Tuesday, May 6, 2014

Acrobat -- Import Items from a Text File to a Combo-Box or List Field



Direct purchase using PayPal ($49 only per license)!

Another New Feature (06/05/2014): Now it's possible to select multiple combo-boxes and/or radio-list fields in your file and apply the new items to them all, in a single process!


New Feature: It is now also possible to embed the text file used in this script into the actual PDF.
The data from the text file will be automatically loaded each time the file is opened, so you can easily update the list and keep it up-to-date at all times.

If you're working with Acrobat form fields and need to insert a large amount of items to a drop-down menu field (also known as a combo-box), you know what a pain it can be to manually enter all of those values.
Well, with this script you can just put all of your items (name and export value, or just name) in a text file or even an Excel spreadsheet and the script will read them and add them to your drop-down box.

Setup and maintenance of your PDF forms will be much faster and easier using this tool.

Screenshot of the tool:

Download a free sample PDF file that contains lists of all the US States in various forms: Full name, 2-letter code, and full name with the 2-letter code as the export value.
The lists were populated using this tool and the source text files used to achieve that are also included. The file can be downloaded from here.

Also, a free demo version of this script is available here.
This version will only import the first three items from the input file. Purchase the full version and get the full capabilities of the script!



For more information about this tool, you can always contact me directly.

22 comments:

Ken said...

Thanks for a great solution. This works as advertised!

Gilad D. (try67) said...

Hi Bo,
Is each item on its own line in your text file? If you wish, send it over and I'll check out what's wrong with it...

Unknown said...

Hello!
It's impposible to import Russian text into the Compo Box. May by encoding problems?

Gilad D. (try67) said...

Hi Ivan,

It's likely an encoding issue with the text file, but if you wish send me an email with the file and I'll check it out.

Regards, Gilad.

Unknown said...

Just purchased it and it seems to work fine, but there is no way to use this with Adobe Forms Central!

Gilad D. (try67) said...

That's correct. Adobe Forms Central is not an application, but a website, and therefore my scripts won't work there. You can export the form you've created in AFC to a PDF, and then it should work if you use it in Acrobat.

Unknown said...

Is there a limit on the number of items that can be imported by this tool?

Gilad D. (try67) said...

@Mark Starcher
No, there isn't a limit.

Unknown said...

Is it working on a iMac with adobe pro xi?

Gilad D. (try67) said...

@Adam Lagacé

Yes, all of my scripts work on both Windows and Mac systems, unless mentioned otherwise.

EBC82 said...

This is exactly what I am looking for. Quick question though... I am wanting to create the form from my computer but then allow others to use the form. Will this work? Or will the data list only work on the licenses computer?

Gilad D. (try67) said...

After the file is edited it can be used on any computer. You don't need to have the script installed on other computers for it to work there.

Pureflow_inc said...

I purchased this plug in this morning and installed it. I have tried to load my excel file as my source for data for the drop down box in Adobe Acrobat DC. It tells me it has loaded and is complete but the drop down doesn't contain my data. It only shows one option which is two bullet points side by side. I have a list of 19000 codes that I need to implement for our company. Can you help?

Gilad D. (try67) said...

@Pureflow_inc, certainly I can help. I'll contact you by email.

Unknown said...

HI How do I distinguish between the item and the export value
Its just putting all the data in the item list

Gilad D. (try67) said...

@Marcus Moufarrige

You need to put them in separate columns in the input file, separated by a tab.

(Sorry about the delay in replying. The comment was stuck in a hidden moderation queue.)

epDesigns said...

This tool is TOTALLY worth it. I can't tell you how amazing it is to import a 200 item list into a dropdown menu in seconds. Imagine doing that ONE by ONE! Absolutely recommend.

JimP said...

We separated the item and export values with a tab and both are still appearing in the dropdown.
ABC Acme brand
DEF Def Brands
GHI great brands

I tried comma separating but that didn't work either.
We're using Adobe Acrobat X version 10.1.16.
Thanks
Jim

Gilad D. (try67) said...

@JimP

Please send me the input file by email and I'll look into it.

Unknown said...

I purchased this and it works very well, recommended.

Unknown said...

I'm working with current version of Acrobat Pro. Version: 22.3.20263.0

I followed the setup instructions, checked configuration of Acrobat, and installed the js file to "C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Acrobat DC\Acrobat\Javascripts\ImportFileToComboBox-DEMO.js".

"Import Items to Combobox (DEMO)" does not show up as a new item under the "Tools" menu.

Gilad D. (try67) said...

@Unknown

Did you set the rest of the Preferences as described in the installation file? Did you make sure to restart Acrobat after installing the script file? If it still doesn't work please email me for further help, at try6767@gmail.com.