New features summary | AEM 6.5 Forms

Transaction Reports

Transaction reports allows you to capture and track the number of submitted forms, processed documents, and rendered documents. The objective behind tracking these transactions is to make an informed decision about the product usage and rebalancing investments in hardware and software. Some examples of transactions include:

• Submission of an Adaptive Form, an HTML5 Form, or a Form Set
• Rendition of a print or a web version of an interactive communication
• Conversion of a document from one file format to another

For information about configuring and using transaction reports, see Transaction Reports Overview.

Interactive Communications

Define data display patterns

Interactive Communication authors can now define data display patterns for fields, variables, and form data model elements. For example, date, currency, or phone formats.

Use new types of charts

You can now add Quadrant charts and charts with multiple series to Interactive Communications.

Sort columns in a table

You can now sort columns of a table in the Interactive Communication. You can bind and sort table columns with static text or data model objects.

Use new components in a web channel

You can now add Button and Separator components to the web channel. For more information, see Add Button component to the web channel and Separator component in web channel.

Layout mode to resize components

You can now switch to Layout mode to resize components in the Web channel using a WYSIWYG interface.

Usability improvements

Interactive Communication authors can now utilize various easy-to-use operations while creating correspondences. The list of operations includes:

• Perform undo-redo actions in print and web channels
• Add variables in a document fragment using @ symbol
• Add data model elements in a document fragment using @ symbol
• Delete or add a web channel to an existing Interactive Communication
• Bind data source elements with fields and variables using drag-and-drop actions
• Highlight unbound fields and variables while authoring Interactive Communication
• Perform additional actions such as copy, group, or more on inherited components in a web channel

Improvements in sync process

There are several improvements in the Web channel layout auto-generated using the Print channel.

Adaptive Forms

Use Adobe Sign’s cloud-based digital signatures in Adaptive Forms

Cloud-based digital signatures or remote signatures are a new generation of digital signatures that work across desktop, mobile, and the web — and meet the highest levels of compliance and assurance for signer authentication. You can now sign an Adaptive Form with Cloud-based digital signatures.

Embed an Adaptive Form or Interactive Communication in AEM Sites Single Page Applications

AEM Forms allows you to seamlessly embed an Adaptive Form or Interactive Communication in an AEM Sites single page application (SPA). The embedded Adaptive Form and Interactive Communication is fully functional and users can fill and submit the form without leaving the page. It helps user remain in context of other elements on the web page and simultaneously interact with the adaptive form or Interactive Communication.

Sort columns of Adaptive Form tables

You can sort any column of an Adaptive Form table in an ascending or descending order. You can apply sorting to table columns with static text, data model object properties, or a combination of static text and data model object properties.

Restrict the availability of Adaptive Forms templates to specific paths

Adaptive forms has added support for the cq:allowedPaths property. The property restricts availability of Adaptive Forms templates to specific paths.

Add check boxes to the Adaptive Form dynamically

You can now define rules to add checkboxes to the Adaptive Form dynamically based on custom function, a form object, or an object property.

AEM Workflows

Use variables in AEM Workflows

Variables enable workflow steps to hold and pass metadata across workflow steps at runtime. You can create different types of variables for storing different types of data. For example, integers, strings, documents, or form data model instances. Typically, you use a variable or a collection of variables when you need to make a decision based on the value that it holds or to store information that you need later in a process.

Variables are an extension of MetaDataMap interface available in the previous version. It helps save time spent in developing custom ECMAScript code used to retrieve and update metadata values. You continue using MetaDataMap interface and ECMAScript code to manipulate metadata. Some benefits of using variables over MetaDataMap and ECMAScript are:

• Dynamically store, update, and use values stored in a variable across the workflow without relying on custom code
• Retrieve and update values directly to a form data model and data file (XML/JSON ) of a submitted form
• Store complete documents in a variable to perform document processing

The Go To step, OR Split step, and all AEM Forms workflow steps support variables. You can use MetaDataMap interface to access variables in workflow steps that do not have a native support for variables. For more information, see Variables in AEM Workflows.

Use a workflow with different Adaptive Forms

You can specify an Adaptive Form for the assign task and document of record step of form-centric workflows on the runtime. It allows a workflow to work with different Adaptive Forms. You can decide the method to select an Adaptive Form while designing the workflow. The Adaptive Form can be located at an absolute path, submitted as payload to the workflow, or available at a path calculated using a variable.

Use enhanced logging capabilities of forms-centric workflow steps

Logging capabilities of forms-centric workflow steps are standardized. Now, all form-centric workflow steps produce similarly standardized logs. It helps improve debugging speed.

Data Integration

You can now:

• Validate input data based on a list of constraints. It helps ensure that only valid data is submitted to data source.

• Override default endpoint defined in a WSDL (Web Services Description Language) file.

• Override default scheme, host, and base path defined in Swagger definition file.

Platform and Security updates

Major platform updates

AEM Forms can be set up using any combination of supported operating systems, application servers, databases, database drivers, JDK, LDAP servers, and email servers. The following are the major changes in supported platforms:

* Contact Adobe Support for information on migrating to a different platform

New HTML5-based UIs

In line with planned EOL of Adobe Flash Player and overall direction of migrating Flash-based content to open standards, AEM 6.5 Forms has replaced Flash-based UI of Health Monitor, Process Management, Reader Extension, and Category Management UI of AEM Forms on JEE Administration Console with HTML5-based UI.

Security improvements

• AEM 6.5 Forms on JEE administration console UI is now based on Apache Struts 2.5.
• AEM 6.5 Forms now uses jQuery to 3.2.1 and jQuery UI 1.12.1. See, upgrade documentation for the impact of the change.

Accessibility improvements

AEM 6.5 Forms has improved accessibility of AEM Forms Workspace.

Business.Adobe.com resources

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