Submitting data using a button

You can add a button to a form so form fillers can submit the information or data they enter into the various fields in the form. The Object Library provides three button objects you use to submit form data, the Button, Email Submit Button, and HTTP Submit Button objects.

To define the properties of a button for submitting data, you select the button object in the Layout Editor and select options on either the Submit or Field tab in the Object palette. With the Button object, you first select the Submit option in the Control Type area on the Field tab, to display the options for submitting data on the Submit tab. With the Email Submit Button and the HTTP Submit Button objects, the options for submitting data are located on the Field tab.

Each submit button provides options for different purposes. For example, if you want to submit data to a URL, use the Button or the HTTP Submit Button objects. However, if you want to submit the data as an XML Data Package (XDP) including attachments like annotations, PDF documents, or signatures, use the Button object.

Use the Button object to submit form data to a URL in XML Data Package (XDP), PDF, XML Data (XML), or URL-encoded data format. The Button object is the only button that provides the options to include attachments like annotations, templates, and PDFs. You can also use the Button object to submit form data by email using the mailto protocol.

Use the Email Submit Button object to submit form data to an e-mail address in XDP or PDF format.

Use the HTTP Button object to submit form data to a URL in URL-encoded data format.

All three buttons provide options for signing and encrypting submitted data.

To add a button that submits an XML Data Package (XDP) to a URL

  1. Add a Button object to the form design. See To add objects to a form design .

  2. In the Object palette, click the Field tab.

  3. In the Control Type area, select Submit. Data will be submitted according to the settings in the Submit tab.

  4. Click the Submit tab, and in the Submit to URL box, type the URL protocol.

    To

    Use this URL protocol

    Example

    Submit the package to an ftp site

    ftp

    ftp://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/GPL

    Submit the package to a web server

    http

    http://myserver/cgi-bin/

    Submit the package to a secure web server

    https

    https://myserver/cgi-bin/

    Note: When submitting data to a URL, it is recommended that you specify an absolute target. Relative targets are interpreted relative to the user environment, which can vary from one user to the next at run time.

  5. In the Submit As list, select XML Data Package (XDP).

    These formats initiate server-side processing. The XML Data Package (XDP) option submits the form data and optionally includes other information, such as the form design, annotations, and signatures, that is needed for Forms to subsequently render the form at run time. Attachments may be included with XDP files only.

  6. (Optional) To apply a signature to the submitted data, select Sign Submission and then click Settings to select optional signature settings.

  7. (Optional) To apply XML encryption to the form content, select Encrypt Submission and then click Settings to select optional encryption settings.

  8. In the Include area, select the types of attachments to include:

    • To include review comments, tool tips, and any other special tags needed to capture screen reader text, select Annotations.

    • To include a PDF version of the form (including signatures) when it is submitted as an attachment, select PDF (Includes Signatures). Otherwise, a reference to an embedded PDF file is included.

    • To include a copy of the form design, select Template.

    • To include one or more <xdp> elements in the XDP source file, select Other. The specified elements must be separated by commas and white space is optional; for example: xci, xslt, sourceset .

  9. In the Data Encoding list, select one of the data encoding schemes:

    • UTF-8

    • UTF-16

    • Shift_JIS

    • Big5

    • GBK

    • KSC_5601

To add a button that submits an embedded PDF to a URL

  1. Add a Button object to the form design. See To add objects to a form design .

  2. In the Object palette, click the Field tab.

  3. In the Control Type area, select Submit. Data will be submitted according to the settings in the Submit tab.

  4. Click the Submit tab and type the URL protocol in the Submit to URL box.

    To

    Use this URL protocol

    Example

    Submit the package to an ftp site

    ftp

    ftp://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/GPL

    Submit the package to a web server

    http

    http://myserver/cgi-bin/

    Submit the package to a secure web server

    https

    https://myserver/cgi-bin/

    Submit the package to an email address

    mailto

    mailto:username@domain.com

    Note: When submitting data to a URL, it is recommended that you specify an absolute target. Relative targets are interpreted relative to the user environment, which can vary from one user to the next at run time.

  5. In the Submit As list, select PDF.

    This format submits a package containing an embedded PDF file.

