Merge data that is housed in the Equus Platform can be used to populate PDF editable forms such as HR Forms and Government Forms. The example below uses the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Form I-907 and is populated using a User Report.
The following areas are covered:
Example of PDF Merge Document
Click here for PDF editable merge document that was used to produced the above output. The PDF merge document feature supports several data fields types which are used in USCIS Form I-907. These data field types are:
Text Fields
ComboBoxes (Drop Down Lists)
Checkboxes
Status Inputs
The outputs of the User Report can be used to populate Text Fields, Drop Down and Checkboxes data field types. To include static inputs, simply save the PDF document with the values pre-populated rather than include Custom fields outputting static text in the User Report.
Below is the extract of the PDF editable form indicating the different data field types used and how to populate them when using the merge feature.
Each field, also known as a control, in the PDF document is likely to have a caption. Hover over the field on the PDF document to view the caption. If a caption is not defined for a control, the PDF control name will be used instead, which will likely appear as a nonsensical text string (ex: f1_014(0), Text70 or form1[0].#subform[0].S1_FamilyName[0]).
To populate the PDF form, create a user report to output the required data. The Column Caption names used will appear on a PDF Input tabs after saving a Merge Document record for the PDF merge document using the Merge Document screen.
Example of a Backing User Report
The Merge Data Source of PDF merge documents can only be User Reports; PDF merge documents are not compatible with Equus Standard Data Sources. Below is an example of the data fields.
When creating the user report, remember to include a data filter so that the report can return the data for one record and ensure that the filter has a prompt. Unlike other types of merge documents, the Column Caption names for each data field can contain spaces.
Creating a Merge Document Record
Navigate to the Merge Documents screen using the Configuration Search feature. Merge Documents can be configured at the System or Company levels. Click on the
On the Merge Document screen populate the following required fields:
Merge Document Name
Type
Upload the PDF document by clicking on the Document icon
Created Document Type
Output Document Name
User Report name after clicking on the User Report radio button.
For more details about each of the fields on the screen and uploading the document, see How to create a merge document record
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Defining Merge Document Mapping
When the PDF Inputs tab is clicked, every editable field on the PDF document is displayed in the Input Mappings grid. By default, the Input Mappings are sorted by the order in which they appear on the PDF document. To change the sort by order of the Input Mappings, select a value from the Sort drop down list.
Note: If you sort by <Pdf Caption>, any PDF form field without a caption will not be sorted appropriately and will instead be sorted by the PDF control name, which will likely appear as a nonsensical text string (for example: form1[0].#subform[0].S1_FamilyName[0]) and will appear at the top of the sorted list.
The Input Mappings Grid consist of the following columns:
Page Number: The page number of the PDF form where the PDF control appears.
Control Type: The format that the merge field data will be displayed in on the PDF document (A Text field, a Checkbox, a ComboBox (drop down list) or a MultiLineText field).
Caption: The caption of the PDF form control. If there is no caption, the PDF control name will appear, which will likely appear as a nonsensical text string. You can hover over the field on the PDF document to view the caption. If a caption is not defined for a control, the PDF control name will be used instead, which will likely appear as a nonsensical text string.
Merge Source Field Name: Select the merge field from the backing User Report to display in the PDF control.
To populate a PDF control, simply click on the Merge Source Field Name drop down list and select a value.
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when all selections are made and manually review the of the outputted PDF after merging.
Things to watch out for when using this feature
Only editable PDF documents can be merged with the Equus Platform data. If a field on a PDF document is uneditable, it cannot be mapped to a Merge Source Field Name. Check if a PDF document is editable by opening the document outside of the Equus Platform (using a PDF reader like Foxit, Adobe Acrobat, etc) entering information in the form fields and saving it. If information cannot be entered in the fields or if the document cannot be saved with information in the fields, the PDF is not editable and most likely will not merge appropriately.
To support governmental forms, which often change very little from version to version, all mapped inputs are retained upon new PDF upload as long as the form control (the unique identifier associated with the field, i.e. NOT the pdf caption) matches exactly. However, if you change the backing User Report, all of the mappings will be cleared, even if you haven’t clicked the [Save] button on the Merge Document screen yet.
If you change the name of a merge field in the backing User Report, the affected mapping will be cleared and you will have to map the newly-named merge field to the desired PDF form field again.
Troubleshooting Tips for PDF Merge Document Mapping
Some foreign characters do not display correctly on the output of a merged PDF. Chinese and Thai characters are displayed as question marks (????) and Greek characters are displayed as question marks and letters (???e??? ?a??a?).
A semicolon (;) cannot be used in a custom SQL field in a User Report, and therefore cannot be merged into a PDF document.
If the Caption column on the PDF Inputs tab is not descriptive (e.g. f1_014(0), Text70 or form1[0].#subform[0].S1_FamilyName[0]), it is likely that the PDF document does not contain captions and the screen is instead displaying the PDF control name.
If there is a [Clear] button on the PDF document (or another function on the PDF document to clear the form of all values), it is likely that the button will display as a mappable field on the PDF Inputs tab, but mapping this value to a Merge Source Field Name will not trigger the button’s function on the outputted PDF document. In addition, the button will be disabled on the outputted PDF document.
If a signature control on a PDF document is mapped to a Merge Source Field Name, the merge value will not display in the signature field. The field will be blank in the outputted PDF document.
If a checkbox is mapped to a Merge Source Field Name with a value anything other than “TRUE” or “FALSE” the checkbox may or may not be selected in the outputted PDF document.
Sometimes the Output Name defined for the PDF document on the Merge Document screen does not match the name displayed in the Chrome/Adobe PDF viewers. However, when the merged document is downloaded and saved, the correct output name is used.
The PDF Inputs tab does not honor any limitations or validation on what kind of data can be entered into a PDF document field. Some common examples:
If the PDF form prevents the user from selecting both the True and False checkboxes at the same time, but there are Merge Source Field Names mapped to those checkboxes with values that select them both, they will both be selected on the outputted PDF.
If the PDF form lists a series of checkboxes and only allows the user to select one, but there are Merge Source Field Names mapped to those checkboxes with values that select more than one, the outputted PDF will display as many selected checkboxes as are indicated by the Merge Source Field Name
Merge Source Field Name values display exactly on the PDF document, even if the value is not appropriately formatted or is irrelevant to the field it populates. This may create the following two example scenarios:
If the PDF document requires a date in a particular format, the User Report that backs the merge must specify the date format before merging so that the date displays correctly, as it will not be re-formatted to display as expected on the PDF document. For example, the PDF document field will display either 1/1/00 or 01/01/2000 according to the Merge Source Field Name value regardless of date format specified in the PDF caption or required by the PDF validation.
The PDF form will display a text value in a date field and vice versa. If a date field is mapped to a Merge Source Field Name value “SHARK”, the outputted PDF will attempt to display “SHARK” in the date field, regardless of the field format.