(Deprecated) Guide Utilities

Note: Effective March 10, 2012, Adobe is deprecating the Guides capabilities of Adobe® Livecycle® ES. The Guides functionality is available for upgrade purposes only and will be removed from the product after two major releases.

When you create a Guide, some resources, such as the Guide definition, are embedded in the Guide. Resources can also exist as references to application assets stored locally or on the LiveCycle Server. The Guide does not contain data, and the values for the submit location and inputs are not suitable for all external environments.

In most cases, the default Guides render services is sufficient to prepare a Guide for use in Workspace or other external environments. (In the Services view, the default service is Guides (system)/Processes/Render Guide - 2.0.) The Guide Utilities service allows you to create a customized process for rendering a Guide, if necessary.

The Guide Utilities operations allow you to add the following Guide rendering tasks to a process:

  • Determine whether data is available to populate the Guide with

  • Embed the Guide data or convert it to a link

  • Convert referenced content to URLs that are externally accessible

  • Substitute values in an HTML document or other wrapper, or convert them to URLs that are externally accessible

  • Set the submit location

  • Specify input values

  • Create a parameter to represent referenced content

  • If variations are available, set a variation

For an illustration of how to use the operations, see the Guides (system) processes that are included in the LiveCycle applications folder by default. Use the sequence, routing, and properties used in the Generate Guide process to help you design your own process.

Review the Generate Guide process locally:

  1. Click File > Get Applications.

  2. In the Get Applications dialog box, under Guides (system), select Guides (system) 2.0 and then click OK.

  3. In the Application view, under Guides (system)/Guides (system) 2.0, expand Processes.

  4. Double-click Generate Guide to view it in the process editor.

    Guides Utilities service configuration

    The default values for the Guide Utilities service support most use cases. However, if necessary, you can change the following values. (See Editing service configurations.)

    publicPaths (Deprecated)

    This option has been deprecated. Do not use this option with LiveCycle 10.

    A comma-separated list of paths that clients always have access to, regardless of their permissions. The paths are always paths to the applications folder, and the prefix repository: is required.

    The following value is the default:

    repository:/Applications/Guides (system)/1.0/Runtime/dino bundle.swf, 
repository:/Applications/Guides (system)/1.0/Runtime/workspace_interface.swf, 
repository:/Applications/Guides (system)/1.0/Runtime/dccontainer_bundle.swf, 
repository:/Applications/Guides (system)/1.0/Runtime/dccontainer_bundle-debug.swf, 
repository:/Applications/Guides (system)/1.0/Runtime/default-bundles.xml
    Note: No spaces or line breaks exist in the default value.

    pathInfoExpiryInSeconds

    The interval after which a request for path information from a client expires. Default is 1.

    collateralExpiryInSeconds

    The interval after which a request for collateral from a client expires. Default is 315576000.

    mismatchExpiryInSeconds

    The interval after which a request for collateral from a client expires, when the eTag (entity tag) does not match. (An eTag is an HTTP response header.) Default is 1.

    guideContent

    The context root of the Guides web application. Matches the value set using the Guides web application. Default value is /guides/.

    secureRandomAlgorithm

    The algorithm to use when generating keys and identifiers. This value is passed to the getInstance method of the SecureRandom Java class. Default is SHA1PRNG.

    idBytes

    The number of random bytes to use for a key identifier. Default is 6.

    macAlgorithm

    The MAC (message authentication code) algorithm to use for collateral URL verification. This method is passed to the getInstance method of the Mac class. Default is HmacSHA1.

    macRefreshIntervalInMinutes

    The amount of time a key is active. When a key has been active for this interval, a new key is generated. The new key becomes the active key. The previously active key is kept for 10% of the refresh interval. This behavior allows URLs that are generated by using the old key to continue to work across the key switch. Default is 144000.

    (Deprecated) Retrieve HTML data from Guide render operation

    Extracts data from the rendered Guide.

    Input properties

    Property for specifying the HTML document with embedded data.

