What issues do you commonly have with fillable PDF forms?

SGT Private RallyPoint Member — Sun, 19 Feb 2017 00:33:17 -0500

Response by CPT Jacob Swartout made Feb 19 at 2017 12:50 AM

CPT Jacob Swartout — Sun, 19 Feb 2017 00:50:40 -0500

I have downloaded a few that were supposed to be fillable but were not.

Response by LTC Private RallyPoint Member made Feb 19 at 2017 8:05 AM

LTC Private RallyPoint Member — Sun, 19 Feb 2017 08:05:47 -0500

SGT Private RallyPoint Member HRC changes the version and suddenly the evaluation that was already submitted but got kicked back for one change is invalid.

Response by PVT Mark Brown made Feb 19 at 2017 7:33 PM

PVT Mark Brown — Sun, 19 Feb 2017 19:33:23 -0500

Very common problem I ran into in using PDF forms for several years was basic consistency. I own my own insurance agency for nearly 45 years and as a paper heavy industry PDF's became popular mainly due to reduction of redundancy. Along the way it appeared that. although the PDF engine was just on script, small changes created by the end user (vendor) led to inconsistencies in format. For example if a space or row of spaces were set aside for entering one's drivers license number it would usually be retain and that space would be auto filled on the next ODF the same client accessed then all of a sudden, the next PDF would either populate the same area with different information or not populate at all. But, for my business, when I need virtually the same form completed for every premium quote a potential client the amount of work on the part of the shopper is greatly reduced as well as my office programs for reading the PDF and using the information. If one client were shopping for more than one insurance product subsequent to the first page each additional page will self fill where possible then BOOM we get a space that brings in data from some other planet. Otherwise, I love PDFs.

Response by COL Jon Thompson made Feb 19 at 2017 9:40 PM

COL Jon Thompson — Sun, 19 Feb 2017 21:40:59 -0500

I don't have too many issues with the forms. In some ways they are a slightly easier to use than the old Lotus forms. One thing though that I do not like is that you cannot erase a signature in some cases. In Army ROTC, we use Cadet Command forms for many things. One is a purchase request. If I am using the same vendor to purchase the same things I did a year ago, I would like to be able to delete the signature, update the information and get it re-signed. However, it will not allow me to do that. So I have to retype or copy and paste information into a new one.