Question regarding form templates

[steltek_erd]

I was looking at the trial version of PDF-XChange Editor Plus as a potential replacement for Acrobat Professional XI since Adobe decided to kill my perpetual license with no recourse beyond a subscription (something I refuse to do).

Up to this point, I was using Acrobat Professional to edit forms.

I have a PDF form that consists of two visible pages and a bunch of hidden form template pages. It accepts user form field inputs and when the user hits a "generate form" button uses simplistic Acrobat javascript code to spawn and append the hidden template pages (which are themselves pages of other forms) in different combinations based upon user choices. In other words, the form starts out displaying 2 pages when opened, but may end up displaying between 15 to 40 printable pages depending upon the choices made by the user. Common data entered on the first page propagates to the newly added pages. In addition to the generate button, there is also a print button to print the generated form, as well as a reset button that removes all the spawned template pages.

The trial version of PDF-XChange Editor Plus appears to properly spawn and hide the template pages, as well as propagate common data to the newly generated form pages. I did notice a few bugs certain date display fields, but I may be able to work around them.

However, in order to be able to maintain this form, I have to be able to edit it to swap out the hidden stored template pages for more recent versions as they are released. In Acrobat Pro, this involves manually deleting the old stored template pages, and storing new ones to replace them.

Is editing hidden stored template pages within a PDF form possible in PDF-XChange Editor?

I know Acrobat Pro can do it as that was what I used to create the master form, but I can't seem to find any editing process in your product that can allow me to insert and delete the stored template pages.

Thanks!

[Sean - PDF-XChange]

Hi steltek_erd,

Would you be able to share a sample form here so that we can take a look?

Kind regards,

[steltek_erd]

Consolidated Disability Appeal Package.pdf

The way that it works is that common information is entered in the fields at the top of the form. The user then selects one of the appeal options, and clicks any additional forms to be inserted.

They then hit the "Generate Forms" button and it appends the requested forms to the existing document by spawning template pages. Common data previously entered is propagated to the spawned forms through the use of datafields that are common.

If they hit the "Reset Forms" button, it removes the spawned templates, resets the options, and allows the user to reselect the forms to be generated.

I did see some issues with the common propagated data; however, the templates themselves do seem to generate properly.

The biggest issue is that I can't figure out a way to remove the stored templates or add new ones like you can in Acrobat Professional.

Thanks!

[steltek_erd]

Hi steltek_erd,

Would you be able to share a sample form here so that we can take a look?

Kind regards,

Sorry, I uploaded a sample form in the post above this one.

[Sean - PDF-XChange]

Hi steltek_erd,

Sorry for the delay—this is an unusual case and I have asked the development team for their input on it. I will get back to you in due course.

Kind regards,

[Sean - PDF-XChange]

Update: a feature request ticket has been created for this functionality, and it will be handled in due course:

#7943: FR: Edit Hidden Form Template Pages

Kind regards,

[steltek_erd]

I appreciate you looking into the issue. And, I'm perfectly happy with the speed of response.

If this were Adobe, I'd still be trying to figure out how to get their attention given the AI bot farms they seem to have running their customer and technical support now.

[Sean - PDF-XChange]

Hi steltek_erd,

Sure thing, thanks.

Kind regards,