PDF Forms not calculating in Safari...

Question

Level 1

28 points

PDF Forms not calculating in Safari...

Hello,

Is this a common problem and is there a fix?

I made a fillable form in Acrobat Pro X and learned it got all discombobulated in Safari?!?! Fields would not calculate... fields shifted up and right from their original positions... it lost the number value settings and allowed input of any character... seriously?!?!

This IS an Apple/Safari issue only because the file works absolutely perfect in Google Chrome and Internet Explorer... it would be nice to find out if this is a common problem or if it is a settings issue.

Link: Community Service Reporting Form

Thank you.

 MacBook Pro & G5 DC, Mac OS X (10.6.2), Pro 2.66MHz w/4G + G5 2.0DC w/5.5G - ATI X1900GT - 20.1" LCDws r

Posted on Jan 17, 2018 4:09 AM

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Answer 1

jagered Author

Level 1

28 points

Jan 23, 2018 4:00 AM in response to jagered

Nothing worked at first... there was no plug-in, it wasn't moved or disabled...

So, on my work PC I saw that there was a copy of Reader AND Pro versions... so I installed the Reader version on top of the Pro here on my MBP and VIOLA! Went into Preferences and ensured it was always using the Acrobat plug-in and after checking everything works fine!

Basically if your plug-in disappears for some reason and you use Pro, just install Reader also!

cheers

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Answer 2

jagered Author

Level 1

28 points

Jan 17, 2018 5:22 AM in response to Tom Gewecke

Honestly I do not know... I gave up using FireFox years ago. I usually use just Safari but have Chrome on my MBP as a backup.

I will ask around to see if others have the same issue. I know when I was building webpages it was always advantageous to have multiple browsers on your computer for the simple reason that some have more security features than others and can limit functionality.

Thanks for the reply.

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Answer 3

VikingOSX

Level 10

122,484 points

Jan 18, 2018 4:04 AM in response to jagered

Are you using the default Apple PDF browser plug-in, or Adobe Acrobat plug-in in Safari? There is a checkbox in the Acrobat Preferences : Forms that allows calculations to occur automatically.

Do you see different (correct) calculation results when using the Acrobat PDF plug-in in Safari?

I do not believe that the Apple PDF plug-in has any clue that it is to run Adobe's Acrobat JavaScript in the individual form fields, but the Adobe PDF plug-in will understand calculations.

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Answer 4

jagered Author

Level 1

28 points

Jan 18, 2018 4:06 AM in response to VikingOSX

Curiously there is no plug-in for Acrobat... hmmm. I googled about it and found that it should have been installed when I installed Acrobat, but I installed the pro version... the resources I found all talked about the Reader version and it installing the plug-in.

I agree that Safari's PDF viewer is extremely limited and messes up the forms.

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Answer 5

VikingOSX

Level 10

122,484 points

Jan 18, 2018 5:21 AM in response to jagered

You have to inform Safari (11.0.2) to use the Acrobat PDF plug-in in Safari Preferences : Websites tab : Plug-ins section and set it to On for the specific website where you are viewing the PDF forms. Sorry if that is redundant knowledge.

I would have thought that Acrobat Pro would have installed the PDF Plug-in. D'oh.

Only Adobe can keep their PDF plug-in functionality current with the evolving PDF specifications. Apple is still trailing significantly with PDFKit, and probably equal measures of Adobe royalty greed, and an enormous engineering effort for Apple, are likely reasons.

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Answer 6

VikingOSX

Level 10

122,484 points

Jan 18, 2018 5:28 PM in response to jagered

I have Acrobat Reader DC v8.009.20050 installed. It updated the /Library/Internet Plug-Ins/AdobePDFViewer.plugin to the same version. This plug is shown in my Safari 11.0.2 Preferences : Website tab, but you have an older version of Safari.

I suggest that you install a fresh copy of Acrobat Reader DC, and see if it reinstalls the Adobe PDF plug-in so you can enable it in your Safari Preferences.

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Answer 7

VikingOSX

Level 10

122,484 points

Jan 19, 2018 4:26 AM in response to jagered

I have PRO, why would I install the Reader version?

(Cough). You wouldn't providing the Pro can install a PDF plug-in that is compatible with your version of Safari. Just rhetorically curious why you do not have an Acrobat PDF plug-in installed, unless your Acrobat Pro is sufficiently old enough that the Plug-in has been moved to /Library/Disabled Plug-Ins folder.

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Answer 8

jagered Author

Level 1

28 points

Jan 19, 2018 4:37 AM in response to VikingOSX

<cough><cough> 🙂

... It is PRO X, so a fairly newer version. I think that is the ultimate question: Why the heck did it not install the plug-in???

I was searching for a way to add the plug-in but all I found was reinstalling Reader to add it... that stinks.

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Answer 9

VikingOSX

Level 10

122,484 points

Jan 19, 2018 8:51 AM in response to jagered

Your Acrobat Pro X is two releases behind the current Acrobat Pro DC.

In the interim, Adobe has abandoned the old Netscape API PDF plug-in format, which explains why I have an AdobePDFViewerNPAPI.plugin that has last updated in March 2015. The current Acrobat Reader DC installs the AdobePDFViewer.plugin which is currently loaded in my Safari 11.0.2.

Your existing PDF plug-in may have been moved into:

/Library/Internet Plug-Ins/Disabled Plug-Ins folder

And if it is missing, you may have to resort to the current Reader DC to get the current Acrobat PDF plug-in format. It's gravitational, but may be the only way you can actually get the calculations done in your form fields.

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Answer 10

jagered Author

Level 1

28 points

Jan 18, 2018 3:36 PM in response to VikingOSX

There is no option to check or turn on for the PDF plug-in... that's part of my dilemma.

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Answer 11

Tom Gewecke

Level 10

121,730 points

Jan 17, 2018 5:17 AM in response to jagered

Does it work for you in FireFox? Seems to be not fillable on mine.

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Answer 12

Eric Root

Level 10

685,131 points

Jan 17, 2018 6:46 AM in response to jagered

My attempt to make entries works, but they do shift upwards after entering. Safari 11.0.2.

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Answer 13

jagered Author

Level 1

28 points

Jan 17, 2018 5:02 PM in response to Eric Root

The entries work, I originally stated the calculations do not work... those fields are also supposed to be just numbers but when you go on with Safari you can add letters and symbols.

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