    HTML Document

    A document value that specifies the HTML document with embedded data.

    Output properties

    Property for specifying the extracted data.

    Extracted data

    A document value that specifies the data that was extracted from an HTML document.

    (Deprecated) Document Is Null operation

    Checks whether there is data to populate the Guide with.

    Use this operation with conditional routing to detect and process data as required. For example, if there is data, you can route the process to operations that create a parameter for the data and embed the data. (See (Deprecated) Update Source Parameter operation and (Deprecated) Embed Content operation.)

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

    Input properties

    Property for specifying the data to check.

    Document

    A document value that specifies the data to check.

    Output properties

    Property for specifying the result of checking whether input data is empty (null or 0 bytes).

    Result

    A boolean value that specifies whether the input document is empty.

    If you provide a variable, from the Result list, select a variable. Click the plus sign button to display the Variable dialog box to create a variable. (See Creating variables).

    (Deprecated) Embed Content operation

    Embeds the specified content in the Guide. For example, you can embed content used to populate the Guide.

    To specify the content to embed, create a parameter that represents it using the Update Source Parameter operation. (See (Deprecated) Update Source Parameter operation.)

    Alternatively, you can create a reference to the content. (See (Deprecated) Link Content operation.)

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

    Input properties

    Properties for specifying a Guide and content to embed in it.

    Guide to Embed Content Into

    A document value that specifies the Guide in which to embed content.

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

    Content to Embed

    A document value that specifies the content to embed.

    For example, to embed the data the Guides are populated with, specify the variable that represents the data.

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

    Name of Content

    A string value that specifies the name of the embedded content.

    If you provide a literal value, type the name of the content.

    Output properties

    Property for specifying the document with embedded content.

    Resultant Guide

    (Optional) A document value that specifies the Guide with embedded content.

    If you provide a variable, from the Resultant Guide list, select a variable. Click the plus sign button to display the Variable dialog box to create a variable. (See Creating variables).

    (Deprecated) Link Content operation

    Creates a reference to external content in a Guide. For example, you can create a link to the data the Guide is populated with.

    To specify the content, create a parameter that represents it using the Update Source Parameter operation. (See (Deprecated) Update Source Parameter operation.)

    Alternatively, you can embed content into the Guide. (See (Deprecated) Embed Content operation.)

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

    Input properties

    Properties for specifying a Guide, and the location and name of the content to reference.

    Guide to Reference Content From

    A document value that specifies the Guide to create the external link in.

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

    Content to Reference

    A string value that specifies the location of the content.

    If you provide a literal value, type the location of the content.

    Name of Content

    A string value that specifies the name of the content.

    If you provide a literal value, type the name of the content.

    Output properties

    Property for specifying the document the link is added to.

    Resultant Guide

    (Optional) A document value that specifies the Guide with its content converted to external links.

    If you provide a variable, from the Resultant Guide list, select a variable. Click the plus sign button to display the Variable dialog box to create a variable. (See Creating variables).

    (Deprecated) Resolve Guide operation

    Creates a Guide in which referenced content is converted to URLs that are externally accessible.

    Use this operation to load a Guide for rendering. For example, you can use Resolve Guide as the first step in your Guide rendering process.

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

    Input properties

    Property for specifying a Guide to resolve.

    Guide to Resolve

    A string value that specifies the location of the Guide to resolve.

    Specify the full path, including the LiveCycle applications folder and .guide filename extension. An example of a path is/Applications/MyApplication/1.0/NewGuide1.guide.

    If you provide a literal value, type the path.

    Output properties

    Property for specifying the Guide in which all resources are resolved to external paths.

    Resultant Guide

    (Optional) A document value that specifies the resolved Guide.

    If you provide a variable, from the Resultant Guide list, select a variable. Click the plus sign button to display the Variable dialog box to create a variable. (See Creating variables).

    (Deprecated) Resolve Text operation

    Replaces variables in the specified text document with either values you provide or a link.

