When
creating calculations and scripts, you must associate each entry
with a specific form event. Each form event represents a change
in the form’s state that initiates at a specific time.
The change
in form state can occur during form rendering on the server by Forms,
or on the client by Acrobat or Adobe Reader while a user is filling
a form.
When a change in the state of the form occurs, any calculations
or scripts associated with the event are processed automatically.
The event you use when creating a calculation or script will,
to some extent, determine what you must include in your calculation
or script. For example, the amount and type of information available
on a form may be different depending on the event timing you choose;
therefore, a calculation or script that retrieves a value from a
field may have different results if run before instead of after
a form filler performs certain actions. For more information about
events, see Events.
Depending on the type of form you are creating, some events may
never occur. For example, if you are creating a form that has a
fixed layout and no interactive objects, then interactive events
associated with form filler actions may never occur and, as a result,
any scripts associated with those events will not run.
Although Designer includes support for a wide variety of form
events, it is possible to accomplish a wide variety of common calculation
and scripting tasks by using only a few events that occur at major
changes in a form’s state, such as the following events:
- docReady
- Initiates immediately after the form opens in Acrobat or
Adobe Reader and immediately before the
form filler can begin interacting with form objects. This event
is the last event to occur before control of the form is given to the
form filler.
- enter
- Initiates when the form filler changes the focus to a particular
field, button, or subform.
- exit
- Initiates when the form filler changes the focus from a particular
field, button, or subform, to another object.
- change
- Initiates when a form filler makes a change to a field value.
This event is most commonly used with drop-down lists or list boxes
to execute a script when a form filler makes a change to the current
value.
- click
- Initiates when a form filler clicks a field or button. This
event is most commonly used with buttons to execute a script when
a form filler clicks the button.
