Insert Entity-Level Attributes Into a PDF Form Template

For entity-level form templates, you can insert attributes for that entity into the form in the standard way. That is, in the same way that you insert global attributes into a global form template as explained in Insert an Attribute Into a PDF Form Template.

When you want to insert attributes into a form that are at an entity-level lower than the form template (for example, inserting attributes for a child entity into a global form template), you need to insert a repeating field that contains fields for the entity-level attributes. (You can determine the entity of the form by looking at the starting folder on the Attributes tab in the PDF Form Assistant dialog.)

Note: Non-global entities, as well as any entity-level attributes, that are to be included in a form need to have a name defined in Policy Modeling.

To do this:

  1. In your PDF editor, make sure the PDF form template is in form editing mode.
  2. Create a Start data field. To do this:
    1. Add a text field.
    2. In the PDF Form Assistant dialog, click the Repeating fields tab.
    3. Click Start Mark.
      PDF Form Assistant showing Start Mark selected on the Repeating fields tab
    4. Click the Copy button (or Ctrl+C).
    5. In the PDF form template, edit the field properties.
    6. Name the text field "start".
    7. Paste the copied field code into the Tooltip field.

      Text Field Properties dialog in a PDF editor showing the new Name and Tooltip for the text field
  3. In the PDF form template, insert the required entity-level attribute fields. To do this:
    1. Follow the steps for inserting an attribute into a form.
    2. In the PDF Form Assistant dialog, click the Repeating fields tab.
    3. Click Group number.
    4. Click the Copy button (or Ctrl+C).
    5. In the PDF form template, edit the field properties for the attribute.
    6. Paste the copied field code into the Tooltip field.

      Text Field Properties dialog in a PDF editor showing the group name in the Tooltip for the text field
    7. Repeat for each entity-level attribute that you want to include.
  4. Create an End data field. This denotes the end of the information to be repeated. To do this:
    1. Add a text field. The text field must be far enough down the page to be clear of all entity instance attribute data that could appear on the form once generated.
    2. In the PDF Form Assistant dialog, click the Repeating fields tab.
    3. Click End Mark.
    4. Click the Copy button (or Ctrl+C).
    5. In the PDF form template, edit the field properties.
    6. Name the text field "end".
    7. Paste the copied field code into the Tooltip field.
  5. Save the PDF form template.

An example of an entity group inserted into a template is:

Form template showing fields for an entity group

The resulting form when this attribute value is known would look like this (where the children are Mariam, Salma, Yasin and Hamza):

A generated form showing entity values inserted

Note: Repeating fields can only be used once per page. That is, there should only be one Start field and one End field on each page. Start and End field names should be unique where multiple repeating fields are used in a form template. You must allow sufficient space between Start and End fields for the generated entity instance data. A good idea is to always include the End field at the bottom of the page. The use of repeating fields in a PDF form template results in a PDF form that does not conform to the PDF/UA (ISO 14289) standard for accessibility.