    For example, the text document can be an HTML page that allows a user to access the Guide using a web browser. To specify the content used by the HTML template, map the Guide to a variable that represents the page content.

    Variables are delimited with ${ and }. For example, ${varString} specifies the variable varString. For each variable, Resolve Text searches for a key with the variable name in the variables map. If Resolve Text finds a key, it substitutes the corresponding value. If it does not find the key, it assumes that the variable name represents a reference to the LiveCycle applications folder. The operation substitutes an external URL to retrieve the content for the variable.

    Resolve Text provides special handling for variable names that begin with a plus (+) or a minus sign (-). HTML pages created using Flex technology often require you to omit the .swf extension from references to SWF files. If the variable name is prefixed with - (minus sign), the operation removes the suffix. If you require a variable that has a minus sign (-) as its first character, prefix the variable witha plus sign (+).

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

    Input properties

    Properties for specifying a text document, its character set, and the substitute values for document variables.

    Text-based Document to Resolve

    A string value that specifies the location of the document to resolve.

    Specify the full path, including the LiveCycle applications folder and .html filename extension. An example of a path is/Applications/MyApplication/1.0/MyHTMLwrapper.html.

    If you provide a literal value, type the path.

    Character Set

    A string value that specifies the document’s character set.

    If you provide a literal value, type the name of the character set.

    Additional Variables to Substitute

    (Optional) A map value that specifies the values to substitute for variables in the document.

    Output properties

    Property for specifying the text document with resolved variables.

    Resultant Text-based Document

    (Optional) A document value that specifies the resolved text-based document.

    If you provide a variable, from the Resultant Text-based Document list, select a variable. Click the plus sign button to display the Variable dialog box to create a variable. (See Creating variables).

    (Deprecated) Update Sink Parameter operation

    Updates or adds a parameter that specifies the submit location for the Guide.

    For example, you can set the parameter targetUrl on the first Sink element in the Guide to the Workspace submit URL.

    If a parameter of the same name exists, the operation updates it with the new value. If the parameter does not exist, the operator adds a new parameter to the end of the parameter list with the specified name and value.

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

    Input properties

    Properties for specifying the Guide and sink parameter to update and the parameter value.

    Guide to Update

    A document value that specifies the Guide to update.

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

    Sink ID

    (Optional) A string value that specifies the identifier of the sink element to update. If you do not provide a value, the operation updates the first sink entry.

    In most cases, a Guide has only one sink entry and this property is not required.

    If you provide a literal value, type the identifier of the sink element.

    Parameter Name

    A string value that specifies the name of the parameter to update.

    If you provide a literal value, type the name of the parameter.

    Parameter Value

    A string value that specifies the value of the parameter.

    If you provide a literal value, type the value of the parameter.

    Output properties

    Property for specifying the Guide with the updated or added sink parameter.

    Resultant Guide

    (Optional) A document value that specifies the updated Guide.

    If you provide a variable, from the Resultant Guide list, select a variable. Click the plus sign button to display the Variable dialog box to create a variable. (See Creating variables).

    (Deprecated) Update Input Values operation

    Updates the input values in a Guide.

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

    Input properties

    Properties for specifying the Guide and inputs to update, and the prefix to remove from the inputs.

    Guide to Update

    A document value that specifies the Guide to update.

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

    Inputs to Update

    A map value that specifies the inputs to update and their new values.

    Prefix to Remove from Input Values

    (Optional) A string value that specifies a prefix to remove from each inputValues key. This prefix distinguishes values related to a Guide in a prepare data process. The operation removes the prefix before it uses keys to determine which parameters to update.

    If you provide a literal value, type the prefix.

    Output properties

    Property for specifying the Guide with the updated input values.

    Resultant Guide

    (Optional) A document value that specifies the updated Guide.

    If you provide a variable, from the Resultant Guide list, select a variable. Click the plus sign button to display the Variable dialog box to create a variable. (See Creating variables).

    (Deprecated) Update Source Parameter operation

    Updates or adds a parameter to a source. For example, you can add a parameter that represents data that a Guide is populated with. Use the parameter to allow the process to handle the content.

