AEM 6.4 has reached the end of extended support and this documentation is no longer updated. For further details, see our technical support periods. Find the supported versions here.
About the Generate PDF Service
The Generate PDF service converts native file formats to PDF. It also converts PDF to other file formats and optimizes the size of PDF documents.
The Generate PDF service uses native applications to convert the following file formats to PDF. Unless otherwise indicated, only the German, French, English, and Japanese versions of these applications are supported. Windows only indicates support for only Windows Server® 2003 and Windows Server 2008.
Microsoft Office 2003 and 2007 to convert DOC, DOCX, RTF, TXT, XLS, XLSX, PPT, PPTX, VSD, MPP, MPPX, XPS, and PUB (Windows only)
Acrobat® 9.2 or later is required to convert Microsoft XPS format to PDF.
Autodesk AutoCAD 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2009 to convert DWF, DWG, and DXW (English only)
Corel WordPerfect 12 and X4 to convert WPD, QPW, SHW (English only)
OpenOffice 2.0, 2.4, 3.0.1, and 3.1 to convert ODT, ODS, ODP, ODG, ODF, SXW, SXI, SXC, SXD, DOC, DOCX, RTF, TXT, XLS, XLSX, PPT, PPTX, VSD, MPP, MPPX, and PUB
The Generate PDF service does not support the 64-bit versions of OpenOffice.
Adobe Photoshop® CS2 to convert PSD (Windows only)
Photoshop CS3 and CS4 are not supported because they do not support Windows Server 2003 or Windows Server 2008.
Adobe FrameMaker® 7.2 and 8 to convert FM (Windows only)
Adobe PageMaker® 7.0 to convert PMD, PM6, P65, and PM (Windows only)
Native formats supported by third-party applications (requires development of setup files specific for the application) (Windows only)
The Generate PDF service converts the following standards-based file formats to PDF.
The Generate PDF service converts PDF to the following file formats (Windows only):
The Generate PDF service requires that you perform these administrative tasks:
These tasks are described in Installing and Deploying AEM forms Using JBoss Turnkey.
You can accomplish these tasks using the Generate PDF service:
For more information about the Generate PDF service, see Services Reference for AEM Forms.
This section describes how you can use the Generate PDF API to programmatically convert a Microsoft Word document to a PDF document.
For more information about additional file formats, see Adding Support for Additional Native File Formats.
For more information about the Generate PDF service, see Services Reference for AEM Forms.
To convert a Microsoft Word document to a PDF document, perform the following tasks:
Include project files
Include necessary files into your development project. If you are creating a client application using Java, include the necessary JAR files. If you are using web services, ensure that you include the proxy files.
Create a Generate PDF client
Before you can programmatically perform a Generate PDF operation, create a Generate PDF service client. If you are using the Java API, create a GeneratePdfServiceClient
object. If you are using the web service API, create a GeneratePDFServiceService
object.
Retrieve the file to convert to a PDF document
Retrieve the Microsoft Word document to convert to a PDF document.
Convert the file to a PDF document
After you create the Generate PDF service client, you can invoke the createPDF2
method. This method needs information about the document to convert, including the file extension.
Retrieve the results
After the file is converted to a PDF document, you can retrieve the results. For example, after you convert a Word file to a PDF document, you can retrieve and save the PDF document.
See also
Convert Word documents to PDF documents using the Java API
Convert Word documents to PDF documents using the web service API
Including AEM Forms Java library files
Generate PDF Service API Quick Starts
Convert a Microsoft Word document to a PDF document by using the Generate PDF API (Java):
Include project files.
Include client JAR files, such as adobe-generatepdf-client.jar, in your Java project’s class path.
Create a Generate PDF client.
ServiceClientFactory
object that contains connection properties.GeneratePdfServiceClient
object by using its constructor and passing the ServiceClientFactory
object.Retrieve the file to convert to a PDF document.
java.io.FileInputStream
object that represents the Word file to convert by using its constructor. Pass a string value that specifies the file location.com.adobe.idp.Document
object by using its constructor and passing the java.io.FileInputStream
object.Convert the file to a PDF document.
Convert the file to a PDF document by invoking the GeneratePdfServiceClient
object’s createPDF2
method and passing the following values:
com.adobe.idp.Document
object that represents the file to convert.java.lang.String
object that contains the file extension.java.lang.String
object that contains the file type settings to be used in the conversion. File type settings provide conversion settings for different file types, such as .doc or .xls.java.lang.String
object that contains the name of the PDF settings to be used. For example, you can specify Standard
.java.lang.String
object that contains the name of the security settings to be used.com.adobe.idp.Document
object that contains settings to be applied while generating the PDF document.com.adobe.idp.Document
object that contains metadata information to be applied to the PDF document.The createPDF2
method returns a CreatePDFResult
object that contains the new PDF document and a log information. The log file typically contains error or warning messages generated by the conversion request.
Retrieve the results.
To obtain the PDF document, perform the following actions:
CreatePDFResult
object’s getCreatedDocument
method, which returns a com.adobe.idp.Document
object.com.adobe.idp.Document
object’s copyToFile
method to extract the PDF document from the object created in the previous step.If you used the createPDF2
method to obtain the log document (not applicable to HTML conversions), perform the following actions:
CreatePDFResult
object’s getLogDocument
method. This returns a com.adobe.idp.Document
object.com.adobe.idp.Document
object’s copyToFile
method to extract the log document.See also
Quick Start (SOAP mode): Converting a Microsoft Word document to a PDF document using the Java API
Including AEM Forms Java library files
Convert a Microsoft Word document to a PDF document by using the Generate PDF API (web service):
Include project files.
