generatePDFOutput operation

Generates a PDF or a PDF/A document from the provided form design and data. Optionally, generate a metadata file for each record and send the output directly to a printer. Use this operation to use a form design that is part of an application in the Applications view. It is recommended that you use the generatePDFOutput operation when the form design is located on a network, local file system, or HTTP location.

The benefits of using this operation instead of the generatePDFOutput (deprecated) operation are as follows:

  • Maximizes application portability because all assets are contained in a single application.

  • Simplifies the process design because the form design or data files can be assessed as a document variable.

For example, your application must create a PDF file for hundreds of records in a data file. The form design is part of an application. Use the generatePDFOutput operation to create a PDF file for each record in the data file.

Hinweis: Use the generatePDFOutput (deprecated) operation only when you cannot create a document variable to store the form design or form data. You cannot create document variables for form designs or data files that are dynamically referenced on a network, local file system, or HTTP location.

For information about the General and Route Evaluation property groups, see Common operation properties .

Input properties

Properties to specify a form design, data file, and print format.

Form

A document value that represents the form design. You create form designs in Designer.

If you provide a literal value, clicking the ellipsis button  opens the Select Asset dialog box. (See About Select Asset .)

Input Data

(Optional) A document value that specifies the data file that is merged with the form design. The data file that you provide is an XML file.

If you provide a literal value, clicking the ellipsis button opens the Select Asset dialog box. (See About Select Asset .)

Transformation Format

A TransformationFormat value that specifies the format that the document is rendered to.

If you provide a literal value, select one of these values:

PDF:
A non-interactive PDF document is created.

PDFA:
A non-interactive PDF/A document is created. PDF/A documents are used for archiving purposes and based on ISO standard 19005-1. It also embeds all the fonts and turns off compression. If you select this value, provide values for the PDF/A Revision Number and PDF/A Conformance properties.

Template Options properties

Content Root

(Optional) A string value that specifies the URI, absolute reference, or location in the repository to retrieve relative assets used by the form design. For example, if the form design references an image relatively, such as ../myImage.gif, myImage.gif must be located at repository://. The default value is repository://, which points to the root level of the repository.

When you pick an asset from your application, the Content Root URI path must have the correct structure. For example, if a form is picked from an application named SampleApp, and is placed at SampleApp/1.0/forms/Test.xdp, the Content Root URI must be specified as repository://administrator@password/Applications/SampleApp/1.0/forms/ , or repository:/Applications/SampleApp/1.0/forms/ (when authority is null). When the Content Root URI is specified this way, the paths of all of the referenced assets in the form will be resolved against this URI.

Use the following sources for a URI or absolute reference:

Repository:
The repository contains assets that you upload to the AEM forms Server. The value repository:/// references the root of the repository. The first two forward slashes are part of the protocol ( repository:// ) and the third forward slash represents the root of the repository. For example, if the form design references an image relatively, such as ../myImage.gif, myImage.gif must be located at repository://. The default value is repository://, which points to the root level of the repository.

Directory in the file system of the AEM forms Server:
You can specify a location on the AEM forms Server, such as C:\ [folder name] . Using a location on the server is not recommended when maximizing the portability of an application.

Network directory:
You can specify a location on the network, such as \\[folder name.]

Web location that is accessible by using HTTP:
After you upload a file to a location on a web server, you can specify the location by using a URL. For example, type http:// [server name] : [port number] / [folder name] . The value [server name] is the name of the web server, [port number] is the port number, and [ folder name] is the name of the folder.

PDF Output Options properties

Properties for specifying output options for the generated PDF file.

XCI URI

(Optional) A string value that specifies the XCI file to use. XCI files are used to describe fonts that are used for form design elements. You can also specify print options, such as number of copies, whether duplex printer is used, or stapler options.

Character Set

(Optional) A string value that specifies the character set used to encode the rendered form.

If you provide a literal value, select the character set to use or select one of these values:

<Use Server Default>:
(Default) Use the Character Set setting that is configured on the AEM forms Server. The Character Set setting is configured using administration console. (See Forms administration help .)

<Use Custom Value>:
Use a character set that is not available in the list. After you select this value, in the box beside the list, type the canonical name (Java.nio API) of the encoding set that is not in the list. For a list of character sets, see http://java.sun.com/j2se/1.5.0/docs/guide/intl/encoding.doc.html.

