Assembling Non-Interactive PDF Documents

You can assemble a non-interactive PDF document when using an interactive PDF form as input. That is, assume that you have a form that users can use to enter data into its fields. You can pass that form to the Assembler service, resulting in the Assembler service returning a PDF document that prevents users from entering data into its fields. This document is a non-interactive PDF form. For example, the following illustration shows a mortgage application that represents an interactive form.

For the purpose of this discussion, assume that the following DDX document is used.

 <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
 <DDX xmlns="https://ns.adobe.com/DDX/1.0/">
      <PDF result="out.pdf">
        <PDF source="inDoc"/>
        <NoXFA/>
      </PDF>
 </DDX>

Within this DDX document, notice that the source attribute is assigned the value inDoc. In situations where only one input PDF document is passed to the Assembler service and one PDF document is returned, and you invoke the invokeOneDocument operation, assign the value inDoc to the PDF source attribute. When invoking the invokeOneDocument operation, the inDoc value is a predefined key that must be specified in the DDX document.

In contrast, when passing two or more input PDF documents to the Assembler service, you can invoke the invokeDDX operation. In this situation, assign the file name of the input PDF document to the source attribute.

This DDX document contains the NoXFA element, which instructs the Assembler service to return a non-interactive PDF document.

The Assembler service can assemble non-interactive PDF documents without the Output service being part of your AEM forms installation if the input PDF document is based on an Acrobat form or a static XFA form. However, if the input PDF document is a dynamic XFA form, the Output service must be part of your AEM forms installation. If the Output service is not part of your AEM forms installation when a dynamic XFA form is assembled, an exception is thrown. See Creating Document Output Streams.

Summary of steps

To assemble a non-interactive PDF document, perform the following tasks:

1. Include project files.
2. Create a PDF Assembler client.
3. Reference an existing DDX document.
4. Reference an interactive PDF document.
5. Set run-time options.
6. Assemble the PDF document.
7. Save the non-interactive PDF document.

Include project files

Include the necessary files in your development project. If you are creating a client application by using Java, include the necessary JAR files. If you are using web services, ensure that you include the proxy files.

The following JAR files must be added to your project’s class path:

• adobe-livecycle-client.jar
• adobe-usermanager-client.jar
• adobe-assembler-client.jar
• adobe-utilities.jar (required if AEM Forms is deployed on JBoss)
• jbossall-client.jar (required if AEM Forms is deployed on JBoss)

if AEM Forms is deployed on a supported J2EE application server other than JBoss, you must replace the adobe-utilities.jar and jbossall-client.jar files with JAR files that are specific to the J2EE application server that AEM Forms is deployed on.

Create an Assembler client

Before you can programmatically perform an Assembler operation, you must create an Assembler service client.

Reference an existing DDX document

A DDX document must be referenced to assemble a PDF document. This DDX document must contain the NoXFA element, which instructs the Assembler service to return a non-interactive PDF document.

Reference an interactive PDF document

An interactive PDF document must be referenced and passed to the Assembler service to get back a non-interactive PDF document.

Set run-time options

You can set run-time options that control the behavior of the Assembler service while it performs a job. For example, you can set an option that instructs the Assembler service to continue processing a job if an error is encountered.

Assemble the PDF document

After you create the Assembler service client, reference the DDX document, reference an interactive PDF document, and set run-time options, you can invoke the invokeOneDocument operation. Because only one input PDF document is passed to the Assembler service and a single document is returned, you can use the invokeOneDocument operation as opposed to the invokeDDX operation.

Save the non-interactive PDF document

If only a single PDF document is passed to the Assembler service, the Assembler service returns a single document instead of a collection object. That is, when invoking the invokeOneDocument operation, a single document is returned. Because the DDX document referenced in this section contains instructions to create a non-interactive PDF document, the Assembler service returns a non-interactive PDF document that can be saved as a PDF file.

See also

Including AEM Forms Java library files

Setting connection properties

Programmatically Assembling PDF Documents

Assemble a non-interactive PDF document using the Java API

Assemble a non-interactive PDF document by using the Assembler Service API (Java):

1. Include project files.

   Include client JAR files, such as adobe-assembler-client.jar, in your Java project’s class path.

2. Create an Assembler client.

   • Create a ServiceClientFactory object that contains connection properties.
   • Create an AssemblerServiceClient object by using its constructor and passing the ServiceClientFactory object.

3. Reference an existing DDX document.

   • Create a java.io.FileInputStream object that represents the DDX document by using its constructor and passing a string value that specifies the location of the DDX file.
   • Create a com.adobe.idp.Document object by using its constructor and passing the java.io.FileInputStream object.

4. Reference an interactive PDF document.

   • Create a java.io.FileInputStream object by using its constructor and passing the location of an interactive PDF document.
   • Create a com.adobe.idp.Document object and pass the java.io.FileInputStream object that contains the PDF document. This com.adobe.idp.Document object is passed to the invokeOneDocument method.

