Linked Text fields

[TimStraathof]

I am creating an indesign document I will be exporting to an interactive PDF file. In this document I would like to have a text field, which is linked to other text fields in the document (f.e. in text field 1 the user enters a name, and in text field 2 and 3 this name will be displayed). Is this possible in any way? I was already looking into linking the standard interactive text fields but I did not have any succes so far.

Thanks in advance!

[TᴀW]

Give the fields the same name in InDesign. That way their output will echo each other in Acrobat...

[TimStraathof]

First of all, thank you for your response. I tried this but it did not work, unless I am doing something wrong...

I have 2 identical text fields, both with the exact same name and properties set in the buttons and forms window.

[TᴀW · Accepted solution]

What version of InDesign are you on?

Are the fields originally on a master page, or have they been created independently on a regular (live) page? If they originate on a master page, InDesign renames each one.

Also, check in Acrobat what their names are. InDesign renames fields and can break some of this stuff at export...

[TimStraathof]

InDesign indeed renamed the fields (or i did not name them correctly...), but when I changed the names in Acrobat it worked correctly! Thank you for helping out!

[TᴀW]

What version of InDesign are you using? I think this feature/bug was introducted in CC. IIRC, in CS6 InDesign leaves our field names well alone... So if renaming in Acrobat is a hassle, you may want to try preparing the form in CS6.

[TᴀW]

Look like there are serious issues with exporting interactive PDFs from InDesign these days, particularly when it comes to field naming. I do think it's a bug, not a feature. Here are some more in-depth links:

Re: Text fields with the same name - stopped working

and especially:

Re: Has the ability to have multiple fields with the same name been removed?

Ariel

[alexv27007913]

I have a related question. If I create a document with multiple text fields, they are automatically named "Text Field 1" "Text Field 2" "Text Field 3" etc. However, if I delete one, and then resume making more text fields, InDesign skips that number. Example: If I delete "Text Field 2", my text boxes go from "Text Box 1" to "Text Box 3" to "Text Box 4." Is there a way to get InDesign not to skip that number? We have a document with many text fields, so I don't want to manually change the name of all of them. Is there a way to set the naming so that it doesn't skip over numbers that you have deleted? InDesign​