Locale

(Optional) A string value that specifies the language used for generating the PDF document.

If you provide a literal value, select a language from the list or select one of these values:

<Use Server Default>:
(Default) Use the Locale setting that is configured on the AEM forms Server. The Locale setting is configured using administration console. (See Forms administration help .)

<Use Custom Value>:
Use a locale that is not available in the list. After you select this value, in the box beside the list, type the Locale ID of the locale code that is not in the list. For a list of supported locale codes, see http://java.sun.com/j2se/1.5.0/docs/guide/intl/locale.doc.html.

Record Name

(Optional) A string value that specifies the element name that identifies the beginning of a batch of records.

Record Level

(Optional) An int value that specifies the XML element level that contains the record data.

If you provide a literal value, the default is 1, which represents the first level in the record specified by the Record Name property.

Generate Multiple Streams

(Optional) A boolean value that specifies whether the operation creates a single output or multiple outputs.

If you provide a literal value, the Generate Multiple Streams check box is deselected by default. Select the check box to create multiple output. Multiple outputs are useful for sending each record after it is completed processing. Deselect the check box to create a single output. Single output is useful when you want to send all the processed records at once.

Enable Lazy Loading

(Optional) A boolean value that specifies whether incremental (lazy) loading is used when processing multi-record data sets. When incremental loading is used, it helps to reduce the amount of memory used on the AEM forms Server. The use of incremental loading limits XLST options specified in the XCI file because transformations can only be applied to one record at a time.

If you provide a literal value, select the Enable Lazy Loading check box to load and merge one record of data. Deselect the check box to load and merge the entire data file, or all data at one time.

Pattern Match Size

(Optional) An int value that specifies the number of bytes to use from the beginning of the input data file to scan for the pattern strings.

If you provide a literal value, the default is 500.

Pattern Matching Rules

(Optional) A list of string values for scanning the data file for a pattern and associating the data with a specific form design. Click one of these buttons to add or delete an entry from the list.

A green plus sign. Add A List Entry:
Adds a new rule. After you click this button, a new entry is created in the list. In the Pattern field for the new entry, type a pattern to search for. In the Form field, type the name of the form design for the matching pattern. All the form designs that you specify must be available at the location specified by the Content Root property in this operation.

A red X. Delete A Selected List Entry:
Removes the selected rule from the list.

For example, you can to search for a text pattern such as car , and specify the operation to use the form design named AutoInsurance.xdp . The form AutoInsurance.xdp is used whenever the text car is in the data. For information about working with search rules, see Designer Help .

Output Location URI

(Optional) A string value that specifies the URI to save the output file. If you create multiple files, the filenames are suffixed with a numeric value. For example, if you specify C:\forms\Loan.pdf, the Output service creates the filenames Loan0001.pdf, Loan0002, Loan0003, and so on. Each of the files are created in the C:\forms folder on the AEM forms Server.

Printer Name

(Optional) A string value that specifies the name of the printer for sending the output for printing. The AEM forms Server must be configured to access specified printer.

If you provide a literal value, you can specify the name of printer in a format as \\ [print server] \ [printer name] . The value [print server] represents a printer server and [printer name] is the name of the printer.

LPD URI

(Optional) A string value that specifies the URI of the Line Printer Daemon (LPD) running on the network.

If you provide a literal value, you can specify the name of the LPD in a format as lpd:// [host name] . The value [host name] is the name of the LPD host.

LPD Printer Name

(Optional) A string value that specifies the name of the printer on the specified Line Printer Daemon (LPD).

If you provide a literal value, you can specify a printer name in a format as [printer name] .The value [printer name] is the name of the printer.

Meta Data Spec File

(Optional) A string value that specifies the URI of the metadata spec file to use. A metadata spec file is used to generate metadata from the provided data file.

For example, a metadata spec file can be created as follows:

<metadata-spec> 
<system> 
        <map xpath="$fileName" name="fName"/> 
        <map xpath="$format" name="docType"/> 
    </system> 
    <user> 
        <map xpath="header/txtOrderedByCompanyName" name="companyName"/> 
        <map xpath="header/txtOrderedByAddress" name="address"/> 
        <map xpath="header/txtOrderedByCity" name="city"/> 
        <map xpath="header/txtOrderedByStateProv" name="state"/> 
        <map xpath="header/txtOrderedByZipCode" name="zipCode"/> 
        <map xpath="header/txtOrderedByCountry" name="country"/> 
        <map xpath="header/txtOrderedByPhone" name="phone"/> 
        <map xpath="header/txtOrderedByFax" name="fax"/> 
    </user> 
</metadata-spec>

If you provide a literal value, clicking the ellipsis button opens the Select Asset dialog box. (See About Select Asset .)

