The PDF Developer Junkie Blog

I have tried twice to get this java script to work and only get the prompt “An internal error occurred” when I run the Fix Field Appearances. Any suggestions?

Hi – thanks a million for this script … but it is causing an internal error when I run ‘fix field appearances’ under dox menu in Pro 9.3 on XP. Have restarted to no avail. Suggestions?

I am having this exact issue, but I am creating the forms in Acrobat 8, not 9. Will this work in 8? If so, where would I save the ADBE_JFG_fixFields.js file?

thankyou

Sorry – I should have had the code test to see if the field was of type “text” before trying to set it to “multiline”. I fixed it. Download the update from the same link above.

It should work in 8 though I haven’t tested it. Just replace the number 9 in the paths with the number 8 and that should put you in the right place.

Thank you, now I don’t have to beat my head against the keyboard anymore.

I’m still new to Acrobat and am using the forms in several ways. The fix above seemed to work when I want to read forms completed by Mac users and sent to me. However, is this also a fix for creating forms to begin with? In other words, is there a way to set up the form so that I can always read those filled in by Mac users or will I always need to run “Fix Field Appearances”? I only ask because I pulled up a blank form and clicked “Fix Field Appearances” and received an internal error. Thanks!

I’ve modified the script so that the menu item is only available if there are form fields and if Mac Preview was the last application to save the file. I hope that helps.

For Acrobat 8 the path is:

~/Library/Acrobat User Data/8.0_x86/JavaScripts/

I am using LiveCycle to create the forms which come back to two different e-mail addresses.

Is it the same solution which will require implementing on the two machines receiving the replies?

Mac OSX Preview can’t deal with LiveCycle forms. You won’t need the script for those type of forms.

Thanks so much for creating this fix! Works great!

So glad I found this post, thank you. But we also have users with just Adobe Reader – anything we can do for them? Thanks, Tobias

Good question.

Sorry – but No – The script requires editing of the PDF file that Reader isn’t able to do.

J-

Thanks so much for this. Saved my tax forms for me!

This works great. Can I assume this will work with Acrobat Standard?

It should.

So… Is this a bug with Preview or Acrobat? Are there bug reports filed with either Apple or Adobe for it?

It’s a bug with Preview. My understanding is that Apple has been made aware but I have no further insight.

Hi Joel,

I have looked at this in the past (http://forums.adobe.com/message/2594572#2594572) and (http://forums.adobe.com/message/2864468#2864468).

In the latest attempt I was trying to test the application viewer using document level script and it showed up that Preview wasn’t firing the document level script. So I added a button with a mouseUp script to force a refresh of the app viewer, but that didn’t work either.

So I added a simple calculation that multiples two fields and that didn’t work. Also the currency formatting of the price and total fields was lost.

Most forms will have some level of formatting and script and neither of these will work in Preview.

It just seems to be that Preview is broken to such a serious level that it should not be used at all. Where we have a form that is likely to be used by a person with a Mac we are considering putting in a static warning, since an app viewer check doesn’t seem to work.

Thanks for the post.

Niall

OR you could just export the form data as an FDF file, then reimport it back into the original PDF. No script required…

True. Actually – anything that forces Acrobat to redraw the field “appearances” will do the trick.

Inspired by this blog posting, I’ve expanded on this script and provided a few more details as this problem is becoming more prevalent. See: http://kb2.adobe.com/community/publishing/885/cpsid_88564.html

So I downloaded the script, copied and pasted into the correct location for XP– rebooted the computer; but the “Fix Field Appearances” isn’t showing up…. now what?

I’m running Acrobat 9 in Windows 7 and a colleague of mine has been annotating my blueprint pdfs in mac preview. When he sends them back to me I am unable to see his comments. I had hoped this javascript would fix the problem but when I open his annotated pdfs the Fix Field Appearances is grayed out, I’m assuming because the annotations are not form fields.

Any advice?

thanks

Amazing – thanks so much!

