  Then if the file is already open, importing shouldn't be an issue.

Another option may be to modify the security parameters, turn off Enhanced Security or add the sharepoint location to the list of trusted sites, or create a cross domain file.

[jkitzy]

Thanks, Thom!

I think I'm going to try the embedPDF in the submitForm. Getting any IT resources to adjust the settings, or trying to explain to my low-tech end users how to adjust those settings would be ideal, and may be a longer term solution.

Thanks again. You're the Acrobat genius! I appreciate the help.

Cheers,