A metadata file is created with the data that is extracted from each record. The structure of the metadata file that is created is based on the metadata spec file. The resulting metadata file that is based on the previous metadata spec file is as follows:

<root><record id='null'> 
    <system> 
        <data name='fName'>c:\cumulativedata0001.pdf</data> 
        <data name='docType'>PDF</data> 
    </system> 
    <user> 
        <data name='companyName'>Any Company Name</data> 
        <data name='address'>555, Any Blvd.</data> 
        <data name='city'>Any City</data> 
        <data name='state'>Alabama</data> 
        <data name='zipCode'>12345</data> 
        <data name='country'>United States</data> 
        <data name='phone'>(123) 456-7890</data> 
        <data name='fax'>(123) 456-7899</data> 
    </user> 
</record>

Record ID XPath

(Optional) An int value that specifies the root level node to use for XPath expressions. The root level node specifies the starting point for XPath expressions. For example, consider a data schema as follows:

<batch_100> 
    <purchaseOrder> 
        <header> 
            <txtPONum>1of100</txtPONum>  
            <dtmDate>2004-02-08</dtmDate>  
            <txtOrderedByCompanyName>Any Company Name</txtOrderedByCompanyName>  
            <txtOrderedByAddress>555, Any Blvd.</txtOrderedByAddress>  
            <txtOrderedByCity>Any City</txtOrderedByCity>  
            <txtOrderedByStateProv>Alabama</txtOrderedByStateProv>  
        </header> 
        </detail 
            <txtPartNum>580463116</txtPartNum>  
            <txtDescription>Electric Fuel Pump</txtDescription>  
            <numQty>1</numQty>  
            <numUnitPrice>149.95</numUnitPrice>  
            <numAmount>149.95</numAmount> 
        </detail> 
    </purchaseOrder> 
</batch_100>

To reference the <purchaseOrder> tag as the first level in your XPath expression, set this property to value of 2. To set < batch_100> as the first level, set this property to the value of 1.

Generate Record Level Meta Data

(Optional) A boolean value that specifies whether to generate a metadata file for each record.

If you provide a literal value, the Generate Record Level Meta Data check box is deselected by default. Select the check box to generate a metadata file for each record that is processed. Deselect the check box to generate one metadata file for all records that are processed.

General Render Options properties

Properties for specifying basic PDF rendering options.

Linearized PDF

(Optional) A boolean value that specifies whether to render a linearized PDF document. A linearized PDF document is organized so that it supports incremental access to the PDF document when accessed on the network. For example, a linearized PDF can be displayed in a web browser before the entire PDF document is downloaded.

If you provide a literal value, the Create PDF For Quicker Display In A Browser check box is deselected by default. Select the check box to render a linearized PDF form. This option is best used for optimized web applications. Deselect the check box to not render a linearized PDF form. This option is best used for non-web applications.

Debug Enabled

(Optional) A boolean value that specifies whether debug-level logging is turned on. Debug-level uses more server resources and can negatively affect performance on the AEM forms Server. The default value is False. Debug-level logging provides more information in the J2EE application server's log file for debugging.

If you provide a literal value, the Debug Enabled check box is deselected. Select the check box to enable debug-level logging. Deselect the check box to use default-level logging.

PDF Specific Render Options properties

Properties for specifying advanced options for rendering the PDF file.

Acrobat Version

(Optional) An AcrobatVersion-OutputService value that specifies the minimum Acrobat and Adobe Reader version that is required to view the PDF document. Any version later than the specified version can also open the PDF document. In addition, this property specifies the PDF version that is used to generate the PDF document.

If you provide a literal value, elect one of these values:

<Use Form Template Default>:
(Default) The Target Version setting in the form design determines the minimum the version of Acrobat or Adobe Reader. In addition, the form design determines the PDF version.

Acrobat and Adobe Reader 6 or later:
PDF Version 1.5 is used to generate the PDF document.

Acrobat and Adobe Reader 7.0 or later:
PDF Version 1.6 is used to generate the PDF document.

