Files lose form checkboxes and radio buttons after combined

[Richard5CB0]

Hello,

I have 2 separate fillable PDF forms that I created with Adobe Acrobat Pro DC ver 20.012.20041. Each form works as expected by themselves.

However, when I combine the two files (using the Combine Files Tool), many, but not all, of the checkboxes are removed from the second form and some of the first form’s radio buttons no longer work.  I do not receive any error messages when combining them.

Any ideas?

Thanks in advance for your help,
Rich

[Amal.]

Hi Richard

We are sorry for the trouble. As described after combining the two forms some check box and radio buttons are not working properly.

We tried to reproduce the issue on our end and its working fine. Would you mind sharing the steps you are doing to create the PDF form?

Please try to combine the other set of PDF forms with check boxes and radio buttons and see if that is working fine and that it is the issue with the specific set of PDF forms that you are trying to combine.

If its a file specific issue please share the file with us for testing.

You may also try to repair the installation of Adobe Acrobat DC (For Windows Only). Go to Help > Repair Installation and see if that makes any difference.

You may also try to turn off the protected mode for testing and see if that works for you. Go to Edit (Windows) > Preferences > Enhanced Security > Turn off the protected mode and uncheck the enhanced security > Click ok and reboot the computer.
Note: Turning off the security may posses security risk, please turn on the security after testing.

Let us know how it goes

Regards

Amal

[Richard5CB0 · Accepted solution]

Hi Amal,

Thank you for your reply. I discovered what was causing the issue.

All radio buttons/check boxes that had names with a number then a period would be lost when combined.

For example, when I changed the radio button named "4. How much has your pain changed"  to "4 How much has your pain changed," the files combined without an issue.

Regards,
Rich

[try67]

Was there a field in the other file called "4", or "4.xxx"?

[Richard5CB0]

Hi.  In the first file, there was a radio button named 4 text and 5 some text, etc., but the text was different in each form.  Could having one pdf file with a radio button named "4 text" and another file with "4. different text" cause the issue?  Or was it simply the "." causing the problem?

Rich

[try67]

Yes, because it's a reserved character used to denote "children" fields that belong to a single group.

[Amal.]

Hi there

We are glad to hear that you were able to identify the problem and get it fixed.

Regards

Amal

[Raph72946]

Hi there, 

Thanks for the Post Richard, 

I've just come across the same issue, though I had my radio buttons with this naming convention "name_page". I thought that maybe the underscore was the culprit, so I combined the name with no space and I am still losing my radio button on both forms when combining them. Is there any other fixes besides having to recreate the whole packet? I am combining 3 packets each with multiple radio buttons and was hoping I would not have to re-create this 28 page packet.