Printing FDF files

[screaming oranges]

Well, the title is a bit misleading, as what I'm actually aiming to do is to print a filled-out pdf file with data saved in an FDF file.

Here's the thing: at work, there is a blank form in pdf format that has fillable textboxes. What's been done until now is that a group of people painstakingly copy-paste client info into each field.

And I was asked to do that today....

...blech!

Always seeking to automate whenever possible, I found that the info is copied from an Excel file, so I started looking for a way to get that info from Excel unto the pdf form. (we all have Acrobat Reader, not the full version)

I came across the FDF format, which is a file that stores the data that goes into each field, telling the pdf file what piece of data should go into a given field. Eureka!

Familiar with the wonders of VBA, I managed to populate the form now on the fly. But here's the problem. I wrote code to fill the pdf form with the info from any given row clicked on in the spreadsheet, then you print from the print button on the Acrobat Reader program. I wanted to automate it to the point that the code goes row by row printing each new form for each client, but the VBA code goes too quick and it fills the form before it gets sent to the print queue, so some clients get skipped.

BUMMER!

I can't save individual pdf files as all we have is Acrobat Reader. I'm basically working with the same file (the form) that dynamically has its data changed by the info stored on an FDF file.

I thought about using the Wait or Sleep command to stop the code and give Acrobat Reader enough time to send the info to the print queue before the next client is loaded up on the form, but this is inefficient as I'm adding extra unnecessary time.

So, any thoughts on what I can do?

[dsavitsk]

A friend of mine was hired as a temp many years ago doing data entry. The position was supposed to last 3 months. However, being a computer programmer, he found a way to automate the process, which took him all of a day. Once it was done, he was laid off.

Maybe check out ReportLab.

Or, for more hands on, use ADO from a scripting language (Python or something) to grab data from XL, put it in the form, then use a shell command to print. Then do it again.

[screaming oranges]

Hmm, I'll look into that!

As for the lay-off risk, I don't distribute the software, I keep these things to myself most of the time.

[jpelg]

Is there a possibility of obtaining the form in a Word or Excel format? From there you could do a simple mail-merge from your Excel data. Then save the results in PDF format, which Office can do without Adobe Acrobat Pro.

Even if you don't have access to the form in an editable format, it might be worth spending some time recreating it in Excel (assuming it's not overly complex). Or even better, spending the $$ for Acrobat Pro, compared to your time spent doing more mundane things, especially if this is more than a one-time function.