Adding a Namespace Object to the XFA Object

[Former Community Member]

Hi,

I'm looking into optimizing the code in my forms. I noticed that, unlike most of the other LiveCycle Objects, the root XFA Object is enumerable and writable, and I was just wondering if anyone knows if it's safe to create my own Namespace Object and add it as a property of the XFA Object. If it is ok to do this, then it would be a great way to store all the form properties... all your Script Objects could point to the same location. I was able to get it to work using the following code:

//create global namespace object

var OBJ = ( function() {

          if ( typeof xfa.OBJ === "undefined" ) {

               xfa.OBJ = {};

          }

          return xfa.OBJ;

     }());

Thanks,

Anthony

[_Bruce_Robertson]

Hi Anthony,

I would worry about the property you add to an XFA object being garbage collected, see this from the help Adobe Digital Enterprise Platform * Enforcing strict scoping rules in JavaScript

You might be better off adding it to the Doc or app objects, that are more Acrobat than XFA, but I am not sure what you mean by a "namespace object", if you could explain more then there maybe other options.

Regards

Bruce

[Former Community Member]

Thanks for the response Bruce.

Please look at the following link to get an idea of what I mean by namespace object:

A JavaScript Module Pattern - YUI Blog

I know this is more for browser based JavaScript, but I can see the benefits to using the idea within a form as well.

[Former Community Member]

I was looking into the Doc and app objects that you suggested. I can't seem to add my own object to Doc, but I can to app. The only thing with app is that it is persistent.

The app object would be a great place to create a namespace object for storing properties and methods that are common to all my forms.

I was thinking that the xfa object would be a better place to store properties and methods specific to a particular form. Garbage collection doesn't seem to be an issue, but I could be wrong.

Here is a simple example of what I am doing, and it seems to work:

- add a makeMandatory() method to app.OBJ that accepts an array of form controls (persistent method used by all forms)

- add an array of form controls to xfa.OBJ when the form is initialized (array can be dynamic)

- when a button is clicked, run the following script: app.OBJ.makeMandatory(xfa.OBJ.mandatoryFormControls);

[_Bruce_Robertson · Accepted solution]

Hi Anthony,

I've always thought of a script object as a namespace, I don't see the chances of a name collision happening with a PDF form.

Here is some more information about garbage collection, Scope of JavaScript Objects

I guess I've been avoiding updating the XFA objects since I read that post.

Regards

Bruce