Issue
Adobe has recently identified some issues that may arise when Adobe LiveCycle version 7.x or earlier is used to design and render forms that are viewed with the newest versions of Adobe Acrobat and Adobe Reader clients.
Situation overview
We have recently identified some issues that may occur when LiveCycle version 7.x or earlier is used to design and render forms that are viewed with the newest versions of Acrobat and Reader clients. Customers who have upgraded their clients may experience missing drop-down boxes (or choices), formatting issues within the form, and/or radio buttons and check boxes that no longer work. We have also seen the new version of Reader software freeze when opening a form created by LiveCycle 7.x. These issues are related to form rendering and data representation, and are not consistent across implementations and applications. In some cases they do not occur at all.
Which versions of the clients cause this problem?
The specific client upgrades that create this issue are Reader and Acrobat versions 8.0 released in December 2006, and version 8.1 released in June of this 2007.
What do we do if we are experiencing problems with Reader as the client?
The best way to resolve the issue is to prevent users from upgrading their Reader software to the 8.0 or 8.1 versions. Users who have already upgraded can reinstall Reader version 7.0.9 from the following web site: www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2_allversions.html. Instructions for this process are included on the download site. We recommend the removal of the Reader 8.0 or 8.1 prior to installing 7.0.9, and instructions for this are available at: www.adobe.com/go/kb400769.
What if we are using Acrobat as the client?
For users with Acrobat Standard or Professional 8.0 or 8.1 as the client software, an effective solution is to install Reader 7.0.9 alongside their Acrobat software and use it to render LiveCycle forms.
What if we cannot control our client environment (i.e. external users)?
If our customers cannot directly control their clients we encourage thorough testing with the new client software to assess the behavior of the applications, as we have found that some LiveCycle applications work perfectly well with the new clients. We also have identified several workarounds that have been used to resolve a number of these issues, and more information on the workarounds can be found at www.adobe.com/go/kb402409.
What is Adobe doing about this issue?
We are very sorry for any inconvenience this may cause our LiveCycle customers, and we are aggressively working to provide a patch update for these clients in the September/October time frame. Updates will be made available via the product updaters and the LiveCycle developer website.