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12/28/13

Introduction to Acrobat Forms Technology | Talking PDF

T he Place for PDF Information

A Quick Introduction to Acrobat Forms Technology


Pos ted on December 16, 2013 by Mark Gavin in T alking PDF

People h a v e been u sin g A dobe A cr oba t t o con v er t pa per for m s t o elect r on ic on es for m a n y y ea r s n ow , bu t r ecen t dev elopm en t s fr om A dobe h a v e cr ea t ed con fu sion a bou t t h e best w a y t o cr ea t e a n d u se PDF for m s. Her e w e w ill ex pla in t h e differ en t m et h odolog ies A dobe u ses w it h for m s; fr om t h e ba ck en d da t a ba se t o for m desig n in t er fa ce; a n d, h ow t h is ca n be pr oblem a t ic for t h ose w h o bu ild PDF solu t ion s.

Multiple Standards for Forms


A dobe cu r r en t ly su ppor t s t w o m et h ods for in t eg r a t in g da t a a n d PDF for m s. h e or ig in a l m et h od da t es ba ck t o PDF 1 .2 fr om t h e m id 1 9 9 0 s a n d is k n ow n a s A cr oba t For m s or A cr oFor m s. Essen t ia lly t h is t ech n iqu e in v olv es a ddin g t h e for m fields a s a n ov er la y on t op of t h e im a g e of a for m . A dobe la t er in t r odu ced X FA For m s (som et im es ca lled Desig n er For m s) w it h PDF 1 .5 a n d A cr oba t 6 in 2 0 0 3 . Bot h X FA For m s a n d A cr oFor m s a r e su ppor t ed in A cr oba t 6 a n d a bov e.

Acrobat Forms (AcroForms)


A cr oFor m s a r e PDF files t h a t con t a in for m fields. Da t a ca n be en t er ed in t o t h ese fields (m a n u a lly or t h r ou g h a n a u t om a t ed pr ocess) by t h e en d u ser s or t h e a u t h or of t h e for m . In t er n a lly A cr oFor m s a r e a n n ot a t ion s or fields a pplied t o a PDF docu m en t . A cr oFor m s a r e ea sily filled u sin g a For m s Da t a For m a t (FDF) file; a for m a t t ed A SCII file w h ich con t a in s k ey :v a lu e pa ir s defin in g t h e eld n a m es a n d a ssocia t ed v a lu es t h a t a r e u sed t o popu la t e a for m . For m s Da t a For m a t (FDF) is defin ed in t h e in t er n a t ion a l st a n d for Por t a ble Docu m en t For m a t ; ISO-3 2 0 0 0 . See ISO-3 2 0 0 0 -1 :2 0 0 8 Sect ion 1 2 .7 .7 . Follow in g is a n ex a m ple of a sim ple FDF file:

% F D F 1 . 2 10o b j < </ F D F < </ F i e l d s[ < </ T( e l d n a m e 1 )/ V( v a l u eo f e l d n a m e 1 )> > < </ T( e l d n a m e 2 )/ V( v a l u eo f e l d n a m e 2 )> > ] > > e n d o b j t r a i l e r < </ R o o t10R> > % % E O F

T h e A cr oFor m it self ca n be cr ea t ed w it h A dobe A cr oba t 4 .x a n d a bov e or t h r ou g h m a n y ot h er for m s


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12/28/13

Introduction to Acrobat Forms Technology | Talking PDF

desig n pa ck a g es su ch a s A m g r a fs On eFor m Desig n er Plu s. User s ca n in t er a ct w it h a n A cr oFor m by u sin g A dobe A cr oba t 4 .x a n d a bov e or by u sin g t h e fr ee A dobe Rea der a pplica t ion for on e of t h ose A dobe A cr oba t v er sion s. A dobe a lso pr ov ides a fr ee u t ilit y , FDFt oolk it , t o h elp dev eloper s bu ild FDF files. In a ddit ion , t h ir d pa r t y dev eloper s t ools lik e A pplig en t s FDFMer g e a llow a pr og r a m m er t o cr ea t e a sy st em t h a t popu la t es (fills) h ig h v olu m es of A cr oFor m s a s pa r t of a n a u t om a t ed pr ocess. In 2 0 0 3 A dobe in t r odu ced a n X ML-ba sed v er sion of FDF. X ML FDF or X FDF w a s t o be FDF ex pr essed in t h e popu la r X ML (Ex t en sible Ma r k u p La n g u a g e) for m a t . X FDF su ppor t is in clu ded in A cr oba t 6 (PDF 1 .5 ) a n d a bov e a n d r epr esen t s a n a t u r a l ev olu t ion of FDF t ech n olog y . Lik e FDF X FDF is su ppor t ed by m a n y t h ir d-pa r t y soft w a r e v en dor s.