Thanks for the script. I note that it requires clicking Okay for each form field individually. In a future update, could an option be included to “Fix All”?

Does this fix work with Windows 7 too? Should I just follow the same instructions as Windows XP?

Hi,
Thank you very much for posting the fix. I have tried it on my W-XP machine with A Reader 9 and it worked great.

I am not sure what I have done wrong the second time on machine with W7. Installed as directed on W7 running A Reader 10 and Acrobat 9 pro. After reopening the PDF-form it gives me Java error message for every field, and I have to click on every single one again. After first try I have deleted the whole C:\Users\USERNAME\AppData\Roaming\Adobe\Acrobat file but this did not help.
Could it be that some Adobe programs are still running on the background even tho. I have closed the PDF it self?
Any suggestion will be appreciated.
Thanks in advance
Pet.

Is this able to be used in reader? If so, what part do I remove from the script. Our customers service does not all have professional.

Joel. I am running Acrobat Pro X and Mac OSX Preview, Lion. Will your script still work? The problem outlined persists with my pdf forms. Presumably I need Java installed under Lion?

HELP… acrobat won’t load the .js file. Well, it loaded it once. I then edited the file to comment out the app.alert() calls & now it won’t load. Extendscript toolkit thinks the syntax is still fine. What’s up?
Thanks
Eric

all of this is Greek to me! I just bought a MacBook Pro computer and I have spent two days trying to fill in a pdf form and have had nothing but trouble.
I am regretting purchasing this “top of the line” computer that now I cannot even use.

The two problems I had were when I would type in the field, as soon as my paragraph went from line one to any other multiple lines, when I clicked out of the field box, it put lines 2, 3, and any other lines of type, on top of line 1, thereby making it so that nothing could be read.

I went to Best Buy today and stood in line for 2 hours for a Mac specialist. He seemed baffled by this. Now my problem is that when I type in one narrative field, whatever I type in the first field is automatically copying in every other field on the same page. Mac specialist has no answer for this! Please help!

I’m using Acrobat X Standard in Windows XP Pro and the script is not working. Will the script only work in Acrobat Pro versions?

Thank you,

Michelle

Thanks heaps. The script works with Arobat 8 Professional as well.

Thanks, Joel, for the script!
Works very well in Acrobat X.

best regards,
MAJ

I feel silly, but my path for Acrobat (9.something) goes:

/Users/YOURUSER/Library/Application Support/Adobe/Acrobat/ and then a few .xml files. I tried dropping it in this folder but to no avail.

Where shall I stick the thing?

Ah, so I should make the 9.0 folder and JavaScripts folders myself? They’re not currently there.

Thanks so much for this script! Works perfectly in Acrobat X for Mac. You’ve really saved me a lot of frustration with this workaround.

Thanks so much for this- worked like a charm!

I installed the javascript and restarted, and the “Fix Field Appearances” menu item appears, but it is grayed out and not allowing me to select it. I am using Adobe Professional 9.4.6 and I am on Mac OS 10.6.8. Thanks in advance for the advice!

I love you man!!!!!! I spent a half a day filling in a tax form and thought it was lost. Thank you again.

I have been using this JavaScript “Fix Field Appearances” with Acrobat Pro 10.1.1 for some time. However, it is no longer working. It doesn’t even show the option on the Edit menu anymore. Did something change with a recent update? Is there a new fix for this? Please help.

The javascript was working just fine with my Acrobat X version until just recently. It no longer shows the “Fix Field Appearances” from the menu. Did something change with an update from Adobe?

Thanks,
Greg

Under OS X Lion running Adobe Acrobat 10.1.1, there is no JavaScripts folder.

The script works just fine if the user creates a new folder named “JavaScripts” under
/Users/YOURUSER/Library/Application Support/Adobe/Acrobat/10.0/

DO NOT put the script in the …/Adobe/Acrobat/10.0/JSCache folder as it will not work.

Joel,

Tried to help a client with this problem and having a problem activating the script within Acrobat 10.1.2.45 on XP and the menu item isn’t showing. It works in every other instance we have tried. Any help?