Create a Microsoft .NET project that uses MTOM. Ensure that you use the following WSDL definition: http://localhost:8080/soap/services/GeneratePDFService?WSDL&lc_version=9.0.1
.
Replace localhost
with the IP address of the server hosting AEM Forms.
Create a Generate PDF client.
Create a GeneratePDFServiceClient
object by using its default constructor.
Create a GeneratePDFServiceClient.Endpoint.Address
object by using the System.ServiceModel.EndpointAddress
constructor. Pass a string value that specifies the WSDL to the AEM Forms service (for example, http://localhost:8080/soap/services/GeneratePDFService?blob=mtom
.) You do not need to use the lc_version
attribute. However, specify ?blob=mtom
.
Create a System.ServiceModel.BasicHttpBinding
object by getting the value of the GeneratePDFServiceClient.Endpoint.Binding
field. Cast the return value to BasicHttpBinding
.
Set the System.ServiceModel.BasicHttpBinding
object’s MessageEncoding
field to WSMessageEncoding.Mtom
. This value ensures that MTOM is used.
Enable basic HTTP authentication by performing the following tasks:
GeneratePDFServiceClient.ClientCredentials.UserName.UserName
.GeneratePDFServiceClient.ClientCredentials.UserName.Password
.HttpClientCredentialType.Basic
to the field BasicHttpBindingSecurity.Transport.ClientCredentialType
.BasicHttpSecurityMode.TransportCredentialOnly
to the field BasicHttpBindingSecurity.Security.Mode
.Retrieve the file to convert to a PDF document.
BLOB
object by using its constructor. The BLOB
object is used to store the file that you want to convert to a PDF document.System.IO.FileStream
object by invoking its constructor. Pass a string value that represents the file location of the file to convert and the mode in which to open the file.System.IO.FileStream
object. You can determine the size of the byte array by getting the System.IO.FileStream
object’s Length
property.System.IO.FileStream
object’s Read
method and passing the byte array, the starting position, and the stream length to read.BLOB
object by assigning to its MTOM
property the contents of the byte array.Convert the file to a PDF document.
Convert the file to a PDF document by invoking the GeneratePDFServiceService
object’s CreatePDF2
method and passing the following values:
BLOB
object that represents the file to be converted.java.lang.String
object that contains the file type settings to be used in the conversion. File type settings provide conversion settings for different file types, such as .doc or .xls.Standard
.No Security
.BLOB
object that contains settings to be applied while generating the PDF document.BLOB
object that contains metadata information to be applied to the PDF document.BLOB
that is populated by the CreatePDF2
method. The CreatePDF2
method populates this object with the converted document. (This parameter value is required only for web service invocation).BLOB
that is populated by the CreatePDF2
method. The CreatePDF2
method populates this object with the log document. (This parameter value is required only for web service invocation).Retrieve the results.
BLOB
object’s MTOM
field to a byte array. The byte array represents the converted PDF document. Ensure you use the BLOB
object that is used as the output parameter for the createPDF2
method.System.IO.FileStream
object by invoking its constructor and passing a string value that represents the file location of the converted PDF document.System.IO.BinaryWriter
object by invoking its constructor and passing the System.IO.FileStream
object.System.IO.BinaryWriter
object’s Write
method and passing the byte array.See also
Invoking AEM Forms using SwaRef
This section describes how you can use the Generate PDF API to programmatically convert HTML documents to PDF documents.
For more information about the Generate PDF service, see Services Reference for AEM Forms.
To convert an HTML document to a PDF document, perform the following tasks:
Include project files
Include necessary files into your development project. If you are creating a client application using Java, include the necessary JAR files. If you are using web services, ensure that you include the proxy files.
Create a Generate PDF client
Before you can programmatically perform a Generate PDF operation, you must create a Generate PDF service client. If you are using the Java API, create a GeneratePdfServiceClient
object. If you are using the web service API, create a GeneratePDFServiceService
.
Retrieve the HTML content to convert to a PDF document
Reference HTML content that you want to convert to a PDF document. You can reference HTML content such as an HTML file or HTML content that is accessible using a URL.
Convert the HTML content to a PDF document
After you create the service client, you can invoke the appropriate PDF creation operation. This operation needs information about the document to be converted, including the path to the target document.
Retrieve the results
After the HTML content is converted to a PDF document, you can retrieve the results and save the PDF document.
See also
Convert HTML content to a PDF document using the Java API
Convert HTML content to a PDF document using the web service API
Including AEM Forms Java library files
Generate PDF Service API Quick Starts
Convert an HTML document to a PDF document using the Generate PDF API (Java):
Include project files.
Include client JAR files, such as adobe-generatepdf-client.jar, in your Java project’s class path.
Create a Generate PDF client.
Create a GeneratePdfServiceClient
object by using its constructor and passing a ServiceClientFactory
object that contains connection properties.
Retrieve the HTML content to convert to a PDF document.
Retrieve HTML content by creating a string variable and assigning a URL that points to HTML content.
Convert the HTML content to a PDF document.