Adobe XFA Forms (LiveCycle/Designer)


X FA For m s (X ML For m s A r ch it ect u r e) r epr esen t s a sig n ifica n t ch a n g e in dir ect ion for A dobe fr om t h e popu la r FDF a n d X FDF m et h odolog ies. X FA For m s h a v e t h eir r oot s in a for m er e-for m s com pa n y ca lled Jet For m la t er r en a m ed A ccelio a n d a cqu ir ed by A dobe in 2 0 0 2 . X FA con cept s w er e fir st in t r odu ced in PDF 1 .5 (A cr oba t 6 ) a n d ex pa n ded in PDF 1 .6 , (A cr oba t 7 ). Un lik e A dobes ea r lier for m s t ech n olog y X FA For m s u t ilize X ML t h r ou g h ou t . W h ile X ML is t h e ba ck bon e for a ll t y pes of st r u ct u r ed docu m en t s, t h er e a r e dist in ct dr a w ba ck s t o be con sider ed:

Creating XFA form requires Adobe LiveCycle Forms Designer which ships with Acrobat 7, 8, 9 and X Professional; and, is not included with Acrobat XI Professional.
A dobe X FA For m s a r e n ot com pa t ible w it h A cr oFor m s, a n d t h ey ca n n ot be m odi ed in A cr oba t .

On the backend there are no commercial or open-source alternatives to Adobe LiveCycle Enterprise Server for processing XFA Forms. Existing Acrobat AcroForms cannot be automatically converted to XFA Forms. Typographic fidelity may need to be sacrificed when manually redrawing the forms with LiveCycle Designer. Adobe XFA Form documents are not compatible with versions of Acrobat or Reader prior to 6.0. AcroForms JavaScript is not supported with XFA Forms. A different, incompatible JavaScript syntax is used which leads to increased programming costs. XFA Forms are not part of the PDF/A (Archiving) standard which is based on PDF Version 1.4. Applications for government or other institutions that must comply with digital archive standards may be problematic. There are no commercial or open-source alternatives to using Adobe products for XFA Forms as there are with AcroForms. If you run into problems with XFA Forms you will have no one else to call besides Adobe. XForms vs. XFA Forms
X FA For m s sh ou ld n ot be con fu sed w it h X for m s, t h e W 3 C st a n da r d for X ML-ba sed for m s. A dobes X FA For m s is a closed st a n da r d t h a t com pet es w it h t h e fu lly open W 3 C X for m s st a n da r d. W h ile bot h a r e X ML-ba sed t h e X For m s st a n da r d on ly speci es t h e da t a a n d n ot t h e a ppea r a n ce of t h e for m , X FA
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Introduction to Acrobat Forms Technology | Talking PDF

For m s specify bot h t h e for m s a ppea r a n ce a s w ell a s t h e da t a . X For m s a r e n ot cu r r en t ly su ppor t ed by A cr oba t .

Conclusion
W h en in v est in g in t ech n olog y en t er pr ises m u st do con t in g en cy pla n n in g , a n d en t er pr ise PDF is n o ex cept ion . Look ca r efu lly a t t h e big pict u r e befor e em br a cin g X FA For m s. PDF for m s (v ia A cr oFor m s) con t in u e t o offer a v ia ble a n sw er for a n y on e w h o m u st deliv er a n e-For m s solu t ion a n d n eeds t o m a in t a in on e h u n dr ed per cen t fidelit y t o t h e or ig in a l t y pog r a ph ic docu m en t . Sy st em pla n n er s sh ou ld ca r efu lly a n a ly ze t h e a u dien ce for t h eir for m s-ba sed a pplica t ion s a n d con sider if t h ey ca n con t r ol t h e u ser s desk t op con fig u r a t ion . Sim ply pu t , ca n y ou be su r e a ll of y ou r pot en t ia l u ser s h a v e A dobe A cr oba t 7 or la t er in st a lled, a n d if t h ey don t ca n y ou for ce t h em t o in st a ll or u pg r a de? If n ot , A cr oFor m s a r e t h e best solu t ion . If so, fu r t h er a sk w h et h er r ely in g on a sin g le sou r ce pr ov ider for t h is t ech n olog y m a k es sen se st r a t eg ica lly . For m or e in for m a t ion on A cr oFor m s solu t ion s: h t t p://w w w .a pplig en t .com /ser v er -soft w a r e/fdfm er g e/ T a lk in g PDF: Ch oosin g Bet w een PDF a n d Desig n er /X FA For m s A cr oFor m s, A dobe Liv eCy cle, PDF For m s

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