Can I do this with Acrobat and Reader?

[blackb55018161]

I have an Acrobat DC license, which I want to use to create fillable PDF forms for my company. Let's call them Form A and B

I then want to use the forms like this:

1. each member of staff is given a laptop with Reader installed and a set of the forms I created with Acrobat. They will use the forms in offline locations without internet access
2. a staff member completes Form A in Reader. One question on Form A is "do you need to fill in Form B?"
3. If they do need to fill in Form B, either (a) Form B, previously hidden within Form A, appears within Form A (someone on here said you can use templates to create Form B within Form A - see footnote *), (b) it automatically opens Form B and prepopulates some fields in B from fields in A (e.g. name, DOB, etc) or (c) Form A creates a data file which Form B opens and that automatically prepopulates some fields in B from fields in A (e.g. name, DOB, etc).

So basically, I need a system that will allow me to create forms in Acrobat and allow staff using the forms in Reader to pull some basic data from one form to another (or just pass it to other fields within the same form is Form B can be hidden within Form A).

The ability to have fields prepopulated from other fields is vital and I'm getting mixed messages about whether this is feasible or not using Reader, so just looking for advice on whether I can do this or need to look for another solution.

Many thanks!

* "Instead of opening a second file, have you looked into the possibility of using templates in the first file to add the pages for the additional forms as needed. These forms could be updated with the data from the first page and all the forms would be in one file for the visit. This approach will not work on mobile devices but can be used with the Acrobat Reader XI and DC and the PDFs would be completely self contained."

[JR Boulay]

Hi.

Sharing the same value between several fields just requires fields with exactly the same name (their appearence can be different).

So, if you place a field with the same name in the form A and in the B template, it will be prepopulated when the form B will be spawned.

[blackb55018161]

Hi JR -

Do you mean if I have both Form A and Form B in the same PDF? I know I can have duplicated fields in that scenario but I can't seem to have Form B hidden until the staff member clicks on "do you need to fill in Form B"?

Form B would only be needed, say, 20% of the time so I don't want a PDF with Form A and B visible at all times, as most of the time Form B won't be necessary. Does that make sense?

Sorry if these are silly questions - I just need to establish whether Acrobat +  Reader can or can't do what I want - either hide a set of fields (Form B) within another form (Form A), or have a way of pulling the data from fields in Form A into Form B.

A way of pulling data into forms in Reader would be the ultimate - but is this possible?

[try67]

Yes, you can have two form fields in the same file with the same name (and the same value, of course), and set one of them as visible and the other as hidden.

[JR Boulay]

If you need 2 forms you need to show/hide the whole page-form B, not only form fields.

I just need to establish whether Acrobat +  Reader can or can't do what I want - either hide a set of fields (Form B) within another form (Form A), or have a way of pulling the data from fields in Form A into Form B.

Yes they can, assuming end users runs Adobe Reader XI or Acrobat Reader DC, not an older version.