diane richmond - sungard higher education forms us helix 2006 presentation (h082) diane richmond

Diane Richmond - SunGard Higher Education

Forms Us

HELIX 2006 Presentation (H082)

Diane Richmond


We’d like our on the web


Technologies You’ll Hear Word Doc – to download PDF …and later FDF HTML submitted to an e-mail Form “handlers” or cgi scripts Dynamic programming languages

aspphpasp.NET

Database backing MS SQL mySQL Oracle

Getting really “jiggy with it” xml, ajax, fdf


Which is the “right” one?

Standards Proprietary systems Expertise on site Resources

WHAT DOES THE CLIENT WANT THE FORM TO DO?


Communication is the

Like all good relationships… Don’t let the client SUGGEST a solution Let them talk a LOT Guide the discussion – especially if a skilled

project manager is not the one meeting with the client


A Series of Questions

Build a matrix A conditional web app A flow chart OR SOMETHING to guide this process

Here is a simplified sample…

Client’s Form

Must Match Paper Version

HTML Form(PHP, ASP, Etc.)

HTMLor

PDF

Matches Paper Version atWhat Point

Yes

No

Fill-In

PDF Form

Print-Out


A Word of Caution - Workflow

If there IS a paper version… What is the workflow of the paper version?

This MAY be a detailed discussion which eventually demonstrates problem areas and the need for a “new” system

My husband refers to this as the “Oh, *$#@” factor

Is there a plan for how the new web version will fit into that workflow?


HTML Forms

Great if… Form questions change often by content

owners, but functionality remains constant Page layout, template must match other web

pages as opposed to print pages There is frequent need to change the form The form is quite complex; i.e. has many

pages/sections or is completed in stages. The form data can be submitted online


Eric Coffman says…

Forms have long been and will continue to be a central part of any interactive site. Collecting information from a form has been solved, first by posting the data to an e-mail address, then by using Common Gateway Interface (CGI) scripts, and currently by using other server-side technologies, such as ASPs. Collecting and storing this data into a database is a fairly simple process and even prepopulating a form with user-specific data via session variables or cookies has become a sort of standard. Though we are deep within the Information Age, we still require forms to be printed out and physically signed. Perhaps in 10 years or so everyone will have a digital signature and this will no longer be necessary. But, until that day we are faced with a kind of dilemma -- How to present a form that is connectable to a database and that can be printed for signature or other purposes. Along comes Adobe's Portable Document Format (PDF) which is both printable and transportable. On top of this they have added a layer called Forms Data Format (FDF), which is very similar and similar to HTML form elements.

Eric Coffman8/22/2001

“15 Seconds: Advanced Form Presentation and Printing w/PDF, FDF, ASP, and DHTML – Part 1”


PDF/FDF Forms

Great if… Form must be available on the web, but

printed out for signatures and or processing Form must visually match a paper form that

already exists If this only a print-out issue, a non-PDF form

could be used to produce a printable PDF The form data can be submitted online

Sent to an e-mail address as a complete PDF Form data deposited in database Variations…


PDFs are not just for printing anymore…

PDF forms can be useful for submitting and collecting information over the Web. This is done by providing several button actions that perform functions similar to HTML scripting macros. You must have a CGI application on the Web server to collect and route the data to a database. Any existing CGI application that collects from forms (in HTML, FDF, or XML format) can be used.

…See the FDF Toolkit Overview on the Adobe Web site.

From the Complete Acrobat 6.0 Help


How do I get that data?

About Acrobat form data

Acrobat can submit data from PDF forms in a variety of formats:

FDF exports as an FDF file. You can choose to export the form fields data comments, incremental changes to the PDF, or all three.

HTML exports as an HTML file.

XFDF exports as an XML file. You can choose to export the form fields data, comments, or both.

PDF exports the entire PDF file that is your form. Although this creates a larger file than the FDF option, it is useful for preserving digital signatures.

From the Complete Acrobat 7.0 Help.


Acrobat Forms Tutorial

Start with a Word or InDesign or Publisher or… A few hints here

Don’t draw boxes or circles, etc. at this point Don’t draw lines in multi-line text boxes

Convert, distill, capture, or print to PDF Author your fields

Sample Doc


References/Resources

Never hurts to go to the obvious… http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/

Detailed step-by-steps http://www.adobe.com/education/pdf/cib/acro7/acro7_c

ib_14.pdf Looking for moving pictures? Here’s a video tutorial

http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobatpro/vector/forms_movie.html


Resources/References

Really old articles, but conceptually VERY helpful :

http://www.15seconds.com/Issue/010822.htm (part I)

http://www.15seconds.com/issue/010823.htm (part II)

http://www.15seconds.com/issue/990902.htm

http://www.planetpdf.com/developer/article.asp?ContentID=6492

http://www.planetpdf.com/developer/article.asp?contentid=6480&ra


Resources/References

My favorite non-Adobe (make that “MacroDobe”) support site:

http://www.planetpdf.com


Contact Info

Diane Richmond Web Services Manager

Truman State University – Kirksville, MO SunGard Higher Education

Office Phone: 660-785-7191

Email: [email protected]

HELIX Session H082

Presentation Available at:

http://its.truman.edu/webservices/helix

diane richmond - sungard higher education forms us helix 2006 presentation (h082) diane richmond

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