validating dates

[kwm13]

i'm creating a form which requires date of birth, so it will probably be keystroke entered, rather than using the pull-down calendar.  Format is mm/dd/yyyy.  I've validated the dates and this works when opened in acrobat.  however, if opened using another pdf reader (the client was reading it in Edge), the date validation feature does not work, which means that if they do not enter slashes, the date is incorrect.  This information must be correct in order to meet government compliance.  how do I do this?  i do not code.

[LinSims]

Let's try you in the Acrobat forum. I know you're having issues with readers other than Acrobat, but that seems to be where most of the form makers hang out and I suspect they can help you.

[kwm13]

thank you so much for your help.  appreciated.

[try67]

We can't help you. Report the issue to the developers of those faulty PDF plugins and instruct you users to open the file using Adobe software (Acrobat/Reader) only, if you want it to work properly.

[kwm13]

i get that, however the people that are filling out the form can be instructed to use acrobat, but that doesn't mean that they will.  Again, incorrect entry of dob would be non-compliant.  if it couldn't be opened by another pdf reader at all, that would work, but the capability of being able to fill it out incorrectly is where the problem lies. i need to be able to control the keystroking for that date, so that it cannot corrupt if slashes aren't entered.  ideally, if there is a way of just entering numbers, and the formatting occurs on it's own instructions.

[try67]

Sure, there are ways of doing it, but there's no guarantee it will work in those other PDF viewers. It's more likely they'll just allow the users to fill in anything into the field, so implementing this validation will not bring you any closer to a solution.

And you also can't prevent another application from opening a file. The best you can do is add a large warning text that says the file must be opened using Adobe Reader for it to work properly. You make that warning visible by default and then hide it using a script that checks the name of the application. If it's not Reader, or the script doesn't execute at all, the error message will be visible.

[kwm13]

thanks! i'll try to figure this out.  it sounds like a plan.