    Choose this format if the form contains a signature field, or if a copy of the form together with its data needs to be saved by Forms or submitted to another type of target server. Do not choose this option if the form initiates server-side processing, and if Forms will be used to render HTML or dynamic forms at run time. Keep in mind that if you want to submit data in PDF format, ensure that the Save usage right is applied to the form using Acrobat Reader DC extensions. No data can be submitted if the Save useage right is not applied to the form.

  6. (Optional) To apply a signature to the submitted data, select Sign Submission in the Field tab and then click Settings to select optional signature settings.

  7. (Optional) To apply XML encryption to the form content, select Encrypt Submission and then click Settings to select optional encryption settings.

To add an email submit button that submits an embedded PDF to an email address

  1. Add an Email Submit Button object the form design. See To add objects to a form design .

  2. In the Object palette, click the Field tab.

  3. In the Email Address box, type the email address you want to submit the PDF to.

  4. (Optional) In the Email Subject box, type a subject line for the email message.

  5. In the Submit As list, select PDF.

    This format submits a package containing an embedded PDF file.

    Choose this format if the form contains a signature field, or if a copy of the form together with its data needs to be saved by Forms or submitted to another type of target server. Do not choose this option if the form initiates server-side processing, and if Forms will be used to render HTML or dynamic forms at run time. Keep in mind that if you want to submit data in PDF format, ensure that the Save usage right is applied to the form using Acrobat Reader DC extensions. No data can be submitted if the Save useage right is not applied to the form.

  6. (Optional) To apply a signature to the submitted data, select Sign Submission in the Field tab and then click Settings to select optional signature settings.

  7. (Optional) To apply XML encryption to the form content, select Encrypt Submission and then click Settings to select optional encryption settings.

To add a button that submits XML data to a URL

  1. Add a Button object to the form design. See To add objects to a form design .

  2. In the Object palette, click the Field tab.

  3. In the Control Type area, select Submit. Data will be submitted according to the settings in the Submit tab.

  4. Click the Submit tab and type the URL protocol in the Submit to URL box.

    To

    Use this URL protocol

    Example

    Submit the package to an ftp site

    ftp

    ftp://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/GPL

    Submit the package to a web server

    http

    http://myserver/cgi-bin/

    Submit the package to a secure web server

    https

    https://myserver/cgi-bin/

    Submit the package to an email address

    mailto

    mailto:username@domain.com

    Note: When submitting data to a URL, we recommend that you specify an absolute target. Relative targets are interpreted relative to the user environment, which can vary from one user to the next at run time.

  5. In the Submit As list, select XML Data (XML).

    This format submits an XML data stream, which allows for the hierarchical representation of data and can be parsed by any generic XML parser. Choose this format if the server that communicates with the run-time user application program must receive an XML data steam.

  6. (Optional) To apply a signature to the submitted data, select Sign Submission in the Field tab and then click Settings to select optional signature settings.

  7. (Optional) To apply XML encryption to form content, select Encrypt Submission and then click Settings to select optional encryption settings.

  8. In the Encoding list, select one of the data encoding schemes:

    • UTF-8

    • UTF-16

    • Shift_JIS

    • Big5

    • GBK

    • KSC_5601

To add an email submit button that submits XML data to an email address

  1. Add an Email Submit Button object to the form design. See To add objects to a form design .

  2. In the Object palette, click the Field tab.

  3. In the Email Address box, type the email address you want to submit the PDF to.

  4. (Optional) In the Email Subject box, type a subject line for the email message.

  5. In the Submit As list, select XML Data (XML).

    This format submits an XML data stream, which allows for the hierarchical representation of data and can be parsed by any generic XML parser. Choose this format if the server that communicates with the run-time user application program must receive an XML data steam.

  6. (Optional) To apply a data signature to the submitted data, select Sign Submission in the Field tab and then click Settings to select optional signature settings.

  7. (Optional) To apply XML encryption to form content, select Encrypt Submission and then click Settings to select optional encryption settings.