Invoke the GeneratePdfServiceClient
object’s htmlToPDF2
method and pass the following values:
java.lang.String
object that contains the URL of the HTML file to be converted.java.lang.String
object that contains the file type settings to be used in the conversion. File type settings can include spidering levels.java.lang.String
object that contains the name of the security settings to be used.com.adobe.idp.Document
object that contains settings to be applied while generating the PDF document. If this information is not supplied, the settings are automatically chosen based on the previous three parameters.com.adobe.idp.Document
object that contains metadata information to be applied to the PDF document.Retrieve the results.
The htmlToPDF2
method returns an HtmlToPdfResult
object that contains the new PDF document that was generated. To obtain the newly created PDF document, perform the following actions:
HtmlToPdfResult
object’s getCreatedDocument
method. This returns a com.adobe.idp.Document
object.com.adobe.idp.Document
object’s copyToFile
method to extract the PDF document from the object created in the previous step.See also
Converting HTML Documents to PDF Documents
Quick Start (SOAP mode): Converting HTML content to a PDF document using the Java API
Quick Start (SOAP mode): Converting HTML content to a PDF document using the Java API
Including AEM Forms Java library files
Convert HTML content to a PDF document by using the Generate PDF API (web service):
Include project files.
Create a Microsoft .NET project that uses MTOM. Ensure that you use the following WSDL definition: http://localhost:8080/soap/services/GeneratePDFService?WSDL&lc_version=9.0.1
.
Replace localhost
with the IP address of the server hosting AEM Forms.
Create a Generate PDF client.
Create a GeneratePDFServiceClient
object by using its default constructor.
Create a GeneratePDFServiceClient.Endpoint.Address
object by using the System.ServiceModel.EndpointAddress
constructor. Pass a string value that specifies the WSDL to the AEM Forms service (for example, http://localhost:8080/soap/services/GeneratePDFService?blob=mtom
.) You do not need to use the lc_version
attribute. However, specify ?blob=mtom
.
Create a System.ServiceModel.BasicHttpBinding
object by getting the value of the GeneratePDFServiceClient.Endpoint.Binding
field. Cast the return value to BasicHttpBinding
.
Set the System.ServiceModel.BasicHttpBinding
object’s MessageEncoding
field to WSMessageEncoding.Mtom
. This value ensures that MTOM is used.
Enable basic HTTP authentication by performing the following tasks:
GeneratePDFServiceClient.ClientCredentials.UserName.UserName
.GeneratePDFServiceClient.ClientCredentials.UserName.Password
.HttpClientCredentialType.Basic
to the field BasicHttpBindingSecurity.Transport.ClientCredentialType
.BasicHttpSecurityMode.TransportCredentialOnly
to the field BasicHttpBindingSecurity.Security.Mode
.Retrieve the HTML content to convert to a PDF document.
Retrieve HTML content by creating a string variable and assigning a URL that points to HTML content.
Convert the HTML content to a PDF document.
Convert the HTML content to a PDF document by invoking the GeneratePDFServiceService
object’s HtmlToPDF2
method and pass the following values:
java.lang.String
object that contains the file type settings to be used in the conversion.BLOB
object that contains settings to be applied while generating the PDF document.BLOB
object that contains metadata information to be applied to the PDF document.BLOB
that is populated by the CreatePDF2
method. The CreatePDF2
method populates this object with the converted document. (This parameter value is required only for web service invocation).Retrieve the results.
BLOB
object’s MTOM
field to a byte array. The byte array represents the converted PDF document. Ensure you use the BLOB
object that is used as the output parameter for the HtmlToPDF2
method.System.IO.FileStream
object by invoking its constructor and passing a string value that represents the file location of the converted PDF document.System.IO.BinaryWriter
object by invoking its constructor and passing the System.IO.FileStream
object.System.IO.BinaryWriter
object’s Write
method and passing the byte array.See also
Converting HTML Documents to PDF Documents
Invoking AEM Forms using SwaRef
This section describes how you can use the Generate PDF Java API and web service API to programmatically convert a PDF document to an RTF file, which is an example of a non-image format. Other non-image formats include HTML, text, DOC, and EPS. When converting a PDF document to RTF, ensure that the PDF document does not contain form elements, such as a submit button. Form elements are not converted.
For more information about the Generate PDF service, see Services Reference for AEM Forms.
To convert a PDF document to any of the supported types, perform the following steps:
Include project files
Include necessary files into your development project. If you are creating a client application using Java, include the necessary JAR files. If you are using web services, ensure that you include the proxy files.
Create a Generate PDF client
Before you can programmatically perform a Generate PDF operation, you must create a Generate PDF service client. If you are using the Java API, create a GeneratePdfServiceClient
object. If you are using the web service API, create a GeneratePDFServiceService
object.
Retrieve the PDF document to convert
Retrieve the PDF document to convert to a non-image format.
Convert the PDF document
After you create the service client, you can invoke the PDF export operation. This operation needs information about the document to be converted, including the path to the target document.
Save the converted file
Save the converted file. For example, if you convert a PDF document to an RTF file, save the converted document to an RTF file.
See also
Convert a PDF document to a RTF file using the Java API
Convert a PDF document to a RTF file using the web service API
Including AEM Forms Java library files
Generate PDF Service API Quick Starts
Convert a PDF document to an RTF file by using the Generate PDF API (Java):
Include project files.
Include client JAR files, such as adobe-generatepdf-client.jar, in your Java project’s class path.
