Sub Form on Preview

Lightning_McQueen

Active Member
Hi Forum,

Just a quick question. I am using a variable subform to dictate which logo is displayed. It appears to work fine in designer, but when I 'Preview' it, the variable subform does not show anything. Anyone have any ideas as to why this might be? Or is it normal?

THanks

Vince

Create!Form 3.0

__________
 
Vincent: couple of questions: a) do you have full Adobe installed on your design PC (Standard or Professional, but not just Reader) and b) do you have the option to preview with Direct Postscript turned on (Tools / Options, Output preview via Direct Postscript)?
 
Michael
Thanks for your assistance.

(1) No, just the reader is installed
(2) The Preview via Postscript is ON, as is Print Direct Postscript

Thx

Vince
 
Vince,

Make sure the subform (FRM file) is compiled. The subform FRM file is what you see linked to your form project in Cform designer. But the preview function in Cform designer uses the complied subform (hst_ps file).

Select Tools > Subform > Compile - the subform will either be in the CommonFormProject or your current Form Project Directory. Select the subform then OK. Try preview again, do you get the variable subform?

Another thing to keep in mind when you use variable sub forms is that they don't get transferred with the form project automatically. You'll need to make sure the HST_PS files get transferred transfered where they should be based on your configuration.


Hope this helps -

Karen.
 
Thanks for your reply Karen.

I've compiled them, but with no luck. However, one thing I'd like to add is that the variable subform is dependent on COMPANY, which means the subforms need to be named with leading zeros (ie. 00011.frm, 00082,frm). Would this be a problem for Create!Form in the live/preview mode? I noticed that when my subforms are compiled they are made with prefix 'A' (ie. A00011.HST_PS).

Thanks

Vince
 
First, it looks like preview requires the full version of Acrobat in order to show variable subforms. I can replicate what you describe when I change my Preview option to Direct PDF (I see my subform in Cform designer but it’s not on the preview of the form when it displays as a PDF). I have the full version of Acrobat installed so that's the best I can do to mimic your configuration. What do you get if you Print from Cform designer to a PostScript printer (or any printer)?

Another way to test if the variable subforms in the form project are working would be simply to use the Cform Adobe plug-in to merge a JDE PDF with the form project.

The Import Images utility does not allow forms to be created that start with a numeric character (forms have to be A-Z, a-z, $, # or @). I’m assuming that since you see your subform in Cform designer and you’re using a Variable Subform object your project has the logic needed to make the subform name it needs (A00011). If you need help with that let me know.


Karen.
 
Hi Karen,

You've raised some interesting points - especially wih the fact that I would need the full adobe acrobat version. Right now I just have the reader. This alone may be the culprit.

Regarding the subform, I actually renamed all the subforms to be leading with zeros. When I first created it, it wouldn't allow it. But afterwards, I just renamed it from Windows Explorer. So that got it to display correctly in CForm.

In response to your question regarding if I print from the designer, it still does not display the subform.

I'm also gonna try with the plug-in to see if the merge works.

THanks for your help.

Vince
 
Cform designer requires the full version of Acrobat. It makes a call to Acrobat Distiller when the form project is saved. Without it you won't be able to publish a useable form project.

Having subforms that start with numeric characters might work or it might cause other problems you don't expect. When I tried to import an image that starts with a number the import utility won't let me and warns that it needs a prefix. This tells me that there is a specific reason the developers don't allow subforms to begin with a numeric character.

Just because you have manually changed the FRM names and you see them in designer does not mean that they will work. You can use a User Variable to concatenate "A" with the company number so that you can use subforms correctly.

Regardless of all that you will need the full version of Acrobat on your workstation to save the form project.


Karen.
 
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