To add a button that submits XML data to an e-mail address

  1. Add a Button object to the form design. See To add objects to a form design .

  2. In the Object palette, click the Field tab.

  3. In the Control Type area, select Submit. Data will be submitted according to the settings in the Submit tab.

  4. Click the Submit tab and, in the Submit to URL box, type the mailto protocol as shown in the following example: 

    mailto:username@domain.com

  5. In the Submit As list, select XML Data (XML).

    This format sends an XML data stream, which allows for the hierarchical representation of data and can be parsed by any generic XML parser. Choose this format if the server that communicates with the run-time user application program must receive an XML data steam.

  6. (Optional) To apply a data signature to the submitted data, select Sign Submission in the Field tab and then click Settings to configure optional signature settings.

  7. (Optional) To apply XML encryption to form content, select Encrypt Submission and then click Settings to configure optional encryption settings.

  8. In the Encoding list, select one of the data encoding schemes:

    • UTF-8

    • UTF-16

    • Shift_JIS

    • Big5

    • GBK

    • KSC_5601

To add a button that submits a text stream using the POST method

  1. Add a Button object to the form design. See To add objects to a form design .

  2. In the Object palette, click the Field tab.

  3. In the Control Type area, select Submit. Data will be submitted according to the settings in the Submit tab.

  4. Click the Submit tab and type the URL protocol in the Submit to URL box.

    To

    Use this URL protocol

    Example

    Submit the package to an ftp site

    ftp

    ftp://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/GPL

    Submit the package to a web server

    http

    http://myserver/cgi-bin/

    Submit the package to a secure web server

    https

    https://myserver/cgi-bin/

    Submit the package to an email address

    mailto

    mailto:username@domain.com

    Note: When submitting data to a URL, it is recommended that you specify an absolute target. Relative targets are interpreted relative to the user environment, which can vary from one user to the next at run time.

  5. In the Submit As list, select URL-Encoded Data (HTTP Post).

    This format submits a text stream to the specified Uniform Resource Locator (URL) by using the POST method. The text stream can be parsed by an FTP server, a mail server, a web server, or a CGI script that processes HTML forms. To use this method, users must open the form in Adobe Reader 6.0 or later or a web browser unless the URL specifies the mailto protocol.

  6. In the Encoding list, select one of the data encoding schemes:

    • UTF-8

    • UTF-16

    • Shift_JIS

    • Big5

    • GBK

    • KSC_5601

To add an email submit button that submits encrypted form content to an e-email

  1. Add an Email Submit Button object to the form design. See To add objects to a form design .

  2. In the Object palette, click the Field tab.

  3. In the Email Address box, type the e-mail address you want to send the submission to.

  4. (Optional) In the Email Subject box, type a subject line for the e-mail.

  5. In the Submit As list, select PDF or XML Data (XML).

  6. Select Encrypt Submission, and click Settings.

  7. In the Encrypt Data And Submit Settings dialog box, select options as needed. See Encrypt Data and Submit Settings dialog box .

To add a button that submits encrypted and encoded form content to an e-mail address

  1. Add a Button object to the form design. See To add objects to a form design .

  2. In the Object palette, click the Field tab.

  3. In the Control Type area, select Submit. Data is submitted according to the settings in the Submit tab.

  4. Click the Submit tab and, in the Submit to URL box, type the mailto protocol as shown in the following example: 

    mailto:username@domain.com

  5. In the Submit As list, select either PDF or XML Data (XML).

  6. Select Encrypt Submission, and click Settings.

  7. In the Encrypt Data And Submit Settings dialog box, select options as needed. See Encrypt Data and Submit Settings dialog box .

  8. In the Encoding list, select one of the data encoding schemes:

    • UTF-8

    • UTF-16

    • Shift_JIS

    • Big5

    • GBK

    • KSC_5601

To add an HTTP button that submits encrypted form content to a URL

  1. Add an HTTP Submit Button object to the form design. See To add objects to a form design .

  2. In the Object palette, click the Field tab.

  3. In the URL box, type the URL that the form data will be posted to.

  4. Select Encrypt Submission, and click Settings.

  5. In the Encrypt Data And Submit Settings dialog box, select options as needed. See Encrypt Data and Submit Settings dialog box .

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