Create a Generate PDF client.
Create a GeneratePdfServiceClient
object by using its constructor and passing a ServiceClientFactory
object that contains connection properties.
Retrieve the PDF document to convert.
java.io.FileInputStream
object that represents the PDF document to convert by using its constructor. Pass a string value that specifies the location of the PDF document.com.adobe.idp.Document
object by using its constructor and passing the java.io.FileInputStream
object.Convert the PDF document.
Invoke the GeneratePdfServiceClient
object’s exportPDF2
method and pass the following values:
com.adobe.idp.Document
object that represents the PDF file to convert.java.lang.String
object that contains the name of the file to convert.java.lang.String
object that contains the name of the Adobe PDF settings.ConvertPDFFormatType
object that specifies the target file type for the conversion.com.adobe.idp.Document
object that contains settings to be applied while generating the PDF document.The exportPDF2
method returns an ExportPDFResult
object that contains the converted file.
Convert the PDF document.
To obtain the newly created file, perform the following actions:
ExportPDFResult
object’s getConvertedDocument
method. This returns a com.adobe.idp.Document
object.com.adobe.idp.Document
object’s copyToFile
method to extract the new document.See also
Quick Start (SOAP mode): Converting HTML content to a PDF document using the Java API
Including AEM Forms Java library files
Convert a PDF document to an RTF file by using the Generate PDF API (web service):
Include project files.
Create a Microsoft .NET project that uses MTOM. Ensure that you use the following WSDL definition: http://localhost:8080/soap/services/GeneratePDFService?WSDL&lc_version=9.0.1
.
Replace localhost
with the IP address of the server hosting AEM Forms.
Create a Generate PDf client.
Create a GeneratePDFServiceClient
object by using its default constructor.
Create a GeneratePDFServiceClient.Endpoint.Address
object by using the System.ServiceModel.EndpointAddress
constructor. Pass a string value that specifies the WSDL to the AEM Forms service (for example, http://localhost:8080/soap/services/GeneratePDFService?blob=mtom
.) You do not need to use the lc_version
attribute. However, specify ?blob=mtom
.
Create a System.ServiceModel.BasicHttpBinding
object by getting the value of the GeneratePDFServiceClient.Endpoint.Binding
field. Cast the return value to BasicHttpBinding
.
Set the System.ServiceModel.BasicHttpBinding
object’s MessageEncoding
field to WSMessageEncoding.Mtom
. This value ensures that MTOM is used.
Enable basic HTTP authentication by performing the following tasks:
GeneratePDFServiceClient.ClientCredentials.UserName.UserName
.GeneratePDFServiceClient.ClientCredentials.UserName.Password
.HttpClientCredentialType.Basic
to the field BasicHttpBindingSecurity.Transport.ClientCredentialType
.BasicHttpSecurityMode.TransportCredentialOnly
to the field BasicHttpBindingSecurity.Security.Mode
.Retrieve the PDF document to convert.
BLOB
object by using its constructor. The BLOB
object is used to store a PDF document that is converted.System.IO.FileStream
object by invoking its constructor and passing a string value that represents the file location of the PDF document and the mode in which to open the file.System.IO.FileStream
object. You can determine the size of the byte array by getting the System.IO.FileStream
object’s Length
property.System.IO.FileStream
object’s Read
method and passing the byte array, the starting position, and the stream length to read.BLOB
object by assigning to its MTOM
property the contents of the byte array.Convert the PDF document.
Invoke the GeneratePDFServiceServiceWse
object’s ExportPDF2
method and pass the following values:
BLOB
object that represents the PDF file to convert.java.lang.String
object that specifies the file location.RTF
.BLOB
object that contains settings to be applied while generating the PDF document.BLOB
that is populated by the ExportPDF2
method. The ExportPDF2
method populates this object with the converted document. (This parameter value is required only for web service invocation).Save the converted file.
BLOB
object’s MTOM
field to a byte array. The byte array represents the converted RTF document. Ensure you use the BLOB
object that is used as the output parameter for the ExportPDF2
method.System.IO.FileStream
object by invoking its constructor. Pass a string value that represents the location of the RTF file.System.IO.BinaryWriter
object by invoking its constructor and passing the System.IO.FileStream
object.System.IO.BinaryWriter
object’s Write
method and passing the byte array.See also
Invoking AEM Forms using SwaRef
This section explains how to add support for additional native file formats. It provides an overview of the interactions between the Generate PDF service and the native applications that this service uses to convert native file formats into PDF.
This section also explains the following:
The Generate PDF service converts native file formats by invoking the application associated with the file format and then interacting with the application to print the document using the default printer. The default printer must be set up as the Adobe PDF printer.
This illustration shows the components and drivers involved with native application support. It also mentions the XML grammars that influence the interactions.
Component interactions for native file conversion
This document uses the term native application to indicate the application used to produce a native file format, such as Microsoft Word.
AppMon is an enterprise component that interacts with a native application in the same way a user would navigate through the dialog boxes presented by that application. The XML grammars used by AppMon to instruct an application, such as Microsoft Word, to open and print a file involve these sequential tasks:
AppMon uses standard Win32 APIs to interact with third-party applications in order to transfer UI events such as key-strokes and mouse clicks, which is useful to control these applications to produce PDF files from them.
