Can someone help me insert a fly-out "help" icon and window?

[zacb85173355]

I created an interactive document with DC Pro and it came out fine.  I would like users to be able to click on a "?" for help in each section... clicking would bring up a window with plain text instructions I've written.  I got "Sticky Note" to almost do it... I changed the icon to a "?", but it prompts for replies and I know this isn't the way it's supposed to be done.  Can anyone help me?  Thank you!  Zac

[Bernd Alheit · Accepted solution]

• create a invisible button with the help text
• add a link to the "?" which shows the button
• hide the button at mouse click on the button

[zacb85173355]

Thank you Bernd. I'm new to Adobe Acrobat, would it be possible for you to give me more details?  There is not quite enough here for me to understand.

[zacb85173355]

Bernd, I was able to get a checkbox to open and close my "Instructions" field with this: 

var nHide = event.target.isBoxChecked(0)?display.visible:display.hidden;

this.getField("Instructions").display = nHide;

Checked it shows this field, unchecked it hides it. 

I'm still trying to figure out a way to use a regular button -- click to open ("Instructions") and click to close ("Instructions).

I wish I understood your answer better, if I was more experienced I probably would.  I didn't write the above script, I just copied it from something I saw online.  Could it be modified for a click button, that would open "Instructions" when clicked, then close "Instructions" when clicked again?

Thank you, Zac

[Bernd Alheit]

This is an sample:

Shared Files - Acrobat.com

[zacb85173355]

Still having a hard time with this.  Maybe I'm not doing it right.  I need to add several paragraphs of instructions and I'm trying to add them as the button label.  Is there a better way of doing this?  Also I haven't been able to get the button to move to the top of the page. Form fields still appear on top of it, as you can see below.  On the right is the "?" button that opens "instructions" -- it has a mouse-up action "show instructions".  Clicking on "instructions" closes it (mouse-up action "close instructions").  Is there more you can tell me? 

 

[George_Johnson]

Arrange it in the tab order so that it is lower in the list than any of the fields it overlaps.

[zacb85173355]

Thank you both for your help.  I did manage to figure out that dragging an item up and down the right-hand column puts it over or under other items on the page -- just as you described George.  Bernd, what I wound up doing was creating a text field that when clicked on, closed itself (mouse-up, hide "Instructions").  Then I set the field to read-only since it contains instructions and readers will not add anything to it.  This seems to work okay.  Is there an advantage to using a button with the PDF doc as an icon, over doing it the way I did?  (using a locked text box that closes itself when clicked on).

Thank you guys very much!

Zac

[George_Johnson]

If you set a field of any type to read-only, the Mouse Up action(s) won't get triggered when the user attempts to click the field. That's why it's better to use a button than a text field if you want the field to hide itself when clicked.

[zacb85173355]

Oh so THAT's why it didn't work when I set it to read-only.  I was trying to figure out what I did wrong.  Thanks George, I'm going with the button idea. 

[Bernd Alheit]

Create a PDF document with the instructions. Use this document as icon of the button.

[zacb85173355]

Bernd I understand your PDF icon idea now, I tried it out and it works.  I can see why it's better than a text box.  It gives me more control over content -- I can insert pictures, diagrams, etc., control margins, and do more with the instruction box.  Thanks so much for your time, both you guys, and knowing me I will probably be back with more questions but it looks like this will work.  Hopefully I'll be able to send it out as reader-extended and it will work like it's supposed to.  Will try that soon. 

Zac  

[zacb85173355]

I figured your answer out and it works!   Thank you very much, Bernd !!!