Author Fillable Field or Fillable Checkbox

Fillable Fields or Fillable Checkboxes may be authored to reserve space on an assembled PDF to capture data input. These element details are output to the assembly-log.txt file saved to the application data folder each time a transaction is assembled (c:\Users\user.name\AppData\Local\Temp\) as well as included in the Expere API services.

When a Fillable Checkbox element is encountered in content, logic is used during processing to reserve the appropriate space for formatting and a post-processing operation adds an AcroForm checkbox object at the position indicated. The checkbox is an Adobe object sized as .1in by .1in plus a following space. The FieldName element value authored is used as the AcroForm object name.

A Fillable Field is be placed so that text entered in the field reads consistently with preceding and following text, such that the baseline of text entered in the field must be the same as the baseline of other text on the same line. This placement is independent of the height property associated with the field. AcroForm field values are vertically aligned in the middle of the field rectangle and this alignment cannot be modified programmatically; therefore, the placement of the field rectangle is computed from the desired baseline, taking into account the height of the field, the height of the font for field data.

Fillable Checkbox and Fillable Fields are tagged for accessibility when producing a TaggedPDF. See Accessibility in Tagged PDF Implementation Guide for further details.

The FillableField element is available only as a child to the FragmentedPara and FragmentedPhrase elements.

The FillableCheckbox element may be authored as a child of the following elements; however, the most common use is FragmentedPara.

  • Tagline
  • HorizontalListItem
  • FragmentedPhrase
  • FragmentedPara
  • LinkText
Note:

FillableField/FillableCheckbox may be authored in a HeaderNotice. However, the functionality to create the Acroform text field/object accurately on the PDF is not supported as this time.

Right click the FragmentedPara element and select Add Child Element > FillableField or FillableCheckbox from the shortcut menu.

To add elements or attributes, right-click the FillableField or FillableCheckbox element and select Add Child Element or Add Attribute from the shortcut menu.

FillableField Child Elements:

FillableFIeld Attributes:

FillableCheckbox Child Elements:

The table below outlines the attributes and elements available and authoring rules for the FillableField and FillableCheckbox elements. Items with an asterisk (*) are added automatically when the FillableField/FillableCheckbox is inserted.

FillableField Element Required/Optional Description
EmailAddress* Optional Indicates the inclusion of a recipient's Email Address.
Attention: This is required for WKES use.
FieldName* Required The name of the fillable field. The contents may be a string, a Data element (DTA) with a PTR authored, or a mix of text and Data elements. The FieldName must conform to the rules for an AcroForm field.
Note: Adobe Acrobat has special rules for handling fields when the field name contains a period or space. Do not use spaces or periods when authoring FieldName. Special characters may be used; however, use of the ampersand (&) will result in assembly error.
FieldText* Optional The prepopulated text for the field. The contents may be a string, a Data element (DTA) with a PTR authored, or a mix of text and Data elements. Special characters may be used, however use of the ampersand (&) will result in assembly error.
Font* Required The name of the font. See FontName Element Values for the FontName acceptable values to author.
Note:
  • Font Scaling modifications occur on Fillable Field FieldText similar to existing Expere Content to adjust to true font height for applicable fonts (CourierNew and TimesNewRoman). See the Expere Developer’s Guide ‘Font Scaling Adjustments Stylesheet Details’ section to review font scaling modification details.
  • The FillableField element inherits the font settings of the Body element, eliminating the need to add Font/FontSize elements to each field. Changing the Font or FonstSize elements is still available when there is a need to override the fonts.
FontSize* Required Numeric value. Represents the size of the font authored in points (i.e. enter 10 to represent a 10pt font).
Note:
  • Font Scaling modifications occur on Fillable Field FieldText similar to existing Expere Content to adjust to true font height. The FontSize value is modified from what is authored to apply font scaling adjustments for applicable fonts (CourierNew and TimesNewRoman). See the Expere Developer Guide ‘Font Scaling Adjustments Stylesheet Details’ section to review font scaling modification details.
  • The FillableField element inherits the font settings of the Body element, eliminating the need to add Font/FontSize elements to each field. Changing the Font or FonstSize elements is still available when there is a need to override the fonts.
Height* Required Identifies the height of the field in points or inches. For example, 20pt/.5in.
Note: The height is set to 0.2in as a default value.
ID* Optional This element is provided to allow ID information and the inclusion of DTA information.
NumberOfCharacters Optional The maximum number of characters allowed. Note: A value of 0 (zero) is ignored when the transactions is assembled; if there is no limitation on the number of characters, do not author this element.
When the NumberOfCharacters element is authored, when entering data in the fillable field on the PDF, the user will be limited to the number of the characters value authored.
Note: If FieldText was authored to default or prepopulate data for the fillable field that exceeds the number of characters, the data that exceeds the maximums characters will be truncated. If the Width element is authored such that the dimension is less than the Number of Characters authored, the prepopulated text is not truncated but only those characters that fit in the Width are visible. When modifying prepopulated text in this case, user may delete characters to see additional text that is not visible but will be limited to entering only the number of characters that fit the Width.
ToolTip* Optional The text for the tooltip that is displayed when the user hovers over the field on the PDF. The contents may be a string, a Data element (DTA) with a PTR authored, or a mix of text and Data elements. Special characters may be used; however, use of the ampersand (&) will result in assembly error. The ToolTip property becomes the hover text associated with the Acroform checkbox object on the PDF.

