Barcode fields translate a user’s form entries into a visual pattern that can be scanned, interpreted, and incorporated into a database. Barcodes are helpful when users submit the form on paper or by fax.
The advantages of using barcodes are that they save time. They eliminate the need for responses to be manually read and recorded, and they bypass data-entry errors that can occur.
A typical barcode workflow includes the following phases:
The form author makes sure that Automatically Calculate Field Values is selected in the forms preferences, and then creates the form in Acrobat, setting up all the other fields as usual.
The form author adds the barcode field to the form, setting up the barcode so that it captures the needed data.
The form author enables the form for Adobe Reader users (if the author wants to allow Reader users to save their own filled-in copy of the form or if it contains certain barcode fields).
The form author distributes the form to other users.
Users fill in the form on their computers, print a copy, and deliver the copy to the form distributor.
The received barcode data is interpreted in one of the following ways, and can then be reviewed, sorted, and used by the form receiver:
The form receiver can use Adobe Capture to collect TIFF images from the fax server and place them in an Adobe LiveCycle Designer Barcoded Forms Decoder watched folder, if the receiver owns those products.
The form receiver can scan paper forms and then use an application such as Adobe LiveCycle Barcoded Forms Decoder to decode the barcodes within those forms.