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Appligent: A Quick Introduction To Acrobat Forms Technology

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This document provides an overview of Adobe's different methods for creating fillable PDF forms, including AcroForms and XFA Forms. It notes that while AcroForms have been used since the 1990s, Adobe introduced the XML-based XFA Forms standard in 2003. However, XFA Forms are not compatible with AcroForms and require proprietary Adobe software, whereas AcroForms can be created and edited in various programs and support open standards. The document concludes that for organizations needing to maintain fidelity to original documents or support legacy software, AcroForms may be a better solution than XFA Forms due to its wider compatibility and availability of third-party options.

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Appligent: A Quick Introduction To Acrobat Forms Technology

Uploaded by

bharath
33 views3 pages
This document provides an overview of Adobe's different methods for creating fillable PDF forms, including AcroForms and XFA Forms. It notes that while AcroForms have been used since the 1990s, Adobe introduced the XML-based XFA Forms standard in 2003. However, XFA Forms are not compatible with AcroForms and require proprietary Adobe software, whereas AcroForms can be created and edited in various programs and support open standards. The document concludes that for organizations needing to maintain fidelity to original documents or support legacy software, AcroForms may be a better solution than XFA Forms due to its wider compatibility and availability of third-party options.

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ACroforms explained

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Acroforms+WhitePaper

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This document provides an overview of Adobe's different methods for creating fillable PDF forms, including AcroForms and XFA Forms. It notes that while AcroForms have been used since the 1990s, Adobe introduced the XML-based XFA Forms standard in 2003. However, XFA Forms are not compatible with AcroForms and require proprietary Adobe software, whereas AcroForms can be created and edited in various programs and support open standards. The document concludes that for organizations needing to maintain fidelity to original documents or support legacy software, AcroForms may be a better solution than XFA Forms due to its wider compatibility and availability of third-party options.

Copyright:

© All Rights Reserved
Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
Download as pdf or txt
33 views3 pages

Appligent: A Quick Introduction To Acrobat Forms Technology

Uploaded by

bharath
This document provides an overview of Adobe's different methods for creating fillable PDF forms, including AcroForms and XFA Forms. It notes that while AcroForms have been used since the 1990s, Adobe introduced the XML-based XFA Forms standard in 2003. However, XFA Forms are not compatible with AcroForms and require proprietary Adobe software, whereas AcroForms can be created and edited in various programs and support open standards. The document concludes that for organizations needing to maintain fidelity to original documents or support legacy software, AcroForms may be a better solution than XFA Forms due to its wider compatibility and availability of third-party options.

Copyright:

© All Rights Reserved
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Appligent

A Quick Introduction to Acrobat Forms Technology

People have been using Adobe Acrobat to convert paper forms to electronic ones for many years now, but
recent developments from Adobe have created confusion about the best way to create and use PDF forms.
In this white paper, we will explain the different methodologies Adobe uses with forms—from the backend
database to form design interface, and how this can be problematic for those who build PDF solutions.

Multiple Standards for Forms


Adobe currently supports two methods for integrating data and PDF forms. The original method
dates back to PDF 1.2 from the mid 1990’s and is known as Acrobat Forms or AcroForms. Essentially
this technique involves adding the form fields as an overlay on top of the image of a form. Adobe
later introduced XFA Forms (sometimes called Designer Forms) with PDF 1.5 and Acrobat 6 in 2003.
Both XFA Forms and AcroForms are supported in Acrobat 6 and 7.

Acrobat Forms (AcroForms)


AcroForms are PDF files that contain form fields. Data can be entered into these fields (manually or
through an automated process) by the end users or the author of the form. Internally AcroForms are
annotations or fields applied to a PDF document. AcroForms are easily filled using formatted ASCII
or FDF files that contain key:value pairs that define the field names and associated values that are
used to populate a form, as shown in the following code snippet:
%FDF-1.2

