Integrate Livecycle PDF's into an Adobe Air application ?

[Former Community Member]

Alright, I really need some direction from youz experts.

I have a way to feed my family and keep everyone happy if I can pull this off.  I would like to provide custom Livecycle Designer Forms for companies.  These forms will be connected to a database on their computer or network, lets start with computer.  As they open my PDF custom form they will put in a customer #.  This customer # will retrieve all of the general info from the database into the PDF document.  Then they will fill out the form as needed, sign it and send it on its way. Then they can save the form and look at it again later as needed.

What do I need to get this done?

Does Livecycle work with a desktop application, which will carry with it a database?

Would it be better to have this info on a server for customer log-in and access, which allows for the Livecycle-PDF-Database link to be solid?

How does Livecycle Designer PDF's auto populate?

Where is some reference material for this?

Is Livecycle PDF considered an application by its self?

Do I need to create a PDF viewer and CRM to accompany it?

Does Livecycle have problems with certain programming languages?

Which is the best programming language for Livecycle to work with besides Javascript?

Many Thanks,...my wife thanks you to...

Allen

[Niall_O_Donovan · Accepted solution]

Hi Allen,

Just a few pointers from my own experience.

First off you need to consider what the user will have to work with your form - Acrobat or Reader. This play a very big part on what features in your form will work. For example if your user has Acrobat then database connections will work. However if the users have Reader then they may not be able to connect to the database. Before you deploy the form to the users you can Reader Enable the form to turn on some or all of the features normally found in the full version of Acrobat. There are two ways to do this. One is using Acrobat Standard (v9) or Acrobat Pro (v8). There are licensing restrictions - see EULA. The other way is to Reader enable the form using LC Reader Extensions ES2. This is a server product intended for large organisations, processing large volumes of data. See Adobe website. Here is a summary, which covers the main issues:

http://www.assuredynamics.com/index.php/2010/11/using-livecycle-forms-in-acrobat-and-reader/

An XFA form developed in LC Designer can connect to databases and web service calls. This is fairly well documented. There are great examples and tutorials on Stefan Cameron's website: http://forms.stefcameron.com/. I would recommend doing a search on databases.

What you see is that if the users have Reader, the only way the data connections to databases and web service calls will work is if you Reader enable through LC Reader Extensions ES2 (option 4). This could be a restriction on your solution. Talk to the Adobe rep in your area.

You can set up an XML schema, which can be used to hardwire the data into the form. But this can be more difficult to maintain.

The other issue is saving the form. Again users with Reader can do this if you Reader Enable the form beforehand using Acrobat or LC Reader Extensions ES2.

What do I need to get this done?

You will need LC Designer to develop the forms and possibly Acrobat to Reader Enable (licensing restriction apply) or if the budget allows LC Reader Extensions (€€€). This will allow you to create the forms.

Does LiveCycle work with a desktop application, which will carry with it a database?

LiveCycle is a suite of programs, intended for a server environment. Included in the full suite is a user's workspace where the user can log in and interact with the forms. However this is very high-end stuff. LC Designer is only one component and is a desktop application. It is only used to develop the forms. You do set up the data connections in LC Designer, but the user only needs Acrobat/Reader to interact with the form.

Would it be better to have this info on a server for customer log-in and access, which allows for the Livecycle-PDF-Database link to be solid?

I would say yes, but there are significant costs involved. In my limited experiences.

How does LiveCycle Designer PDF's auto populate?

Either by way of data connections, web service calls or hardwired data in the form itself.

Where is some reference material for this?

We have some solutions and blog posts on our website http://www.assuredynamics.com.

There is also a range of online resources. You may find these resources helpful:

http://www.adobe.com/go/learn_lc_scriptingBasics

http://www.adobe.com/go/learn_lc_scriptingReference

http://www.adobe.com/go/learn_lc_formCalc

http://www.adobe.com/devnet/livecycle/articles/Adobe_XML_Form_Object_M odel_Refer ence.pdf

http://www.adobe.com/devnet/acrobat/pdfs/lc_migrating_acrobat_xmlform. pdf

And a very handy resource (and while it is for version 6 it is still very good because of the way it is laid out):http://partners.adobe.com/public/developer/en/tips/CalcScripts.pdf

The help file also helps with syntax and LC Designer comes with templates/examples.

