I am getting a bunch of emails from a business partner. I “assume” that the files are using PDF forms because.
It is created by crystal reports (pdf ver 1.3)
says that it allows filling of forms fields.
But in the description it says its not tagged.
I can export the data as text. When I do I get things like
REQUESTED BY :
STORE NO :
This is a form?
How do I strip the data out of a PDF form? In the text export for the above there is no data to the right of the STORE NO: but when you look at the PDF you see the data.
I only own reader but that can be changed
This really needs to be automated.
I am on a Mac but could use XP
I know I did something like this once years ago. It was ugly but as soon as we prototyped it, the person started putting the data online so we didn’t need to parse the PDFs anymore.
You could parse the data directly from the PDF using applescript. However, if you upgrade to the latest version of Acrobat it will gives you the ability to extract form data from many filled out forms in one step and export the data as a .csv file which then can be opened in a spreadsheet or database program.
In Acrobat you would…
¢ Choose Forms > Manage Form Data > Merge Data Files Into Spreadsheet.
¢ In the Export Data From Multiple Forms dialog box, click Add Files.
¢ In the Select file Containing Form Data dialog box, select a file format option in File Of Type option (Acrobat Form Data Files or All Files). Then locate the form files that you want to merge into the spreadsheet, select them, and click Select.
¢ Repeat the previous step to add form data files that are in other locations, as needed.
¢ Click Export. Then select a folder and filename for the spreadsheet, and click Save.
¢ In the Export Progress dialog box, click either View File Now to open the spreadsheet file or Close Dialog to return to Acrobat.
If this won’t work for your particular needs please specify what you will ultimately be doing with the extracted data and I will make another suggestion.