generatePDFOutput operation (deprecated)

Hinweis: This operation is deprecated in LiveCycle ES2. Use the generatePDFOutput operation operation instead. It is recommended that when you upgrade a process, you change it to use the generatePDFOutput operation. Only use the generatePDFOutput (deprecated) operation when you cannot reference a form design or form data using a document object. (See About deprecated operations.)

Generates a PDF or a PDF/A document by merging a form design with data. Optionally, generate a metadata file for each record or save the output to a PDF file. Use this operation to use form designs or data that are stored on a network location, local file system, or HTTP location as literal values. If the form design and XML data are stored in an application, use the generatePDFOutput operation operation.

For example, your application must create a PDF document for a record stored in a data file. The form design is in an HTTP location and the data is stored on the local file system. Use the generatePDFOutput (deprecated) operation to create a PDF document from the merged data and form design.

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

Input properties

Properties to specify a form design, data, and PDF options.

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.

Form

A string value that specifies the name of the form design. This value is combined with the value of the Content Root property in this operation to construct an absolute path to the form design.

If you provide a literal value, the name of the form must be typed in the box below the Form property.

For example, a folder in the repository named form designs contains the form design named form.xdp. To access the form design, type /form.xdp in the Form property and repository:///formdesigns in the Content Root property. The absolute path that is created is repository:///formdesigns/form.xdp, which is required to access the form design.

Content Root

A string value that specifies the URI, absolute reference, or location in the repository to retrieve a form design and XDC files. This value is combined with the value of the Form property in this operation to construct an absolute path to the form design. No default value is provided.

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 LiveCycle 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.

Directory in the file system of the LiveCycle Server:
A location on the LiveCycle Server, such as C:\[folder name]. Using a location on the server is not recommended if you want to maximize the portability of an application.

Network directory:
A location on the network, such as \\[folder name].

Web location that is accessible by using HTTP:
After uploading 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.

For example, a folder in the repository named formdesigns contains the form design named form.xdp. To access the form design, type /form.xdp in the Form property and repository:///formdesigns in the Content Root property. The absolute path that is created is repository:///formdesigns/form.xdp, which is required to access the form design.

PDF Output Options

(Optional) A PDFOutputOptionsSpec value represents property values to generate the PDF document with.

If you provide a literal value, set the following properties.

General
  • XCI URI: Sets the XCI file to use. XCI files are used to describe fonts that are used for elements in a form design. XCI files are also useful for specifying print options, such as the number of copies, whether duplex printer is used, or stapler options.

  • Character Set: Sets the character set that is used to encode the rendered form. 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 LiveCycle Server. The Character Set setting is configured using Administration Console. (See Output Administration Help.)

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

  • Locale: Sets the language used for generating the PDF document. elect a language from the list or select one of these values:

    <Use Server Default>: (Default) Use the Locale setting configured in the form design. If a locale setting is not provided in the form design, the locale setting is used from the operating system where LiveCycle Server is installed.

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

Batch
  • Record Name: Sets the name of the element that identifies the beginning of a batch of records.

  • Record Level: Sets the XML element level that contains the record data. The default is 1, which represents the first level of the record that contains data. The first level is below the element specified by the Record Name property.

  • Generate Multiple Streams: Sets whether the operation creates a single output or multiple outputs. Select one of these values:

  • True: Create multiple outputs. Multiple outputs are useful to send each output after a record is completed processing.

  • False: (Default) Create a single output. A single output is useful when sending all the processed records at the same time.

  • Enable Lazy Loading: Sets 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 LiveCycle Server. The use of incremental loading limits XLST options specified in the XCI file because transformations can only be applied to only one record. Select one of these values:

    True: Multi-record data sets are loaded and merged one record of data at a time.

    False: All records are loaded and merged at one time because the entire data file is loaded.

Rules
  • Pattern Match Size: Sets the number of bytes to use from the beginning of the input data file to scan for the pattern strings. The default is 500. For information about working with search rules, see Designer Help.

  • Pattern Matching Rules: Sets rules for scanning the input data file for a pattern and associates 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 specify a pattern such as car, and specify the operation to use for the form design named AutoInsurance.xdp. The form AutoInsurance.xdp is used when the text car is in the data. For information about working with search rules, see Designer Help.

