How to move fields to different layers

[louiso36853280]

Hi Guys and Gals,

Is it possible to move groups of fields to different layers?

I want to have a group of fields relating to "settings" (e.g. Listbox items) on a separate layer from the main form fields

Louis

[try67]

Basically, no. Fields and layers exist on different parts of the file and are unrelated one to another.

However, I recall that there was some sort of hack that allowed one to associate fields with a specific layer, but I can't remember how it was done, or if still works.

One other solution is to write a script that shows/hides the desired layer and at the same time shows/hides the fields that belong with it.

[Karl Heinz Kremer]

try67 is very likely referring to the method outlined here: The Acrobat Ninja: Preflight Layers in Acrobat Pro

As you can see, I have to use the Internet Archive's Wayback machine to access this page - it's no longer available in it's original location.

I've never tried this myself with form fields - mainly because the process is pretty cumbersome and slow - I think changing the visibility of form fields based on which layers are visible is a better (and easier to implement and maintain) approach.

[George_Johnson]

It's also buggy. OCGs were introduced after form fields and I don't believe much work was ever done with Acrobat/Reader so that it behaved in a consistent and defined manner when annotations were assigned to OCGs.

[maxwyss]

It may actually be even better to avoid OCGs at all, and do everything with fields. Place the "contents" as the icon in a big button field, and the show/hide logic will become much simpler.