5. Set run-time options.

   • Create an AssemblerOptionSpec object that stores run-time options by using its constructor.
   • Set run-time options to meet your business requirements by invoking a method that belongs to the AssemblerOptionSpec object. For example, to instruct the Assembler service to continue processing a job when an error occurs, invoke the AssemblerOptionSpec object’s setFailOnError method and pass false.

6. Assemble the PDF document.

   Invoke the AssemblerServiceClient object’s invokeOneDocument method and pass the following values:

   • A com.adobe.idp.Document object that represents the DDX document. Ensure that this DDX document contains the value inDoc for the PDF source element.
   • A com.adobe.idp.Document object that contains the interactive PDF document.
   • A com.adobe.livecycle.assembler.client.AssemblerOptionSpec object that specifies the run-time options, including default font and job log level.

   The invokeOneDocument method returns a com.adobe.idp.Document object that contains a non-interactive PDF document.

7. Save the non-interactive PDF document.

   • Create a java.io.File object and ensure that the file name extension is .pdf.
   • Invoke the Document object’s copyToFile method to copy the contents of the Document object to the file. Ensure that you use the Document object that the invokeOneDocument method returned.

• “Quick Start (SOAP mode): Assembling a non-interactive PDF document using the Java API”

Assemble a non-interactive PDF document using the web service API

Assemble a non-interactive PDF document by using the Assembler Service API (web service):

1. Include project files.

   Create a Microsoft .NET project that uses MTOM. Ensure that you use the following WSDL definition: http://localhost:8080/soap/services/AssemblerService?WSDL&lc_version=9.0.1.

   NOTE

   Replace localhost with the IP address of the server hosting AEM Forms.

2. Create an Assembler client.

   • Create an AssemblerServiceClient object by using its default constructor.

   • Create an AssemblerServiceClient.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/AssemblerService?blob=mtom). You do not need to use the lc_version attribute. This attribute is used when you create a service reference.

   • Create a System.ServiceModel.BasicHttpBinding object by getting the value of the AssemblerServiceClient.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:

     • Assign the AEM forms user name to the field AssemblerServiceClient.ClientCredentials.UserName.UserName.
     • Assign the corresponding password value to the field AssemblerServiceClient.ClientCredentials.UserName.Password.
     • Assign the constant value HttpClientCredentialType.Basic to the field BasicHttpBindingSecurity.Transport.ClientCredentialType.
     • Assign the constant value BasicHttpSecurityMode.TransportCredentialOnly to the field BasicHttpBindingSecurity.Security.Mode.

3. Reference an existing DDX document.

   • Create a BLOB object by using its constructor. The BLOB object is used to store the DDX document.
   • Create a System.IO.FileStream object by invoking its constructor and passing a string value that represents the file location of the DDX document and the mode to open the file in.
   • Create a byte array that stores the content of the System.IO.FileStream object. You can determine the size of the byte array by getting the System.IO.FileStream object’s Length property.
   • Populate the byte array with stream data by invoking the System.IO.FileStream object’s Read method. Pass the byte array, the starting position, and the stream length to read.
   • Populate the BLOB object by assigning its MTOM field with the contents of the byte array.

4. Reference an interactive PDF document.

   • Create a BLOB object by using its constructor. The BLOB object is used to store the input PDF document. This BLOB object is passed to the invokeOneDocument as an argument.
   • Create a System.IO.FileStream object by invoking its constructor and passing a string value that represents the file location of the input PDF document and the mode to open the file in.
   • Create a byte array that stores the content of the System.IO.FileStream object. You can determine the size of the byte array by getting the System.IO.FileStream object’s Length property.
   • Populate the byte array with stream data by invoking the System.IO.FileStream object’s Read method. Pass the byte array, the starting position, and the stream length to read.
   • Populate the BLOB object by assigning its MTOM field with the contents of the byte array.

5. Set run-time options.

   • Create an AssemblerOptionSpec object that stores run-time options by using its constructor.
   • Set run-time options to meet your business requirements by assigning a value to a data member that belongs to the AssemblerOptionSpec object. For example, to instruct the Assembler service to continue processing a job when an error occurs, assign false to the AssemblerOptionSpec object’s failOnError data member.

6. Assemble the PDF document.

   Invoke the AssemblerServiceClient object’s invokeOneDocument method and pass the following values:

   • A BLOB object that represents the DDX document
   • A BLOB object that represents the interactive PDF document
   • An AssemblerOptionSpec object that specifies run-time options

   The invokeOneDocument method returns a BLOB object that contains a non-interactive PDF document.

7. Save the non-interactive PDF document.

   • Create a System.IO.FileStream object by invoking its constructor and passing a string value that represents the file location of the non-interactive PDF document and the mode to open the file in.
   • Create a byte array that stores the content of the BLOB object that the invokeOneDocument method returned. Populate the byte array by getting the value of the BLOB object’s MTOM field.
   • Create a System.IO.BinaryWriter object by invoking its constructor and passing the System.IO.FileStream object.
   • Write the contents of the byte array to a PDF file by invoking the System.IO.BinaryWriter object’s Write method and passing the byte array.

• “Quick Start (MTOM): Assembling a non-interactive PDF document using the web service API”.

See also

Invoking AEM Forms using MTOM

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