1 0 obj

<< /FDF

<< /Fields [

<< /T (field-name-1) /V (value of field-name-1) >>

<< /T (field-name-2) /V (value of field-name-2) >>

]>>

endobj

trailer

<< /Root 1 0 R >>

%%EOF

The AcroForm itself can be created with Adobe Acrobat 4.x, 5.x, 6.x or 7.x or through
many other forms design packages such as Amgraf’s OneForm Designer Plus. Users can
interact with an AcroForm by using Adobe Acrobat 4.x, 5.x, 6.x or 7.x or by using the free
“Reader” application for one of those Adobe Acrobat versions. Adobe also provides a free
utility, Fdftoolkit, to help developers build FDF files. In addition, third party developer’s
tools like Appligent’s FDFMerge and PowerMerge allow a programmer to create a system
that populates (fills) high volumes of AcroForms as part of an automated process.
In 2003 Adobe introduced an XML-based version of FDF. XML FDF or XFDF was to be
FDF expressed in the popular XML (Extensible Markup Language) format. Unfortunately
Adobe chose to move its XML forms technology in another direction for reasons never

22 East Baltimore Avenue • Lansdowne, PA 19050 • www.appligent.com

P: 610.284.4006 • F: 610.284.4233 • email: sales@appligent.com

fully explained. XFDF was never fully implemented and lacks support for some features
of FDF like forms templates and the Fdftoolkit was never updated to support XFDF. Even
so, XFDF support is included in Acrobat 6 (PDF 1.5) and above and represents a natural
evolution of FDF technology. Like FDF XFDF is supported by many third-party software
vendors.

Adobe XFA Forms (LiveCycle/Designer)


XFA Forms (XML Forms Architecture) represents a significant change in direction for Adobe
from the popular FDF and XFDF methodologies. XFA Forms have their roots in a former e-forms
company called JetForm later renamed Accelio and acquired by Adobe in 2002. XFA concepts were
first introduced in PDF 1.5 (Acrobat 6) and expanded in PDF 1.6, (Acrobat 7). Unlike Adobe’s earlier
forms technology XFA Forms utilize XML throughout. While this can be viewed as a technically
superior approach as it leverages XML as the backbone for all types of structured documents, there
are distinct drawbacks to be considered:
• Adobe XFA Forms are not compatible with AcroForms, and they cannot be modified in
Acrobat.
• Creating XFA form requires Adobe LiveCycle Forms Designer which ships with Acrobat 7;
and, on the backend there are no commercial or open-source alternatives to the proprietary
Adobe Forms 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. There are no reliable statistics on the versions of Acrobat and Reader currently in use in
the world. Anecdotal evidence based on sales and customer support calls indicates plenty of
end users are still running version 5 or 4.
• 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


XFA Forms should not be confused with Xforms, the W3C standard for XML-based forms. Adobe’s
XFA Forms is a closed standard that competes with the fully open W3C Xforms standard. While both
are XML-based the XForms standard only specifies the data and not the appearance of the form, XFA
Forms specify both the form’s appearance as well as the data. XForms are not currently supported by
Acrobat.
PDF Forms End-User Licensing Models
One of the best things about PDF is the free Adobe Reader. Hundreds of millions of copies have been
installed around the world to help make PDF the best choice for document sharing. But nothing else
from Adobe is free. In fact, its server-based components are quite expensive. That’s why the market
has welcomed competitive third-party plug-ins and alternative server-based tools that support PDF
for all kinds of applications, including fillable, database-connected AcroForms.
When it comes to forms, Adobe licenses rights, not solutions. Many independent software developers
have made successful businesses by filling this gap. With AcroForms, there are lots of product choices
for forms implementation and deployment that are powerful, easy to understand, and economical.
Open standards for PDF and XML data exchange are available from many sources, and end-user
licensing models can be negotiated to efficiently support small workgroups or large audiences. With
third-party suppliers, backend forms servers can be open-source without the need for onerous
license fees, or click charges, or per-form charges, or per-user fees.

Conclusion
When investing in technology enterprises must do contingency planning, and enterprise PDF
is no exception. Look carefully at the big picture before embracing XFA Forms. PDF forms (via
AcroForms) continue to offer a viable answer for anyone who must deliver an e-Forms solution
and needs to maintain one hundred percent fidelity to the original typographic document. System
planners should carefully analyze the audience for their forms-based applications and consider if
they can control the users desktop configuration. Simply put, can you be sure all of your potential
users have Acrobat 7 installed, and if they don’t can you force them to upgrade? If not, AcroForms
are the best solution. If so, further ask whether relying on a single source provider for this technology
makes sense strategically. Is the proposed technology scalable and affordable? If problems arise what
will be your plan B? Don’t fall victim to marketing hype and be sure to do your due diligence. You’ll
find AcroForms may be the best solution to your problem.
For more information on AcroForms solutions visit http://www.appligent.com.

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