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Before you start working with the Forms service, it is
recommended that you understand the various form types that the
Forms service uses. This section describes these form types.
Forms that have a flowable layoutA form that has a flowable
layout changes based on data prepopulation or through user interaction.
A form design that adjusts to accommodate data specifies a set of
layout, presentation, and data capture rules. Such a form design includes
the ability to calculate values based on user input. The rules are
applied when a user enters data into the form or when a server merges
data into a form.
A form that has a flowable layout is useful
when displaying an undetermined amount of data to users. You do
not need to predetermine a fixed layout or number of pages for the
form. When a form/form design with a flowable layout is rendered
as a PDF form, intelligent page breaks are generated.
Forms that have a fixed layoutA form that have a fixed layout
does not change regardless of how much data is placed into the fields.
Any fields left unfilled are present in the form but empty. Conversely,
if the form contains more data than it can hold, it cannot expand
to accommodate the excess data.
Server-side formsA server-side form can be a data-driven form; that
is, the form is populated with data during rendering. The amount
of data determines the form’s layout. Multiple data value instances
can be provided for a given field. This causes the field to dynamically
replicate so that each data value is displayed within the form.
Fields
that are dynamically added to a form are contained in structures
called subforms, which are located within the form design.
An example of a server-side form is one that is part of a custom
application that queries a database and retrieves an unknown number
of records. After retrieving records from a database, the application
merges data into the form. After the data is merged into the form,
the application renders the form to a user.
Client-side formsA client-side form is typically used to collect
data from end users by having them click a button (or another control)
that produces a new field in which data is entered. The new field
appears on the form immediately and does not require a round trip
to the server. That is, the form is not sent to LiveCycle. An example
of a client-side form is one that contains fields that where users
can enter items to purchase and a button that enables the user to
add new fields. Each time the user clicks the button, a new subform
is added to the form (a subform can contain a set of related fields).
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