Thanks Joel

Adam

thanks, worked like a charm

Hi everyone,

I have another problem, I don’t even have a folder called “acrobat” in the Adobe folder. I only have Adobe PDf in which I have an empty ‘settings’ folder. I can’t find anything related to javascript. Can anyone help me?

Just to echo what the others said – thx for posting this. Running Adobe 9.0 on a Mac, and it worked great.

Thanks for posting this. I’m having a similar issue and running out of options. I’m trying to get a PDF form created on a Mac with Acrobat 10 X to submit to an email address when the submit form button is clicked. All the other buttons seem to work although the formatting doesn’t look as good. This is the most important button ont he whole form! I’m tried creating a standard button with a menu item and also the submit form option. Nothing seems to work. It works fine on adobe reader, but I need it to work in preview.

I really hope you can help. I’m running into a deadline.

Thanks!

I downloaded and installed the script you created and it didn’t help.

I was able to download and save the file in the correct spot, however “Fix Field Appearances” does not show up in my Edit menu. I have looked around Adobe and it has not shown up anywhere else either. I have Windows 7 and Acrobat X Pro. Any suggestions?

What is the path for Acrobat 10? On my computer I don’t have a JavaScripts folder. I am running XP.

Script works perfectly running Vista. Any update available for Win 7? Thanks.

I noticed that you have removed my previous posts. Does this mean that you are no longer providing the updated fixes for the Field Appearances? If so, do you know of anyone that is? We really would like to make the latest version of Acrobat work.

Thanks,
Greg

Can you use the script for Reader?

And where do you save the script on a Windows 7?

Thanks

Some W7 Pro machines on a domain will have the path here:

C:\Users\Username.domain\AppData\Roaming\Adobe\Acrobat\9.0\JavaScripts

Thanks for the fix/script. This was frustrating my staff to no end.

Hi there,
We installed this script on OS X, Acrobat X, and the menu item is there, but it is unelectable (grayed out). Any ideas why?

I have W7 and Acrobat 10. I followed instuctions to download script to C:\Users\USERNAME\AppData\Roaming\Adobe\Acrobat\10.0\JavaScripts, but it’s not showing up in the Edit menu.

I have installed the script as instructed and the “Fix Field Appearances” doesn’t appear anywhere in the Edit menu or any other menu for that matter. I am running Adobe Reader X 10.1.3. I am assuming this Java Script works for this version?

Works like a charm! Except one issue I’m having is that the text (in the case of text being larger than the text field) is being cut off and not shrinking to fit like it normally would. Any way to prevent or change that?

Script works great showing text fields, thanks for doing this. In my PDF (Adobe X, Vista) I use pull downs. I can see the information in the pull downs before and after running the script, when printing the fields are blank after running the script.
I also have a field that calculates the age form a given DOB that also has stops working.

Pull down not printing update:
If I reselect in the pull down, it will print.

I’m running Acrobat X Pro on Win 7. The file structure under …Roaming/Adobe/Acrobat/10.0 does not have a scripts folder. There’s a JSCache, but copying the file into that did not seem to work. Folders under 10.0 are Collab, Forms, JSCache, Preferences, Redaction, Security and Stamps.

Thanks for any suggestionn!
John

I have windows 7 and Acrobat Pro – need the fix for this system setup

THANK YOU!!!!

The content is still hidden on acrobat X and acrobat pro. Looks fine in preview. I

have posted a question on this bug in the Adobe acrobat forms forums.
http://forums.adobe.com/message/4607131#4607131

I am a teacher, not a techie. I am a Mac user and have no idea where to locate /Users/YOURUSER/Library/Application Support/Adobe/Acrobat/9.0_x86/JavaScripts

Please provide specific instructions on how to find this location and where/how to paste the link.
THANKS!

I’m having the same problem of receiving forms where the data in forms only displays when the clicked on and does not print. I don’t know where to put that script in 10.1.4. Tried different folders but the fix does not show up.