Doc Services

SHARE was updated late last week – see here. In addition to some really cool new features (e.g. full screen embedded document), you can now convert an uploaded document into a PDF! Naturally with every new feature we add, we expose that functionality via our APIs.

Check out the updated API documentation and try it out!

It looks like we're starting to see the first real apps that take advantage of the Share API. The other day, one of my colleagues told me about Handout, a new AIR app developed by Steven Gemmen of initApp(). It's like the sample app that I posted, times 100. Take a look at some of the features:

1. Drag and Drop upload multiple files to Share
2. Public share any of your Share Files.
3. Send Share file links directly to Pownce or Twitter. (With message)
4. Create a tinyurl for a Share public link.
5. Quickly get embed code for a shared file.
6. Share links and direct file links.

Handout definitely takes advantage of the AIR APIs to provide an experience that can't be created solely by the browser. Queuing up multiple files for upload is very convenient. Just fire and forget... but don't worry because you'll be notified when all your files are complete through a neat desktop popup.

What is really cool is the way Handout mashes up Share with Pownce and Twitter. It adds a real-time, social networking aspect that currently does not exist in the official Share web application. This is what it's all about: bringing together different services to create something new, useful, even unexpected. This is where the innovation happens, when data and functionality can be accessed outside of the browser and outside of each individual web application. It's still early, but we're entering a new world of possibilities with web services.

So give Handout a try. And for you developers out there, let us know about the awesome new apps you come up with!

Our very own Christoph Rooms has developed a Livecycle ES custom component for Share. With this integration via Share APIs, users can easily generate a PDF file, upload it to Share's content library, then finally share it... cool stuff!

Christoph has made the component and source available -- check it out on his blog:

Adobe Share Livecycle ES custom component

A couple more libraries for Share API enthusiasts:

First the long awaited AS3 library (Flex 3 Beta 2 required, which is currently available on Adobe Labs)... sorry it took us so long, but here it is in all its glory. The ZIP also includes the AIR project file which we demoed at our MAX sessions. Feel free to use, modify and fix any mistakes we may have made.

Furthermore, Hidyuki Kato has started a Ruby library for Share's REST APIs. Really cool stuff, and exciting to see the community embrace our services!

Cool news to report: ColdFusion guru Raymond Camden has released the first version of his Share API wrapper! With a few simple tags, you can now integrate Share functionality into your ColdFusion apps. It's great to see you developers building upon our platform so quickly and "Sharing" your code with the community.

I hope you guys are having fun playing with our APIs. To make things a bit easier, here is a Java library that you can use that takes care of all the nasty authentication and XML formatting bits. It could also be of use as reference for those of you developing libraries in other languages. Consider it alpha code, and feel free to fix any errors you might come across.

There are a few dependencies: commons httpclient, logging, codec, and json.jar.

Coming soon, the ActionScript library. But remember, this is all REST-based, so don't let the unavailability of a library get in your way. Can't wait to see what you guys come up with!

So, we announced our “Share” beta service and APIs, and sneaked our “Cocomo” technology at the Day 2 keynote. Both were received very well, especially when our Flash preview feature of Share was described as “FlashPaper on steroids.”

This was then followed by an awesome, jam-packed Day 2 session with 78 attendees -- standing room only. Based on some impromptu polls, it seemed that the high attendance was largely attributed to our keynote. Anyway, thank you all for those who participated and made it an awesome, interactive discussion.

Sorry for those who weren’t able to make it to MAX in Chicago or missed the session, but we promise to keep you informed via our blog. For now, I’ve embedded our presentation below (using Share) for folks to read up.

You may have heard by now, but we announced our new "Share" service this week at MAX. It’s currently in beta, but Share is a free web-based service that allows you to easily store, manage, and share your PDFs and other documents. We are also making our web services APIs available. Using these APIs, developers can easily integrate document-based workflows with Share, either via a mashup or new application, and let users collaborate on their documents.

Share uses a simple REST-based protocol, so any development environment able to work with HTTP requests can access the API. Libraries are provided to simplify development in major languages, such as Java and Actionscript 3.

The current set of APIs includes uploading documents, browsing the content repository, sharing documents, and converting documents such as PDFs into an interactive SWF. This is only the beginning; we’ll be adding additional calls, so stay tuned for more. Learn more about our APIs at our Labs API page, and join our discussion forum and tell us what you think – what you like and don’t like about our APIs, etc.