Due to a limitation with these Win32 APIs, AppMon is not able to dispatch these UI events to some specific kinds of windows, such as floating menu-bars (found in some applications such as TextPad), and certain kind of dialogs whose contents cannot be retrieved using the Win32 APIs.
It is easy to visually identify a floating menu-bar; however it might not be possible to identify the special types of dialogs just by visual inspection. You would require a third-party application such as Microsoft Spy++ (part of the Microsoft Visual C++ development environment) or its equivalent WinID (that can be downloaded free of cost from https://www.dennisbabkin.com/php/download.php?what=WinID) to examine a dialog to determine if AppMon would be able to interact with it using standard Win32 APIs.
If WinID is able to extract the dialog contents such as the text, sub-windows, window class ID, and so on, then AppMon would also be able to do the same.
This table lists the type of information used in printing native file formats.
Information type |
Description |
Modifying/creating entries related to native files |
---|---|---|
Administrative settings |
Includes PDF settings, security settings, and file type settings. File type settings associate file name extensions with the corresponding native applications. File type settings also specify native application settings used to print native files. |
To change settings for an already supported native application, the system administrator sets the File Type Settings in the administration console. To add support for a new native file format, you must manually edit the file. (See Adding or modifying support for a native file format.) |
Script |
Specifies interactions between the Generate PDF service and a native application. Such interactions usually direct the application to print a file to the Adobe PDF driver. The script contains instructions that direct the native application to open specific dialog boxes and that supply specific responses to fields and buttons in those dialog boxes. |
The Generate PDF service includes script files for all supported native applications. You can modify these files using an XML editing application. To add support for a new native application, you must create a new script file. (See Creating or modifying an additional dialog XML file for a native application.) |
Generic dialog box instructions |
Specifies how to respond to dialog boxes that are common to multiple applications. Such dialog boxes are generated by operating systems, helper applications (such as PDFMaker), and drivers. The file that contains this information is appmon.global.en_US.xml. |
Do not modify this file. |
Application-specific dialog box instructions |
Specifies how to respond to application-specific dialog boxes. The file that contains this information is appmon.[appname].dialog.[locale].xml (for example, appmon.word.en_US.xml). |
Do not modify this file. To add dialog box instructions for a new native application, see Creating or modifying an additional dialog XML file for a native application. |
Additional application-specific dialog box instructions |
Specifies overrides and additions to application-specific dialog box instructions. The section presents an example of such information. The file that contains this information is appmon.[appname].addition.[locale].xml. An example is appmon.addition.en_US.xml. |
Files of this type can be created and modified using an XML editing application. (See Creating or modifying an additional dialog XML file for a native application.) Important: You must create additional application-specific dialog box instructions for each native application your server will support. |
Script XML files direct the Generate PDF service to navigate through application dialog boxes in the same way a user would navigate through the application dialog boxes. Script XML files also direct the Generate PDF service to respond to dialog boxes by performing actions such as pressing buttons, selecting or deselecting check boxes, or selecting menu items.
In contrast, dialog XML files simply respond to dialog boxes with the same types of actions used in script XML files.
This section and the next section use different terminology for dialog boxes and the components they contain, depending on the perspective being described. Dialog box components are items such as buttons, fields, and combo boxes.
When this section and the next section describe dialog boxes and their components from the perspective of a user, terms such as dialog box, button, field, and combo box are used.
When this section and the next section describe dialog boxes and their components from the perspective of their internal representation, the term window element is used. The internal representation of window elements is a hierarchy, where each window element instance is identified by labels. The window element instance also describes its physical characteristics and behavior.
From a user’s perspective, the dialog boxes and their components show different behaviors, where some dialog box elements are hidden until activated. From an internal representation perspective, no such issue of behavior exists. For example, the internal representation of a dialog box looks similar to that of the components it contains, with the exception that the components are nested within the dialog box.
This section describes XML elements that provide AppMon with instructions. These elements have names such as the dialog
element and the window
element. This document uses a monospaced font to distinguish XML elements. The *dialog*
element identifies a dialog box that an XML script file can cause to be displayed, either intentionally or unintentionally. The *window*
element identifies a window element (dialog box or the components of a dialog box).
This diagram shows the hierarchy of script and dialog XML. A script XML file conforms to the script.xsd schema, which includes (in the XML sense) the window.xsd schema. Similarly, a dialog XML file conforms to the dialogs.xsd schema, which also includes the window.xsd schema.
Hierarchy of script and dialog XML
A script XML file specifies a series of steps that direct the native application to navigate to certain window elements and then supply responses to those elements. Most responses are text or keystrokes that correspond to the input a user would provide to a field, combo box, or button in the corresponding dialog box.
The intent of the Generate PDF service’s support for script XML files is to direct a native application to print a native file. However, script XML files can be used to accomplish any task that a user can perform when interacting with the native application’s dialog boxes.
The steps in a script XML file are executed in order, without any opportunity for branching. The only conditional test supported is for time-out/retry, which causes a script to terminate if a step does not complete successfully within a specific period of time and after a specific number of retries.
In addition to steps being sequential, the instructions within a step are also executed in order. You must ensure that the steps and instructions reflect the order in which a user would perform those same steps.
Each step in a script XML file identifies the window element that is expected to appear if the step’s instructions are successfully performed. If an unexpected dialog box appears while executing a script step, the Generate PDF service searches the dialog XML files as described in the next section.
