Can an XML file be converted into something I can merge?

[Doyle_Lonnigan]

Hello, all. I'm trying to help my coworker, Dolly, solve a problem with LiveCycle, but confess up front that I know little about it. I frequent these forums to help and get help with other programs (Photoshop, InDesign, AfterEffects, etc.), but I usually generate my PDFs from within these design applications and rarely deal directly with Acrobat. Dolly doesn't really know how to use these forums and I've never used LiveCycle, so I'll attempt to translate her problem, which is this ...



Dolly asked me to help her merge pages from Doc B into Doc A, which is a pretty basic function in Acrobat and one that I'm familiar with. When I attempted to do the merge I got an error warning that Doc A was an XML file and couldn't be merged. I'm not sure what makes it an XML file and neither does Dolly. I had her show me her save options and was offered a couple of "Static PDF" formats in additon to the XML and several others which didn't seem relevant. I had her re-save Doc A in the static formats, but when I tried to merge into these was given the same error telling me they were XML files. Dolly created Doc A from scratch with LiveCycle. Doc B was created by someone else from an InDesign file.



So, I'm not sure how to advise her, but it would seem that the solution is to get the file to save as a PDF that isn't some kind of an XML file. I'm aware of XML as web formatting, but am unsure how it relates to this PDF that has no fill-in fields or other interactivity that I can see. It's strictly a print file.



Can anyone offer any insight that would help me help Dolly? If so, I have a bonus question, but one thing at a time! My sincere thanks in advance for any help.

[_SekharN_]

Merge is not an option in this case as all LiveCycle outputs are in the form of XML though they look PDF and serve as PDF. If you have Adobe Acrobat then you may export in the format of XML. Again LiveCycle output is not same as other PDFs.

[_Aandi_Inston_]

Some notes: LiveCycle isn't a product, it's a series of product (a bit

like CS). LiveCycle Designer is almost certainly the thing here.



A form made in LiveCycle Designer is indeed XML and cannot be edited

or merged in Acrobat in any way. However, forms made in Acrobat can be

merged (though not always with happy results: two fields with the same

name always have the same value).



Aandi Inston

[Doyle_Lonnigan]

Well, thanks for that info. What is it that makes these files XML and incompatible with other PDFs? I ask because I'm wondering if my coworker is using the proper tool. Is there another Ap within the LyceCycle suite that she should consider? Could she open Doc A in a different program and save it as a regular PDF?



Barring that, what would you recommend as the best way to delete 6 pages from the end of the XML PDF and replacing them with pages from a regular PDF? Does she need to start from scratch to create the hybrid?



Thanks again for your help.

[_Aandi_Inston_]

>Well, thanks for that info. What is it that makes these files XML and incompatible with other PDFs?



The short answer is "everything". It's like getting an apple and

painting it orange. It now looks like an orange, but it doesn't taste

like one.



> I ask because I'm wondering if my coworker is using the proper tool.



That depends what the business need is.



Forms can be made directly in Acrobat, but they will be a different

kind of form, with a different feature set. You'd need to look at what

your coworker's exacy requirements are.



>Could she open Doc A in a different program and save it as a regular PDF?



Not if it is to be fillable.

>

>Barring that, what would you recommend as the best way to delete 6 pages from the end of the XML PDF and replacing them with pages from a regular PDF? Does she need to start from scratch to create the hybrid?



If this is the sort of requirement you have, it may well be that the

original decision to use LiveCycle (a decision which Acrobat

encourages you to make without giving enough information to make an

informed decision) was not the right one.



LiveCycle Designer is about making interactive business forms. That's

all.



Aandi Inston

[Doyle_Lonnigan]

Thanks, Aandi. I think the XML doc into which she'd like to merge pages comes from an outside vendor. I'll pass this information on to my co-worker and hope it helps her out.



Thanks again. Always appreciative of the help I receive here.

[Former Community Member]

I have a similar problem:

I have created several fillable forms with LiveCycle. Now I have been told that I need to combile them into one pdf so I can calculate fields, etc. I have read on here that LiveCylce forms cannot be combined because they are XML. Is there any way to make these forms non-fillable so they can be saved as regular pdfs? Maybe then I can combine and place the fields back on.