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PDF Document to Form Data Collection: Field Operations

New Here ,
Feb 09, 2020 Feb 09, 2020

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Hello,

 

Totally out of my realm of expertise here, so please forgive if the title doesn't contain any of the proper keywords or if this question is better placed somewhere else.

 

We have field operations that require constant reference to a large PDF document created by our organization in FrameMaker (1594 pages) that gets updated at least twice a year, sometimes as often as six times.  It's referenced by multiple teams simultaneously on a shared network from iPads and desktops.

 

What we're wondering is if we can have users click a string of text (that would obviously be a button or a link of some kind) and have that string sent to a central data collection point on the network.  This is where we'd like to start.  Our tentative possible end goal is collecting the string, a user ID, and being able to remove the string from the data if there was an error.

 

In case it's helpful, the PDF is an aircraft parts catalog with diagrams and part numbers and chapters and links in the diagrams to take a user to a specific entry inside a list of all the parts used in a specific system.  We'd be using the data collection to track which parts the mechanics are using.  

 

Thanks in advance if anyone has any helpful insight.  

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Acrobat SDK and JavaScript

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Community Expert ,
Feb 10, 2020 Feb 10, 2020

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You can submit form data to a server.

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New Here ,
Feb 10, 2020 Feb 10, 2020

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Thank you!

 

You wouldn't happen to have any ideas about how to get from what we currently have to what we're looking for as outlined above, would you?

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Community Expert ,
Feb 10, 2020 Feb 10, 2020

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You want sent data to a server or not?

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New Here ,
Feb 10, 2020 Feb 10, 2020

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Yes.

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Community Expert ,
Feb 10, 2020 Feb 10, 2020

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You'll need a server script to collect the data and do something with it. What you are describing is a solution that will take quite a bit of effort to build out. There aren't any off the shelf solutions for this sort of thing, and most comercial solutions have a high cost.  However, relatively speaking, it's often much more affordable to build out such solutions yourself. Do you have server scripting expertise at your organization? 

Thom Parker - Software Developer at PDFScripting
Use the Acrobat JavaScript Reference early and often

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New Here ,
Feb 11, 2020 Feb 11, 2020

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We might have some server scripting skills back at the home office, I've emailed a few folks to find out.  

 

In the mean time, are you suggesting that we'll need to host a single instance of our "inventory consumption" version of the official company parts catalog on the server and have a specific program along side it that handles both our end-user's submissions/corrections as well as compiling all of the input in a fashion that we can then manipulate?

 

Again, I apologize for my lack of technical expertise here.  I know just enough to get into trouble, as they say, but not enough to get out again.  

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Community Expert ,
Feb 11, 2020 Feb 11, 2020

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If everyone shares a mapped network drive, then you could simply save a data file to a shared network location. But this runs in to problems with file naming. It's much better to have a central managment system. A lot of how you do this depends on how the the data is supposed to be used. 

 

Except for pointing you in a few directions, what you are asking about here is beyond the scope of the forums. You need to hire a consultant. PM me thorugh this forum or contact me at www.windjack.com if you are interested. 

Thom Parker - Software Developer at PDFScripting
Use the Acrobat JavaScript Reference early and often

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