If the ToolTip element is not authored, the FieldName value will be used as a default for the ToolTip as accessibility requirements for Tagged PDFs requires a ToolTip for AcroForm fields.
Width* Required Identifies the Width of field. May be authored in points (144pt) or inches (2in). If authored as inches, the value is converted and output as points in the response file. Entering text in the fillable field is limited to the lesser of the Width or Number of Characters element value.
Note: If FieldText is authored to prepopulate data for the fillable field and the value exceeds the characters that can visually fit in the Width defined, all text continues to populate the field but only those characters that fit in the Width are visible; the non-visible characters may be removed from clicking the field text and removing visible characters. To truncate characters, author the NumberofCharacters elements to control the maximum characters allowed. Entering data in Fillable Field AcroForm text fields on the PDF without the NumberOfCharacters element authored is limited to characters that fit in the Width dimension authored. Refer to NumberOfCharacters element for additional details on data truncation.
FillableField Attributes Required/Optional Description
FieldType Required Options for FieldType include:
  • Alphanum
  • Checkbox
  • Date
  • Initials
  • Name
  • Numeric
  • eNotary
HorizontalAlignment Optional Values include:
  • Left
  • Center
  • Right
Mandatory* Optional Values include:
  • Yes
  • No
Note: The value is set to No as a default value.
MultiLine Optional Values include:
  • Yes
  • No
Underline Optional Values include:
  • Yes
  • No
FillableChekbox Element Required/Optional Description
Checked Optional

Indicates if the fillable checkbox should resolve as selected or deselected. If the element is not authored, the checkbox will default as deselected. The reserved value ‘CHECKBOX’ can be used when authoring the PTR to set the checkbox to be selected (functions the same as Output Format ‘Checkbox’). PTR Examples that resolves as a selected checkbox:

  1. PTR with if/then logic:
    IF [expression] THEN 
 CHECKBOX
 ENDIF
  2. PTR that resolves as checkbox being selected:
    CHECKBOX
EmailAddress* Optional Indicates the inclusion of a recipient's Email Address.
Attention: This is required for WKES use.
FieldName* Required The name of the fillable checkbox. The contents may be a string, a Data element (DTA) with a PTR authored, or a mix of text and Data elements. The FieldName must conform to the rules for an AcroForm field.
GroupID Optional GroupID allows you to specify a string of letters and numbers which groups two fields with the same GroupID together when the PDF is produced by the engine.
ID* Optional This element is provided to allow ID information and the inclusion of DTA information.
ToolTip* Optional The text for the tooltip that is displayed when the user hovers over the field on the PDF. The contents may be a string, a Data element (DTA) with a PTR authored, or a mix of text and Data elements. Special characters may be used; however, use of the ampersand (&) will result in assembly error. The ToolTip property becomes the hover text associated with the Acroform checkbox object on the PDF.