    If a parameter with the same name exists, the operator updates it with the new value. If the parameter does not exist, the operator adds a parameter with the specified name and value to the end of the parameter list.

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

    Input properties

    Properties for specifying the Guide and source parameter to update or add and the parameter value.

    Guide to Update

    A document value that specifies the Guide to update.

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

    Source ID

    (Optional) A string value that specifies the identifier of the source element to update. If you do not provide a value, the operation updates the first source entry.

    The first source entry is the primary data source; therefore, to update the primary data source, you do not have to provide a Source ID.

    If you provide a literal value, type the identifier of the source element.

    Parameter Name

    A string value that specifies the name of the parameter to update.

    If you provide a literal value, type the name of the parameter.

    Parameter Value

    A string value that specifies the value of the parameter.

    If you provide a literal value, type the value of the parameter.

    Output properties

    Property for specifying the Guide with the updated or added source parameter.

    Resultant Guide

    (Optional) A document value that specifies the updated Guide.

    If you provide a variable, from the Resultant Guide list, select a variable. Click the plus sign button to display the Variable dialog box to create a variable. (See Creating variables).

    (Deprecated) Update Selected Variation operation

    Specifies a variation to use for the Guide. A special selection list in the Guide named variations specifies which variations are available.

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

    Input properties

    Properties for specifying the Guide and variation to update.

    Guide to Update

    A document value that specifies the Guide to update.

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

    Variation to Select

    A string value that specifies the variation.

    If you provide a literal value, type the name of the variation.

    Output properties

    Property for specifying the Guide that is set to the specified variation.

    Resultant Guide

    (Optional) A document value that specifies the updated Guide.

    If you provide a variable, from the Resultant Guide list, select a variable. Click the plus sign button to display the Variable dialog box to create a variable. (See Creating variables).

    (Deprecated) Get Guide Version operation

    Gets the version of Workbench that was used to create the Guide.

    Input properties

    Property for specifying the version of Workbench that was used to create the Guide.

    Guide

    A document value that specifies the repository path to the Guide file. For example, a common repository path is /Applications/<MyApplication>/1.0/<MyGuide.guide>.

    Output properties

    Properties for specifying the version of Workbench that was used to create the Guide.

    Major Version

    An int value that returns 9 if the version is 9.1.2.3 or 0 if it does not exist.

    Minor Version

    An int value that returns 1 if the version is 9.1.2.3 or 0 if it does not exist.

    Release Version

    An int value that returns 2 if the version is 9.1.2.3 or 0 if it does not exist.

    Mini Version

    An int value that returns 3 if the version is 9.1.2.3 or 0 if it does not exist.

    (Deprecated) Invoke the generate Guide process operation

    Invokes the generate Guide process.

    Input properties

    Property for specifying the version of Workbench that was used to create the Guide.

    Process Version

    A string value that specifies the version of the generate Guide process to use.

    Guide data

    A document value that provides the initial data for the Guide. The data structure corresponds to the structure of the data model that the Guide is based on.

    Guide path

    A string value that specifies the location of the Guide in the repository.

    Guide runtime

    A string value that specifies the repository path to the runtime Guide. The default is dccontainer_bundle.swf. To leverage the signed Runtime Shared Library (RSL), use dccontainer_bundle-rsl.swf. To optimize the Guide download experience, use a structure such as /<MyApplication>/1.0/<MyRuntime>.swf.

    Input key prefix

    A string value that specifies the prefix to remove from input values.

    Input map

    A string value that specifies the prefix to remove from input values.

    Target URL

    A string value that specifies the location of the servlet that handles the submitted XML data.

    Variation

    A string value that specifies the view of the Guide that a step in the process uses.

    XFA Server Calcs

    A boolean value that indicates whether server calculations are performed for Guides that are based on an XDP form.

    Output properties

    Guide html wrapper

    A document value that contains the HTML output that displays the Guide.

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