[Gllug] Gaining feedback

Michael O'Sullivan mykosullivan at googlemail.com
Fri Oct 7 11:19:47 UTC 2011


Hi,
Someone here already mentioned embedded fields in adobe pdf files. I dont
know the best way to do this but scribus , the free DTP can do this for you,
so you have non editable docs with embedded fields. Dependant on your needs
thier is probably comercial programs to to this that would not cost the
earth, also extracting data from the PDF can be achieved various ways and
again comercail programs to do this would not be expensive either.

http://wiki.scribus.net/canvas/Your_first_PDF_form_with_Scribus   (this is
1st of  4 parts, see next also )

http://www.a-pdf.com/form-data-extractor/

Maybe something like that is would do it?

Mike

On Fri, Oct 7, 2011 at 2:21 AM, general_email at technicalbloke.com <
general_email at technicalbloke.com> wrote:

> On 04/10/11 10:23, James Courtier-Dutton wrote:
> > Hi,
> >
> > At work we have a system of sending out documents we have written to
> > other 3rd parties.
> > The job of the 3rd party is to review the document and feedback their
> comments.
> > We then collect all the comments from all the 3rd parties and import
> > them into a master list of comments, which we then use to improve the
> > next document release.
> > Currently this process uses Excel for people to enter their comments,
> > and then we import the Excel comments into a database.
> > The problem is that the Excel format does not seem to be restrictive
> > enough. I.e. We wish to restrict some fields to specific range of
> > values etc.
> > The users invariably enter the data slightly differently, and this
> > causes problems with the import.
> > Does anyone know of an opensource package that we present a form to
> > the user, with drop down boxes for values to put into the form, and
> > one or two free text box.
> > It must be possible for the user to enter as many records as they wish.
> > We then need the form to be exportable to XML format, so that we can
> > import it easily into our database.
> > The solution must also be stand alone. I.e. Not web server or web
> > service/clound based.
> > I.e. A person with a laptop that is not connected to the network
> > should be able to raise comments.
> >
> > Any ideas?
> >
> > Kind Regards
> >
> > James
> > --
> > Gllug mailing list  -  Gllug at gllug.org.uk
> > http://lists.gllug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/gllug
> >
>
>
> Sorry I don't know of a specific package that will do that (though I'm
> sure many can be cajoled). I'm writing because I'm wondering when it
> might _ever_ be easier for the third parties in question to export a
> file to a portable medium and physically send it to you rather than fill
> in a form online? What medium do you use now? Floppies are obsolete,
> CD/DVD are a pain in the arse and USB sticks are still too expensive to
> just give away randomly. Even then you've got the problem of how to make
> sure your software chooses the correct portable medium to write to as
> some users will have more than one available and you probably also have
> to make sure it runs well across multiple platforms. Are you sure the
> number of potential respondents who require an offline solution is high
> enough to warrant all that effort?
>
> PS: I hate it when people question my seemingly strange yet well thought
> out requirements instead of answering my god damned question already so
> do please tell me to piss off if you like ;)
>
> Cheers,
>
> Roger
>
> --
> Gllug mailing list  -  Gllug at gllug.org.uk
> http://lists.gllug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/gllug
>
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