I want to create required fields.

[janet819]

I want to create required fields. I would like an alert to pop up when a required field has not been filled in. Cannot save form without filling in the required fields.

Please provide easy to follow directions.

Thanks!

[try67]

It's not possible to prevent the file from being saved entirely. You can display an error message or even force the fields in the saved file to be blank, but that's a bit extreme.

[janet819]

This is a form that follows chemotherapy regimen. Very specific to each patient. I would like the end user to have some required fields, i.e. DOB, Name, Research ID# etc., but if those fields are not filled in then when hitting the "Save" or "Save As" option, an alert will pop up stating required fields to be filled out before saving - something to that effect.

[try67]

I've developed a tool that allows you to set it up very easily. You can find it here: Custom-made Adobe Scripts: Acrobat -- Validate Required Fields Before Printing or Saving

[Joel Geraci]

You can fire off a script that will run when the document is about to close, when the document is about to save, and when the document was saved. However, you cannot prevent these actions from happening based on the results of that code. Can you explain how the patient gets the form back to you? Email, submit button etc..

[janet819]

The form is uploaded to a folder on a shared drive. This form will be filled out by medical personnel to keep track of treatments that a patient receives. There a few fields that are required and I would like to facilitate the best possible workflow. Filling out these particular fields is essential in ensuring that the treatment is on the right patient, therefore requiring name, ID, DOB, signatures is important. I would like the end user to be alerted before closing the form that there are required fields that have to be filled out.

Thanks for your help

[Joel Geraci]

In that case, try67 has a good solution. See above.

[gkaiseril]

One could also a visible read only field that displays the fact that the required fields are not completed and oce completed the message could be hidden.  This will require some custom scripting and might not work with mobile devices.. PDF forms also have an application preference to highlight form fields that includes setting a colored border around required form fields.