Acrobat and Adobe Reader 7.0.5 or later:
PDF Version 1.65 is used to generate the PDF document.

Acrobat and Adobe Reader 8 or later:
PDF Version 1.7 is used to generate the PDF document.

Acrobat and Adobe Reader 8.1 or later:
PDF Version 1.7-ADBE-1 is used to generate the PDF document.

Acrobat and Adobe Reader 9 or later:
PDF Version 1.7-ADBE-3 is used to generate the PDF document.

Acrobat and Adobe Reader X:
PDF Version 1.7-ADBE-3 is used to generate the PDF document.

Accessible (Tagged) PDF

(Optional) A boolean value that specifies whether to create a tagged Adobe PDF form. A tagged PDF form defines a set of standard structure types and attributes that support the extraction of page content and reuse for other purposes. It is intended for use by client applications that perform the following types of operations:

  • Simple extraction of text and graphics for pasting into other applications

  • Automatic reflow of text and associated graphics to fit a page of a different size than was assumed for the original layout

  • Processing text for such purposes as searching, indexing, and spell-checking

  • Conversion to other common file formats (such as HTML, XML, and RTF) with document structure and basic styling information preserved

  • Making content accessible by screen reader software

If you provide a literal value, the Create a PDF That Meets The Section 508 Accessibility Rules check box is deselected by default. Select the check box to render a tagged PDF form. This value is not valid for PDF/A output because PDF/A 1A is always tagged and PDF/A 1B is never tagged. Deselect the check box to create an inaccessible form.

Render At Client:

(Optional) A string value that specifies whether to enable the delivery of PDF content by using the client-side rendering. Client-side rendering is available in Acrobat 7.0 or Adobe Reader 7.0 and later. Valid string values you can provide are auto, yes, and no. Use client-side rendering to improve the performance of the Output service.

If you provide a literal value, <Use Form Template Default> is selected by default. Select one of these values:

<Use Form Template Default>:
The Output service determines the form rendition based on the setting in the form design.

Yes:
A dynamic PDF form is generated and rendering occurs in Acrobat. Rendering of a dynamic form occurs only for Acrobat 7.0 or later. For earlier version of Acrobat, no rendering occurs.

No:
A static PDF form is generated. No rendering occurs on the client.

Retain Signature Field:

(Optional) A RetainSignatureField value that specifies how signature fields are kept in the generated output. Signature fields that are made non-interactive become pictures in the PDF document.

If you provide a literal value, select one of these values:

None:
Signed field and unsigned signature fields become non-interactive when the PDF file is flattened.

All:
Signed fields and unsigned signature fields remain interactive when the PDF file is flattened.

Signed Signature Fields:
Unsigned signature fields become non-interactive. Only Signed signature fields remain interactive when the PDF file is flattened.

Unsigned Signature Field Only:
Signed signature fields are made fields become non-interactive. Unsigned signature fields remain interactive when the PDF file is flattened.

PDFA Specific Render Options properties

Properties for specifying options when you render a PDF/A document.

PDF/A Revision Number

A string value that specifies the PDF/A revision number. The only value available is Revision_1.

PDF/A Conformance

(Optional) A PDFAConformance value that specifies the conformance level with the PDF/A-1 specification to use. Conformance levels indicate how a PDF document adheres to the electronic document preservation requirements for archival and long-term preservation.

If you provide a literal value, select one of these values:

A:
(Default) Level A conformance specifies complete conformance with ISO-19005-1:2005. The PDF file is generated by using PDF 1.4 and all colors are converted to either CMYK or RGB. These PDF files can be opened in Acrobat and Adobe Reader 5.0 and later.

B:
Level B conformance specifies minimal compliance with ISO-19005-1:2005. The PDF file is generated with all fonts embedded, the appropriate PDF bounding boxes specified, and colors as CMYK or spot colors, or both. Compliant files must contain information describing the printing condition they are prepared for. PDF files created with PDF/X-1a compliance can be opened in Acrobat 4.0 and Adobe Reader 4.0 and later.

Output properties

Property to specify the location to store the generated output.

PDF Output

The location to store the PDF output. The data type is document . For example, select a document variable to use to store the PDF document.

Additional Output properties

Properties to specify the location to store the results of the operation.

Meta Data Document

The location to store the metadata. The data type is document .

Output Result

The location to store the results of the operation. The data type is OutputResult .

Exceptions

This operation can throw an OutputException exception.