What and how to use...

[Cri5tian]

Hello again.

I need to create 2 forms to be sent to 2 different customers. They will fill in those forms and send them back to me. Once received, I need to take parts from both forms and insert them into a third form. This I want to be able to do it fast, opening both forms and typing in the necessary into the third, or copy/paste-it it's time consuming. If you know a fast way to do it... I'm all ears.

But before that...

Both clients have a number of items (unknown from the start), so I need to use some hidding function, or page template. When they start filling the document one of the first questions will be ”how many items do you have?” and they will put a number in a field. Then the document will ”open” o coresponding number of tables to be filled in (anywhere from 1 to 200 tables, all identical on the structure, but containing different info's. Basically cars, information about cars (make, model, milleage, engine, dimmensions ecc))

I'll start all of this from scratch, and I'll be using Pro DC. Please, guide me step by step on how to do it.

[try67]

Re #1. You need to give the fields in each file unique names, such as Client1_Name, Client2_Name, etc.

Then you could simply merge the two files to create a new one, or you could export the data from both files to FDF files and import them into a third file that has fields matching the names of the original files (Client1_Name, Client2_Name, etc.). Then you will end up with a single file that contains both data sets.

Re #2. That is extremely complicated to do in a PDF file. Basically, you can only do it if you create those tables in advance as Template pages, hide them and then spawn copies of them. If they contain fillable fields then you will need to set the spawn method to automatically rename those fields, so they are not duplicates of one another. If you do that, though, it will make implementing #1 much more difficult...

[Cri5tian]

Ok. Let me see if I understand the mechanism...

I'll create the ”base” form. It will have the client identification fields to be filled in at the top, then the info about his request somewhere at the middle and the ending part (which consists in some terms and conditions). This base form will have only 1 page, with only 1 table in the middle section with client order request info's.

Then, I'll create another form, this time containing 2 middle sections +  the end section. This will be Template no. 2.

Then another, with 3 middle sections + end, template 3... and 4... and so on.

The top section will be only on the ”base” form.

All these templates will have an increasing number of pages. Template number 2 may have 1 page (I think I can put 2 middle sections + end section on one page), but then... the template number 10 will have 5 pages, and so on.

All the templates will ”travel” with the base, but hidden, and the right one will spawn when the client ”ask” for it. If the client puts number 4 in a field on the top section, then the number 4 template will replace the middle and end sections from the base form, with 4 consecutives middle sections and an end section.

Is it this, basically, the way how it will work?