Form Data Integration

Merges form data into a PDF form. You can import form data into a PDF form and export form data from a PDF form.

In addition, you can import and export interactive PDF form data. An interactive PDF form contains one or more fields for collecting information from a user or displaying custom information. Here are the types of PDF forms:

  • A PDF form created in Acrobat is a PDF document that contains form fields.

  • A PDF form created in Designer is XML-based.

    The data format that you can use for importing and exporting depends on the type of form on which you are performing the operation. This data can be in one of these formats:

  • An XFDF file, which is an XML version of the Acrobat form data format.

  • An XDP file, which is an XML file that contains form field definitions. It may also contain form field data and an embedded PDF file. An XDP file generated by Designer can be used only if it carries an embedded base-64-encoded PDF document.

  • An arbitrary XML file that contains a list of name and value pairs.

For information about using the Form Data Integration service, see Services Reference for Adobe LiveCycle ES4.

    Retaining legacy appearance of PDF Forms in LiveCycle

    In LiveCycle, PDF forms rendered with the assistance of Forms, Output, or Form Data Integration (FDI) services have the appearance that is similar to PDF forms in Acrobat X. However, if you are upgrading from the previous version of LiveCycle, and would like to retain the older appearance of PDF forms, you can set a service-level configuration option for the Forms, Output, and FDI services.

    For the Forms, Output, or FDI services, when the value of this option (Appearance Compatibility Mode) is set to 9, all PDF forms rendered using the service appear in the legacy appearance. Any other value set for this option results in generated PDF forms appearing with the look and feel enabled by LiveCycle.

    1. In the Components view, drill down to FormDataIntegration > Active Services > FormDataIntegration:1.1.

    2. Right click FormDataIntegration:1.1 and select Edit Service Configuration.

    3. On the Configuration Settings dialog, edit the Appearance Compatibility Mode option to set the version of Acrobat whose appearance mode is to be configured.

    4. Click OK to complete the setting.

    exportData operation

    Exports form data from a PDF document. The following table shows data formats that can be exported.

    Form type

    Export format

    Exported Data Format

    Acrobat form

    Auto

    XFDF

    Acrobat form

    XDP

    XFDF (XDP is not valid input for an Acrobat form)

    Acrobat form

    XML

    XFDF (XDP is not valid input for an Acrobat form)

    XML form

    Auto

    XDP

    XML form

    XDP

    XDP

    XML form

    XML

    XML

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

    Input properties

    PDF Document

    A document value that represents the PDF document from which data is exported.

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

    Data Format

    The type of data to export. Possible settings are:

    • Auto XFDF data is exported from an Acrobat form PDF. XDP data is exported from a PDF created in Designer.

    • XDP XDP data is exported from a PDF created in Designer.

    • XmlData XML data is exported from a PDF created in Designer.

    Output properties

    Data Extracted

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

    Exceptions

    This operation can throw an ExportFormDataException exception.

    exportData operation(deprecated)

    Note: This operation is deprecated. Use the exportData operation operation instead

    Exports form data from a PDF document. The following table shows data formats that can be exported from each PDF document type.

    Form type

    Exported Data Format

    Acrobat form

    XFDF

    XML form

    XFA Datasets

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

    Input properties

    PDF Document

    A document value that represents the PDF document from which data is exported.

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

    Output properties

    Data Extracted

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

    Exceptions

    This operation can throw an ExportFormDataException exception.

    importData operation

    Imports XFA or XFDF form data into a PDF document. The following table shows which data formats you can use for each PDF document type.

    Form type

    Import format

    Result

    Acrobat form

    XFDF

    Successful

    Acrobat form

    XFA

    Unsuccessful

    XML form

    XFA

    Successful

    XML form

    XFDF

    Unsuccessful

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

    Input properties

    PDF Document

    A document value that represents the PDF document to which data is to be imported.

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

    Input Data

    A document value that represents XFA or XFDF data to import.

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

    Output properties

    Data Merged PDF

    The location to store the PDF document that contains the imported data. The data type is document.

    Exceptions

    This operation can throw an ImportFormDataExceptionexception.

    Form Data Integration exceptions

    The Form Data Integration service provides the following exception for throwing exception events.

    ImportFormDataException

    Thrown when an error occurs merging form data with a document.

    ExportFormDataException

    Thrown when an error occurs exporting form data from a document.

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