Key features

Rendering forms and integrating form data

Using Forms you can render and process interactive forms and large data sets. You can create applications that perform interactive form-rendering operations such as these:

• Render interactive PDF documents. For forms created in Designer that have a flowable layout, Forms adds extra fields and boilerplate. These components are added as a result of merging the form design with data or as a result of scripting.

• Render interactive HTML forms. Forms automatically detects the browser type and platform, and then dynamically generates an HTML document that is based on a form design created in Designer.

• Swap the cascading style sheet (CSS) for the generated HTML form so that it can be controlled by the portal server. This feature also facilitates accessibility for HTML forms to emphasize particular styles that are more compliant to accessibility guidelines. Developers now control the form and field styles.

• Detect whether form design scripts should run on the client or on the server when rendering the form.

• Validate data entry by performing calculations, accessing databases, or enforcing business rules on field-level data, and then return the resulting data to the browser.

• Load XML data into an XML Data Package (XDP) file or into a PDF file that contains XDP information. Forms retrieves form data from central repositories and merges it with the specified form when rendering the form.

• Extract XML data from an XDP file. Forms can process form data that a user submitted. Form data can be submitted to an organization’s core systems, therefore increasing the quality of data gathered, improving customer service, and leveraging investment in core systems.

• With event-based caching invalidation, you can better control how the caching is managed for forms. For example, when only certain fragments are updated, the server can wipe only the affected forms that use that fragment.

• (* New for 10 *) Create bookmarks in XFA forms. You can create bookmarks like those in PDF documents in XFA forms. You can create bookmarks for XFA form containers like subforms, fields, or a areas.

Developing Guides (Deprecated)

Guides (deprecated) can streamline and simplify the way that users fill a form. Form developers can quickly develop Guides (deprecated) in Workbench by using a data model and Guide Builder. After a Guide (deprecated) is created, it is rendered in the Forms Service API or the Render Guide (deprecated) service in Workbench (or a custom service). Developers can also use Flash Builder to create custom Guide (deprecated) components based on the Guide (deprecated) components that are included in Workbench.

Rendering forms based on fragments

Forms can render forms that are based on fragments that you create using Designer. A fragment is a reusable part of a form and is saved as a separate XDP file that can be inserted into multiple form designs. For example, a fragment can include an address block or legal text.

Using fragments simplifies and speeds up the creation and maintenance of large numbers of forms. When creating a new form, you insert a reference to the required fragment and the fragment appears in the form. The fragment reference contains a subform that points to the physical XDP file.

Here are advantages of using fragments:

Content reuse:

You can reuse content in multiple form designs. When you need to use some of the same content in multiple forms, using a fragment is faster and simpler than copying or re-creating the content. Using fragments also ensures that the frequently used parts of a form design have consistent content and appearance in all the referencing forms.

Global updates:

You can make global changes to multiple forms only once, in one file. You can change the fragment content, script objects, data bindings, layout, or styles, and all XDP forms that reference the fragment reflect the changes.

Shared form creation:

You can share the creation of forms among several resources. Form developers with expertise in scripting or other Designer advanced features can develop and share fragments that take advantage of scripting and dynamic properties. Form designers can use those fragments to lay out form designs. This approach ensures that all parts of a form have a consistent appearance and functionality across multiple forms designed by multiple people.

Assembling PDF documents and forms

Forms can combine content from multiple PDF documents to create consistently formatted and seamless PDF documents.

You can use Forms for document assembly in the following types of workflows:

Customer communications:

Automating the batch creation and assembly of customer invoices, statements, letters, form packages, insurance policy statements, marketing materials, and loan packages

Regulatory filings:

Integrating document assembly into a regulatory document filing process

Archive preparation:

Automating batch document customization for archiving, such as adding watermarks, or inserting or extracting metadata

Sales force automation:

Preparing requests for quotes (RFQs) or generating proposals from multiple sources

Document conversion

The DocConverter service converts documents to PDF/A:

• Transforms PDF forms, XML forms (created in Designer), and PDF forms created in Acrobat to PDF/A-1b or PDF/A-2b

• Converts signed or unsigned PDF documents (Digital Signatures required)

• Validates the compliance of a PDF/A file and converts it if necessary

• The DocConverter service is supported on all standard LiveCycle platforms and does not require calls to Acrobat to convert or report on compliance.