Lastly, check out the Developer's Network on http://www.adobe.com/devnet/livecycle/

JP Terry's book on LC Designer is also excellent "Creating Dynamic Forms with Adobe LiveCycle Designer". I would strongly recommend this.

Also a book that doesn't deal with scripting at all but is very good on form layout is "Forms that Work" by Caroline Jarrett and Gerry Gaffney.

The Adobe "PDF Forms Bible" is okay, but mainly focuses on AcroForms.

Windjack Solutions have a subscription based service for solutions and scripts at http://www.pdfscripting.com. It has a lot of AcroForm script that can be amended to suit LC Designer and a growing library of LC Designer solutions.

Is LiveCycle PDF considered an application by its self?

LiveCycle PDF is not a good term. LiveCycle Designer is an application, which is used to produce XFA forms. These forms are wrapped in a PDF wrapper. This allows them to be opened in Acrobat/Reader, but they are completely different animals from native PDF documents.

Some of our XFA form solutions are "like" applications. They contain a lot of business logic where the user opens the XFA form; makes some choices; gets an answer and then closes the form. They are not submitting data, merely using the logic built into the form to give a direction/answer to a business requirement.

Do I need to create a PDF viewer and CRM to accompany it?

You don't need to create a PDF viewer. Acrobat/Reader work BEST with XFA forms. There are third party viewers available BUT not all of these work well (or at all) with XFA forms.

Does LiveCycle have problems with certain programming languages?

That's broad. I can't comment on the full suite of LiveCycle, but in relation to LC Designer a version of JavaScript (close to core JavaScript) and FormCalc are the only scripting languages available in LC Designer.

Which is the best programming language for LiveCycle to work with besides Javascript?

Again I can't comment on the full suite, but for LC Designer the only other scripting language is FormCalc.

Now the subject is integrating LC Designer forms into an AIR application. This is possible using Flex/Flash Builder 4; however (afaik) it will only work where you are deploying to AIR and not a web based app. I have started (but not finished) a pet project, which has XFA forms in an iFrame:

I would strongly recommend a full research of LC components and licensing restrictions before you invest heavily. You need to make sure the components fit your requirements and budget.

I am sure others will have further guidance and experiences.

I hope that helps,

Niall

Assure Dynamics

[Former Community Member]

Niall,

I really appreciate the time you put into my answer. It is correct in every way. My idea was to create a desktop/internet application with Adobe Air (CRM Customer Relationship Manager).  This would allow for companies to have access to customer and scheduling information. This CRM was then going to be able to house and read an XFA form that was created in Livecycle.  Each form would be customized to the companies current forms, but the XFA form would bind to General fields in the database, which are also seen & managed in the CRM application.  This allows for a company to create a new form and to have it prepopulated by the general field : database binding (First Name, Last name etc.).    The non-general fields would be saved with the document when the individual is completed with entering their info for that date. This form would then have printing capabilities and locked by a electronic signature.

The CRM would have a database that would allow for a user to search through the forms for viewing and editing.  The search would be filtered by customer # and dates.  I was going to recommend Adobe Pro as a requirement, as I cant afford the fees of EULA.  I was going to create a database online that allowed all the users access.  The database was going to be small to start with and as $$ came in I would invest in a greater database/server.  I would reader extend the XFA forms as a precaution.

I have a new device that will sell on its own in my industry. The manufacturer has not really put much thought into a UI.  Individuals in this industry would be excited about a possibility to record a customers info tagged to the devices results, which can be spit out in a legal form. Im the only one selling this device and with a "value added product" like a CRM + custom form management would be my bonus. In order to hire someone to do this I need to know exactly how it would work.  This is why I want to thank you for your time in assiting my understanding.

I will be creating a CRM from this tutorial:  http://articles.sitepoint.com/article/learn-adobe-air-part-2

Creating XFA Forms with Livecycle Designer ES 8.2

I hope it works.....any new feedback is welcomed.

Allen