Chapter 9 Forms And The Acrobat Sdk; Types Of Forms; Xml Forms - Adobe ACROBAT 7.0.5 SDK Manual

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You can use the Acrobat SDK to extend the functionality of Acrobat Forms and XML forms
created in Adobe Designer. This chapter presents basic concepts about forms and discusses
how you can use the technologies of the Acrobat SDK to manipulate forms.
This chapter covers the following topics:

Types of Forms

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Guidelines for Creating a New Form
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Acrobat Forms and the Acrobat SDK
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XML Forms and the Acrobat SDK
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Automatically Populating Forms
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Creating Web-Ready Forms
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Punchcard/Barcode Form Fields
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Collecting Data from Completed Forms
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XML Form Templates
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Types of Forms
In previous versions of Acrobat, PDF forms were generally Acrobat forms. You could create
and manipulate Acrobat forms and retrieve form data using Acrobat JavaScript or, using the
Forms API, from plug-ins and external applications.
In Acrobat 7.0, there is increased support for XML Forms, which are based on the XML
Forms Architecture (XFA) specification. It is strongly recommended that new forms
development be done using XML forms rather than Acrobat forms.

XML Forms

A form is derived from a form design that you create using Adobe LiveCycle Designer. The
form design specifies a set of layout, presentation rules, and data capture rules, including
calculating values based on user input. The rules are applied whenever a form is filled with
data. How the form is filled with data depends on the type of form. For information about
creating forms, see the Adobe LiveCycle Designer documentation.
Using Adobe LiveCycle Designer, you can create the following types of forms:
Interactive - An interactive form design produces a form that can be filled in online.
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Users can open the form in a browser or Adobe Reader and enter information into the
form's fields. An interactive form can include buttons or commands for common tasks,
Acrobat SDK User's Guide
Forms and the Acrobat SDK
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