Running native applications displays different dialog boxes, which appear regardless of whether the native applications are in a visible or invisible mode. The dialog boxes can be generated by the operating system or by the application itself. When native applications are running under control of the Generate PDF service, system and native application dialog boxes are displayed in an invisible window.
A dialog XML file specifies how the Generate PDF service responds to system or native application dialog boxes. The dialog XML files allow the Generate PDF service to respond to unprompted dialog boxes in a way that facilitates the conversion process.
When the system or native application displays a dialog box that is not handled by the currently executing script XML file, the Generate PDF service searches the dialog XML files in this order, stopping when it finds a match:
If the Generate PDF service finds a match for the dialog box, it dismisses it by sending it the keystroke or other action specified for the dialog box. If the instructions for the dialog box specify an abort message, the Generate PDF service terminates the currently executing job and generates an error message. Such an abort message would be specified in the abortMessage
element in the script XML grammar.
If the Generate PDF service encounters a dialog box that is not described in any of the previously-listed files, the Generate PDF service incorporates the dialog box’s caption into the log file entry. The currently executing job eventually times out. You can then use the information in the log file to compose new instructions in the additional dialog XML file for the native application.
This section describes the tasks you must perform to support other native file formats or to modify support for an already supported native file format.
Before you can add or modify support, you must complete the following tasks.
The dialog and script XML files require you to identify the window element (dialog box, field, or other dialog component) to which your dialog or script element is responding. For example, after a script invokes a menu for a native application, the script must identify the window element on that menu to which keystrokes or an action are to be applied.
You can easily identify a dialog box by the caption it displays in its title bar. However, you must use a tool such as Microsoft Spy++ to identify lower-level window elements. The lower-level window elements can be identified through a variety of attributes, which are not obvious. Additionally, each native application may identify its window element differently. As a result, there are multiple ways of identifying a window element. Here is the suggested order for considering window element identification:
Any one or a combination of these three attributes can be used to identify a window.
If the attributes fail to identify a caption, you can instead identify a window element by using its index with respect to its parent. An index specifies the position of the window element relative to its sibling window elements. Frequently, indexes are the only way to identify combo boxes.
Be aware of these issues:
Pri&nt
, which indicates that the hotkey is n. Caption titles in script and dialog XML files must omit ampersands.^Long caption title$
). (See Using regular expressions in caption attributes.)&
for ampersands, <
and >
for less than and greater than symbols, '
for apostrophes, and "
for quotation marks.If you plan to work on dialog or script XML files, you should install the application Microsoft Spy++.
The dialog and script files reside in the appmondata.jar file. Before you can modify any of these files or add new script or dialog files, you must unpackage this JAR file. For example, assume that you want to add support for the EditPlus application. You create two XML files, named appmon.editplus.script.en_US.xml and appmon.editplus.script.addition.en_US.xml. These XML scripts must be added to the adobe-appmondata.jar file in two locations, as specified below:
After you add these XML files to the adobe-appmondata.jar file, you must redeploy the GeneratePDF component. To add dialog and script XML files to the adobe-appmondata.jar file, perform these tasks:
To redeploy the GeneratePDF component
If you want to direct files to a new native application, you must create a script XML file for that application. If you want to modify how the Generate PDF service interacts with a native application that is already supported, you must modify the script for that application.
The script contains instructions that navigate through the native application’s window elements and that supply specific responses to those elements. The file that contains this information is appmon.[appname].script.[locale].xml. An example is appmon.notepad.script.en_US.xml.
Using the native application, determine the window elements that you must navigate and each response you must perform to print the document. Notice the dialog boxes that result from any response. The steps will be similar to these steps:
Use Microsoft Spy++ to obtain the identities of window element properties in the native application. You must have these identities to write scripts.
You can use regular expressions in caption specifications. The Generate PDF service uses the java.util.regex.Matcher
class to support regular expressions. That utility supports the regular expressions described in java.util.regex.Pattern
.
Regular expression accommodating the file name prepended to Notepad in the Notepad banner
<!-- The regular expression ".*Notepad" means any number of non-terminating characters followed by Notepad. -->
<step>
<expectedWindow>
<window caption=".*Notepad"/>
</expectedWindow>
</step>
Regular expression differentiating Print from Print Setup
<!-- This regular expression differentiates the Print dialog box from the Print Setup dialog box. The "^" specifies the beginning of the line, and the "$" specifies the end of the line. -->
<windowList>
<window controlID="0x01" caption="^Print$" action="press"/>
</windowList>
You must order window
and windowList
elements as follows:
window
elements appear as children in a windowList
or dialog
element, order those window
elements in descending order, with the lengths of the caption
names indicating the position in the order.windowList
elements appear in a window
element, order those windowList
elements in descending order, with the lengths of the caption
attributes of the first indexes/
element indicating the position in the order.Ordering window elements in a dialog file
<!-- The caption attribute in the following window element is 40 characters long. It is the longest caption in this example, so its parent window element appears before the others. -->
<window caption="Unexpected Failure in DebugActiveProcess">
<…>
</window>
<!-- Caption length is 33 characters. -->
<window caption="Adobe Acrobat - License Agreement">
<…>
</window>
<!-- Caption length is 33 characters. -->
<window caption="Microsoft Visual.*Runtime Library">
<…>
</window>
<!-- The caption attribute in the following window element is 28 characters long. It is the shortest caption in this example, so its parent window element appears after the others. -->
<window caption="Adobe Acrobat - Registration">
<…>
</window>
Ordering window elements within a windowList element
<!-- The caption attribute in the following indexes element is 56 characters long. It is the longest caption in this example, so its parent window element appears before the others. -->
<windowList>
<window caption="Can't exit design mode because.* cannot be created"/>
<window className="Button" caption="OK" action="press"/>
</windowList>
<windowList>
<window caption="Do you want to continue loading the project?"/>
<window className="Button" caption="No" action="press"/>
</windowList>
<windowList>
<window caption="The macros in this project are disabled"/>
<window className="Button" caption="OK" action="press"/>
</windowList>
If you create a script for a native application that was not previously supported, you must also create an additional dialog XML file for that application. Every native application that AppMon uses must have only one additional dialog XML file. The additional dialog XML file is required even if no unsolicited dialog boxes are expected. The additional dialog box must have at least one window
element, even if that window
element is merely a placeholder.