Destination
When you want to send output to printer, use the sendToPrinter operation operation. The sendToPrinter operation operation provides more flexibility for printing the output.
  • Output Location URI: Sets the URI of path and file to save the output file to. 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, in the C:\forms folder on the LiveCycle Server.

  • Printer Name: Sets the name of the printer for sending the output for printing. The LiveCycle Server must be connected to the specified printer. The value must be formatted as \\[print server]\[printer name]. The value [print server] is the name of a printer server and [printer name] is the name of the printer.

  • LPD URI: Sets the URI of the Line Printer Daemon (LPD) to use when an LP daemon is running on the network. You can provide the value of an LPD, such as lpd://[host name], where [host name] is the name of the LPD host.

  • LPD Printer Name: Sets the name of the printer on the specified Line Printer Daemon (LPD) URI when the network has an LP daemon running. The value must be formatted as [printer name], where [print name] is the name of the printer.

MetaData
Meta Data Spec File:
Sets the URI of the metadata spec file to use. A metadata spec file is used to generate metadata from the provided data file. No default value is provided.

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>

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 resultant metadata file 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:
Sets 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 1.

Generate Record Level Meta Data:
Sets whether to generate a metadata file for each record. Select one of these values:
  • True: Generate a metadata file for each record that is processed.

  • False: (Default) Generate one metadata file all records that are processed.

Render Options

(Optional) A RenderOptionsSpec-OutputService value that specifies how the output is rendered. The render options that you see if you provide a literal value depend on the value you selected for the Transformation Format property.

When you select a value of PDF for the Transformation Format property, the following render options are available.

Acrobat Version:
Sets 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. Select one of these values:
  • 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.

  • Auto: (Default) The Target Version setting in the form design determines the minimum version of Acrobat or Adobe Reader. In addition, the form design determines the PDF Version.

Tagged PDF:
Sets 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

Select one of these values:

  • False: (Default) Do not render a tagged PDF form.

  • True: 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.

Linearized PDF:
Sets whether to render a linearized PDF document. A linearized PDF document is organized so that it supports incremental access to the PDF document in a networked environment. For example, a linearized PDF can be displayed in a web browser before the entire PDF document is downloaded. Select one of these values:
  • False: (Default) Do not render a linearized PDF form. This option is best used for non-networked applications.

  • True: Render a linearized PDF form. This option is best used for optimized networked applications, such as a web browser.

Render At Client:
Sets whether to enable the delivery of PDF content by using the client-side rendering capability of Acrobat 7 or Adobe Reader 7 and later. Client-side rendering improves the performance of the Output service. Select one of these values:
  • Auto: (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 on Acrobat 7.0 or later. For earlier version of Acrobat, no rendering occurs.

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

Retain Signature Field:
Sets how Signature Fields are retained in the generated output. Signature fields that become non-interactive pictures in the PDF document. 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. Signed signature fields remain interactive when the PDF file is flattened.

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

Debug Enabled:
Sets whether debug-level logging is turned on. Debug-level logging provides more information in the J2EE application server's log file for debugging. Debug-level uses more server resources and can negatively affect performance on the LiveCycle Server. Select one of these values:
  • True: Debug-level logging is performed,

  • False: (Default) Default-level logging is performed.

PDF/A Revision Number:
Sets version for the PDF/A revision number. The default is Revision_1.

PDF/A Conformance:
Sets the conformance level with the PDF/A-1 specification to use for archival and long-term preservation of electronic documents. Select one of these values:
  • A: (Default) Level A conformance specifies complete conformance with ISO-19005-1:2005. The PDF file is generated 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, 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.

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.)

Output properties

Properties to specify the location in the process data model to store the results of the operation.

PDF Output

The location in the process data model to store the generated PDF document. The data type is document. For example, select a document variable to use to store the PDF document.

Meta Data Document

The location in the process data model to store the generated metadata spec file. The data type is document.

Status Document

The location in the process data model to store the status results of the operation. The data type is document.

Output Result

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

Exceptions

This operation can throw an OutputException exception.