>Sergey,
>I saw your recommendation about this article in the archives, followed your advice and am now at the point where I have some practical questions such as 1. What files would each user be required to have in order use fdf files?

They need to have Acrobat Reader installed on their machine.

>2. Are these file freely distributable?

Yes. If you are going to include the Reader installation w/your product, you have to go to the Adobe site and agree to their license. It's free and only takes a few minutes. I don't remember the exact link, but you should be able to find it. If you don't distribute the Reader, just have them download/install it from Adobe before running your app.

>3. There seem to be any number of products that will allow this process to be done. Any ideas about which one is best?

The FDF file is nothing more than a text file. I'd actually suggest using the XFDF file format, which is basically XML. It's a lot easier to generate/use. To get a sample of one, create a PDF with the form fields on it. Then go to File->Export->Form Data, enter a filename, then set the filetype to XFDF.