If the ToolTip element is not authored, the FieldName value will be used as a default for the ToolTip as accessibility requirements for Tagged PDFs requires a ToolTip for AcroForm fields.
FillableField Attributes Required/Optional Description
Mandatory Optional Values include:
  • Yes
  • No
FillableField and FillableCheckbox Required/Optional Description
UniqueID Optional Used to specify a unique id for this FillableField/Checkbox instance, used below to associate fields
FieldStates Optional This element contains one or more FieldState elements
FieldStates\FieldState Optional This element contains the actual state of the field
FieldStates\FieldState\Value Optional This element contains the actual value for the field state. For checkboxes and fields this is either true or false indicating that the checkbox is checked or the field has a value. This can also be the tooltip value for a radio button or the value "wkes_initialstate".
FieldStates\FieldState\AssociatedFields Optional This element contains one or more AssociatedField elements indicating which fields are associated with this field.
FieldStates\FieldState\AssociatedFields\AssociatedField Optional This element contains information about the field associated with this one.
FieldStates\FieldState\AssociatedFields\AssociatedField\FieldID Optional This element contains the UniqueID value for the field that's associated with this field. (DTA is allowed inside)
FieldStates\FieldState\AssociatedFields\AssociatedField\Visibility Optional This element indicates whether this field should be visible or not based on the FieldState\Value for this field. Possible values are show (default) or hide.
FieldStates\FieldState\AssociatedFields\AssociatedField\Content Optional This element indicates what happens with this field's content based on the FieldState\Value for this field. Possible values are input, no-input or delete. This could contain two values separated by a space character. For example the value could be delete no-input.

*Note: If required elements are not authored, the document will fail to assemble.

Table 1. FontName Element Values
Requirements Editor - Font Value AuthoredAssembly Log & Expere API Response File - FontName Output Value
arial (arial)ArialMT
arialbd (arial bold)Arial-BoldMT
arialbi (arial bold italic)Arial-BoldItalicMT
ariali (arial Italic)Arial-ItalicMT
cour (courier new)CourierNewPSMT
courbd (courier new bold)CourierNewPS-BoldMT
courbi (courier new bold italic)CourierNewPS-BoldItalicMT
couri (courier new italic)CourierNewPS-ItalicMT
times (times new roman)TimesNewRomanPSMT
timesbd (times new roman bold)TimesNewRomanPS-BoldMT
timesbi (times new roman bold italic) TimesNewRomanPS-BoldItalicMT
timesi (times new roman italic)TimesNewRomanPS-ItalicMT
sansmd (BSI Sans)BSISans
sansbd (BSI Sans Bold)BSISansBold
sansbdit (BSI Sans Bold Italic)BSISansBoldItalic
sansmdit (BSI Sans Italic)BSISansItalic
serfmd (BSI Serif)BSISerif
serfbd (BSI Serif Bold)BSISerifBold
serfbdit (BSI Serif Bold Italic)BSISerifBoldItalic
serfmdit (BSI Serif Italic)BSISerifItalic

Assembled PDF Examples

The following screencaps show an assembled PDF with a Fillable Field and Fillable Checkbox.

In this example, the FieldText element for the FillableField was authored with string text to populate a default value. Likewise, the Checked element for the FillableCheckbox was authored with a DTA and PTR to default to selected.

In this example, the FieldText/Checked elements are not authored resulting in no pre-populated/default data.

Hovering the mouse over the FillableField or FillableCheckbox displays the ToolTip text.

Clicking or tabbing to the Fillable Field AcroForm text field or Fillable Checkbox object gives it focus and the value may be modified/entered.