software design

I wish I had known that this was not going to cover Acrobat 6. The current version of acrobat does forms completely different than version 5. This is a dinosaur now.

This book reveals one of the best kept secrets of Acrobat 5.0 - easy to create forms handling and workflow. Actually the features aren't secret, but the Adobe documentation is so confusing that only the most technically inclined users made use of it. The author clearly explains how to create forms and employ them as business solutions.

What I like is the way you're introduced to all of the features of Acrobat, including products that are only available through direct purchase from Adobe, that places forms development into the context of the much larger picture of Acrobat's features and capabilities. The book then proceeds to systematically step you through creating basic forms (dynamic and static), and all of the associated details, such as field types and properties, calculating data and workflow considerations.

After you've mastered the basics the book shows how to use Javascript to create sophisticated forms and handling applications. In this section of the book the author does not assume any knowledge of Javascript on the part of the reader. The tutorial is clearly written and explains the basics of Javascript, but unless you have prior programming experience you may want to skip this section. On the other hand, if you understand the basics of programming or have used some of the user-oriented languages, such as SQL or Visual Basic, you should have no problem with this section of the book.

The most valuable part of the book is in Parts III and IV, which cover distributing and working with forms. The chapters in these two parts of the book show you how to apply forms to business solutions. In addition, the CD ROM contains example forms and a valuable collection of Javascript routines that you can either use as is, or modify to suit specific requirements. There are also trial versions of various Acrobat plug-ins, and the entire book reproduced in Acrobat format (plus two ebooks titled "101 Acrobat 5.0 eTips and Techniques" and "101 Acrobat 5.0 Forms eTips and Techniques").