In this context, the term additional means the contents of the appmon.[applicationname].addition.[locale].xml file. Such a file specifies overrides and additions to the dialog XML file.
You can also modify the additional dialog XML file for a native application for these purposes:
The file name that identifies an additional dialogXML file is appmon.[appname].addition.[locale].xml. An example is appmon.excel.addition.en_US.xml.
The name of the additional dialog XML file must use the format appmon.[applicationname].addition.[locale].xml, where applicationname must exactly match the application name used in the XML configuration file and in the script.
None of the generic applications specified in the native2pdfconfig.xml configuration file have a primary dialog XML file. The section Adding or modifying support for a native file format describes such specifications.
You must order windowList
elements that appear as children in a window
element. (See Ordering the window and windowList elements.)
You can modify the general dialog XML file to respond to dialog boxes that are generated by the system or to respond to dialog boxes that are common to multiple applications.
This procedure explains how to update the Generate PDF service configuration file to associate file types with native applications. To update this configuration file, you must use administration console to export the configuration data to a file. The default file name for the configuration data is native2pdfconfig.xml.
Update the Generate PDF service configuration file
filetype-settings
element in the native2pdfconfig.xml file, as needed.The name of the application is specified as the value of the GenericApp
element’s name
attribute. This value must exactly match the corresponding name specified in the script that you develop for that application. Likewise, the GenericApp
element’s displayName
attribute should exactly match the corresponding script’s expectedWindow
window caption. Such equivalency is evaluated after resolving any regular expressions that appear in the displayName
or caption
attributes.
In this example, the default configuration data supplied with the Generate PDF service was modified to specify that Notepad (not Microsoft Word) should be used to process files with the file name extension .txt. Before this modification, Microsoft Word was specified as the native application that should process such files.
Modifications for directing text files to Notepad (native2pdfconfig.xml)
<filetype-settings>
<!-- Some native app file types were omitted for brevity. -->
<!-- The following GenericApp element specifies Notepad as the native application that should be used to process files that have a txt file name extension. -->
<GenericApp
extensions="txt"
name="Notepad" displayName=".*Notepad"/>
<GenericApp
extensions="wpd"
name="WordPerfect" displayName="Corel WordPerfect"/>
<GenericApp extensions="pmd,pm6,p65,pm"
name="PageMaker" displayName="Adobe PageMaker"/>
<GenericApp extensions="fm"
name="FrameMaker" displayName="Adobe FrameMaker"/>
<GenericApp extensions="psd"
name="Photoshop" displayName="Adobe Photoshop"/>
</settings>
</filetype-settings>
Create an environment variable that specifies the location of the native application executable. The variable must use the format [applicationname]_PATH, where applicationname must exactly match the application name used in the XML configuration file and in the script, and where the path contains the path to the executable in double quotation marks. An example of such an environment variable is Photoshop_PATH
.
After creating the new environment variable, you must restart the server on which the Generate PDF service is deployed.
Create a system variable in the Windows XP environment
c:\windows\Notepad.exe
Create a system variable from the command line
In a command line window, type the variable definition, using this format:
[applicationname]_PATH=[Full path name]
For example, type: NotePad_PATH=C:\WINDOWS\NOTEPAD.EXE
Start a fresh command line prompt for the system variable to take effect.
AEM Forms includes sample XML files that cause the Generate PDF service to use Notepad to process any files with the file name extension .txt. This code is included in this section. In addition, you must make the other modifications described in this section.
This example contains the additional dialog boxes for the Notepad application. These dialog boxes can be in addition to the ones specified by the Generate PDF service.
Notepad dialog boxes(appmon.notepad.addition.en_US.xml)
<dialogs app="Notepad" locale="en_US" version="7.0" xmlns:xsi="https://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xsi:noNamespaceSchemaLocation="dialogs.xsd">
<window caption="Caption Title">
<windowList>
<window className="Button" caption="OK" action="press"/>
</windowList>
</window>
</dialogs>
This example specifies how the Generate PDF service should interact with Notepad to print files by using the Adobe PDF printer.
Notepad script XML file (appmon.notepad.script.en_US.xml)
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"?>
<!--
*
* ADOBE CONFIDENTIAL
* ___________________
* Copyright 2004 - 2005 Adobe Systems Incorporated
* All Rights Reserved.
