Introduction to managing forms

Last update: May 24, 2024

CREATED FOR:

  • Admin
  • User

AEM Forms provides simplified yet powerful user interface to create and manage forms, documents, themes, letters, document fragments, data dictionaries, and related assets. It helps manage the complete lifecycle of forms, documents, and related assets - from a developer’s desktop to offering
it on a portal server for end users. You can use the AEM Forms user interface to:

  • Access AEM Forms components
  • Access AEM Forms configurations
NOTE
For detailed information about other AEM tools and options, see Authoring.

Access AEM Forms components

Along with options to create forms, documents, and related assets, AEM provides options to create sites, assets, manage an AEM instance, and more. You can click the adobeexperiencemanager Experience Manager logo to navigate to all the available tools. Along with links to the consoles of other components, it also contains links for AEM Forms. To navigate to AEM Forms, click the Experience Manager logo adobeexperiencemanager > navigation compass > Forms. Links of the following consoles are displayed:

  • Forms & Documents

  • Themes

  • Letters

  • Document Fragments

  • Data Dictionaries

    AEM Forms Console

Forms & Documents

Forms & Documents provides options to create an Interactive Communication, adaptive form, adaptive form fragment, and form set. Only for AEM Forms on JEE, Forms & Documents provides an option to import files from local storage and sync AEM Forms assets with Workbench.

The create button is the starting point of the process of creating or uploading AEM Forms asset. It provides you options to create:

  • Interactive Communication: An Interactive Communication is a personalized, interactive, and device friendly HTML-based digital correspondence, statement, or document. Interactive Communications are responsive in nature and change layout and design automatically based on user device and settings. For detailed information, see Interactive Communications Overview

  • Adaptive form: An adaptive form is an engaging and responsive form. You can author an adaptive form to dynamically adapt to user inputs by adding or removing form sections based on user response, device, or work environment. The Introduction to authoring adaptive forms article provides detailed information about the adaptive forms.

  • Adaptive form fragment: While every form is designed for a specific purpose, there are some common segments in most forms, such as to provide personal details like name and address, family details, income details, and so on. You can create an individual asset for such sections. These reusable, stand-alone segments are called adaptive form fragments. For detailed information, see adaptive form fragments article.

  • Form set: A form set is a collection of HTML5 forms grouped together and presented as a single set of forms to end users. When end users start filling a form set, the forms are seamlessly transitioned from one form to another. At the end, a user can submit all forms, as a single entity, in just one click. For detailed information, see Form set in AEM Forms.

  • Folder: AEM Forms user interface uses folders to arrange assets. It supports two types of folders:

    • General Folder: These folders are used for assets created within AEM Forms user interface. These folders do not have a strict folder structure. You can rename, create subfolders, and store adaptive forms, Interactive Communications, adaptive form fragments, Form Templates (XDPs), PDF Forms, Documents, and related assets in these folders.
    • Forms Workflow folder: Forms workflow folders are created when Workbench processes (LiveCycle archives) are migrated and synchronized with AEM Forms user interface. It is not allowed to rename, create a subfolder, create an Interactive Communication, an adaptive form fragment, or an Interactive Communication. It is also not allowed to delete a version folder or create and upload an adaptive form, an adaptive form fragment, or an Interactive Communication in parallel to the version folder.

    folders

    A. General folder B. Forms Workflow folder

The Forms and Document panel also provides options to:

  • Import files from local storage: You can import PDF Forms & Documents, Form templates (XFA forms), and other resource (Image and XML schema for XSDs). For step-by-step instructions, see Importing and exporting assets to AEM Forms.
  • Sync AEM Forms assets with Workbench: You can use the Files from Workbench option to synchronize assets between AEM Forms user interface and Workbench. It ensures all the assets are available in AEM Forms user interface and Workbench’s crx-repository assets selection.

Themes

A theme contains styling details for components and panels. Themes have an independent identity. So, you can reuse a theme on multiple adaptive forms. You can specify styles for a component, or modify CSS properties for various components used across your forms. Styles include properties such as background colors, state colors, transparency, and size. You can save customizations in a theme, and port them on components of your form as a preset. When you add the theme to your form, the specified style reflects on corresponding components of your form. With AEM 6.2 Forms, you can create themes and apply them to your forms.

For information about creating and using themes, see Themes in AEM Forms.

Letters

An AEM Forms letter is a secure, personalized, and interactive correspondence. You can use AEM Forms to quickly assemble letters (also known as correspondences) from both pre-approved and custom-authored content in a streamlined process.

For information about creating and using letters, see Create Letter.

Document Fragments

Document fragments are reusable parts or components of a correspondence using which you can compose letters. The document fragments are of type text, list, condition, and layout fragment. For information about creating and using document fragments, see creating document fragments.

Data Dictionaries

Typically, business users do not require knowledge of metadata representations such as XSD (XML schema), and Java classes. However, they usually require access to these data structures and attributes to build solutions. AEM Forms uses data dictionary that enables business users to use information from back-end data sources without knowing technical details about their underlying data models.

For information about creating and using data dictionaries, see creating data dictionary article

Accessing AEM Forms Configurations

AEM tools panel contains tools for various components. To navigate to AEM Forms-specific tools, click the Experience Manager logo adobeexperiencemanager > tools hammer > Forms. Tools to perform the following functions are displayed:

  • Configure Watched Folder: An administrator can configure a network folder, known as a watched folder, so that when a user places a file (such as a PDF file) in the watched folder, a pre-configured operation is started and manipulates the file. For detailed information, see Create and Configure a watched folder.

  • Configure Forms App Offline Service: The AEM Forms app offline service caches the paths or URLs of the resources used in a form. Caching paths or URLs of the resources used in a form improves server-side performance. To configure the server-side offline component of AEM Forms app, see Working in the offline mode.

    AEM Forms tools

  • Configure PDF Generator: An administrator can configure AEM Forms PDF Generator settings, add user accounts, and import or export configuration to the PDF Generator.

  • Publish Correspondence Management Assets: AEM Forms lets you publish all the Letters, Document Fragments, and Data Dictionaries and related dependencies from an author instance at once. The published assets include all the Correspondence Management assets and related dependencies. For detailed information, see Publishing and unpublishing forms & documents.

  • Export Correspondence Management Assets: You can download all the Correspondence Management assets and related dependencies as a package from an AEM Forms instance. For detailed steps, see Importing and exporting assets to AEM Forms