*
* NOTICE: All information contained herein is, and remains
* the property of Adobe Systems Incorporated and its suppliers,
* if any. The intellectual and technical concepts contained
* herein are proprietary to Adobe Systems Incorporated and its
* suppliers and may be covered by U.S. and Foreign Patents,
* patents in process, and are protected by trade secret or copyright law.
* Dissemination of this information or reproduction of this material
* is strictly forbidden unless prior written permission is obtained
* from Adobe Systems Incorporated.
*-->
<!-- This file automates printing of text files via notepad to Adobe PDF printer. In order to see the complete hierarchy we recommend using the Microsoft Spy++ which details the properties of windows necessary to write scripts. In this sample there are total of eight steps-->
<application name="Notepad" version="9.0" locale="en_US" xmlns:xsi="https://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xsi:noNamespaceSchemaLocation="scripts.xsd">
<!-- In this step we wait for the application window to appear -->
<step>
<expectedWindow>
<window caption=".*Notepad"/>
</expectedWindow>
</step>
<!-- In this step, we acquire the application window and send File->Open menu bar, menu item commands and the expectation is the windows Open dialog-->
<step>
<acquiredWindow>
<window caption=".*Notepad">
<virtualInput>
<menuBar>
<selection>
<name>File</name>
</selection>
<selection>
<name>Open...</name>
</selection>
</menuBar>
</virtualInput>
</window>
</acquiredWindow>
<expectedWindow>
<window caption="Open"/>
</expectedWindow>
</step>
<!-- In this step, we acquire the Open window and then select the 'Edit' widget and input the source path followed by clicking on the 'Open' button . The expectation of this 'action' is that the Open dialog will disappear -->
<step>
<acquiredWindow>
<window caption="Open">
<windowList>
<window className="ComboBoxEx32">
<windowList>
<window className="ComboBox">
<windowList>
<window className="Edit" action="inputSourcePath"/>
</windowList>
</window>
</windowList>
</window>
</windowList>
<windowList>
<window className="Button" caption="Open" action="press"/>
</windowList>
</window>
</acquiredWindow>
<expectedWindow>
<window caption="Open" action="disappear"/>
</expectedWindow>
<pause value="30"/>
</step>
<!-- In this step, we acquire the application window and send File->Print menu bar, menu item commands and the expectation is the windows Print dialog-->
<step>
<acquiredWindow>
<window caption=".*Notepad">
<virtualInput>
<menuBar>
<selection>
<name>File</name>
</selection>
<selection>
<name>Print...</name>
</selection>
</menuBar>
</virtualInput>
</window>
</acquiredWindow>
<expectedWindow>
<window caption="Print">
</window>
</expectedWindow>
</step>
<!-- In this step, we acquire the Print dialog and click on the 'Preferences' button and the expected window in this case is the dialog with the caption '"Printing Preferences' -->
<step>
<acquiredWindow>
<window caption="Print">
<windowList>
<window caption="General">
<windowList>
<window className="Button" caption="Preferences" action="press"/>
</windowList>
</window>
</windowList>
</window>
</acquiredWindow>
<expectedWindow>
<window caption="Printing Preferences"/>
</expectedWindow>
</step>
<!-- In this step, we acquire the dialog "Printing Preferences' and select the combo box which is the 10th child of window with caption '"Adobe PDF Settings' and select the first index. (Note: All indeces start with 0.) Besides this we uncheck the box which has the caption '"View Adobe PDF results' and we click on the button OK. The expectation is that 'Printing Preferences' dialog disappears. -->
<step>
<acquiredWindow>
<window caption="Printing Preferences">
<windowList>
<window caption="Adobe PDF Settings">
<windowList>
<window className="Button" caption="View Adobe PDF results" action="uncheck"/>
</windowList>
<windowList>
<window className="Button" caption="Ask to Replace existing PDF file" action="uncheck"/>
</windowList>
</window>
</windowList>
<windowList>
<window className="Button" caption="OK" action="press"/>
</windowList>
</window>
</acquiredWindow>
<expectedWindow>
<window caption="Printing Preferences" action="disappear"/>
</expectedWindow>
</step>
<!-- In this step, we acquire the 'Print' dialog and click on the Print button. The expectation is that the dialog with caption 'Print' disappears. In this case we use the regular expression '^Print$' for specifying the caption given there could be multiple dialogs with caption that includes the word Print. -->
<step>
<acquiredWindow>
<window caption="Print">
<windowList>
<window caption="General"/>
<window className="Button" caption="^Print$" action="press"/>
</windowList>
</window>
</acquiredWindow>
<expectedWindow>
<window caption="Print" action="disappear"/>
</expectedWindow>
</step>
<step>
<expectedWindow>
<window caption="Save PDF File As"/>
</expectedWindow>
</step>
<!-- Finally in this step, we acquire the dialog with caption "Save PDF File As" and in the Edit widget type the destination path for the output PDF file and click on the Save button. The expectation is that the dialog disappears-->
<step>
<acquiredWindow>
<window caption="Save PDF File As">
<windowList>
<window className="Edit" action="inputDestinationPath"/>
</windowList>
<windowList>
<window className="Button" caption="Save" action="press"/>
</windowList>
</window>
</acquiredWindow>
<expectedWindow>
<window caption="Save PDF File As" action="disappear"/>
</expectedWindow>
</step>
<!-- We can always set a retry count or a maximum time for a step. In case we surpass these limitations, PDF Generator generates this abort message and terminates processing. -->
<abortMessage msg="15078"/>
</application>