November 2007 Archives

If you are moving XML element values to String variables and later hoping to put those variables into other XML documents you may find that the XML in your String is no longer a valid XML value. If you set the value of a String variable from an XML element such as "J & J" the result will be "J & J". If you concatenate this variable into a string and then into an XML document using XPath your operation will fail.

Before moving variables into values that will be used in an XML document, be sure they are valid & free of special characters.

You'll need something a little more comprehensive, but here's a quick executeScript sample to rid your variables of '&':

String inString = patExecContext.getProcessDataStringValue("/process_data/@myString");
String outstring = inString.replace("&", "&");
System.out.println("***** String: " + myString);
patExecContext.setProcessDataStringValue("/process_data/@myString", outstring);

For IBM WebSphere 6.1, the following will work:
ConnectionProps.setProperty("DSC_DEFAULT_EJB_ENDPOINT", "corbaloc:iiop:host1.adobe.com:2811,iiop:host2.adobe.com:2811");

2811 is the BOOTSTRAP_ADDRESS of the application server instances that are members of the cluster. The port number is the same in this case since the two cluster members are running on separate hosts (host1 and host2).

More information on corbaloc from Ciaran McHale of IONA.

Another useful web application, included in the Livecycle SDK, but not automatically deployed is the Assembler sample application.

The Livecycle ES Assembler service can assemble multiple PDF documents into one PDF document or disassemble one PDF document into multiple PDF documents. The Assembler service can manipulate documents in various ways such as changing page size and rotating contents. It can insert additional content such as headers, footers, and a table of contents, as well as preserve, import or export existing content such as annotations, file attachments, and bookmarks.

You use an XML-based language called Document Description XML (DDX), to interact with the Assembler service. Find more info on DDX in the LiveCycle ES SDK documentation.

The Assembler sample application gives you an interface to test your DDX files, which improves productivity.

Fill in your DDX, link the input files you use to files on your file system, and the execute button will invoke the Assembler service and show you the generated PDF on the left side.

You can find the Assembler sample application EAR in the SDK folder ...

C:\Adobe\LiveCycle8\LiveCycle_ES_SDK\samples\PDFAssembler\WebApp\pre-built

Deploy the EAR file, and you'll be able to access this information through this url :

http://localhost:8080/adobe/livecycle/samples/assembler/

In the next days I'll try to point out some of the extras which are installed with LC ES, but also very well hidden.

Forms-IVS is a sample application that lets you verify that LiveCycle Forms is properly deployed and running. Forms-IVS provides an example of the actions you can do with LiveCycle Forms.  So you can test form templates, build using LC Designer, using the LC Forms engine.

Through a web user interface you can select your template and generate a PDF, HTML, form guide ... and pre-fill the form with your xml data. You can even select how the LC Forms Service is being invoked, through EJB or SOAP.

Certainly when developing Form Guides it's more interesting to test your forms on the server, as you'll see the PDF integration working.

Default it will give you a list of sample XDP files, but you can add your own XDP templates and XML files.

Default it is NOT deployed to your J2EE server, so you would have to deploy it yourself. You can find the Forms-IVS ear file in the Adobe install directory. Default location would be :

C:\Adobe\LiveCycle8\deploy\adobe-forms-ivs-jboss.ear

For Jboss you just have to copy this file and drop it into the deploy folder and access it through http://localhost:8080/Forms-IVS

Run the LiveCycle Configuration Manager (LCM) from $LIVECYCLE_INSTALL_HOME/configurationManager/bin/. In the main screen, check the checkbox for 'Display Menu '(at the bottom of the screen). Choose Tools->Version Report. Point the 'Input file or directory' field to $LIVECYCLE_INSTALL_HOME/deploy/. If you click the 'Run Report' button, the output will be available in $LIVECYCLE_INSTALL_HOME/configurationManager/bin/export/.

When creating a support request (SR) with Adobe Enterprise Support, this version report will come in very useful.

When applied, this Service Pack will take LiveCycle ES 8.0.1 to 8.0.1.1

LiveCycle ES Server and Workbench SP 1b - (868 MB)
LiveCycle ES Designer SP 1b - (32 MB)

The J2EE server log will report the following versions (older 8.0.1 versions in parentheses). Depending on the LiveCycle components you have licensed and deployed, you may not see all of the components listed below.

DataManagerService: Version: 8.0.3303.1.165211.1 (8.0.3187.1.156868.1)
FormServer: Version: 8.0.3188.1.405432.9 (8.0.3188.1.405432.9)
Output: Version: 8.0.3188.1.405432.9 (8.0.3188.1.405432.9)
UMCacheService: Version: 8.0.3303.1.165211.1 (8.0.3187.1.156868.1)
IDPScheduler: Version: 8.0.3303.1.165211.1 (8.0.3187.1.156868.1)
Quartz scheduler version: 1.6.0 (1.6.0)
UMStartupService: Version: 8.0.3303.1.165211.1 (8.0.3187.1.156868.1)
ServicesNatives2: Version: 8.0.3187.1.156868.1 (8.0.3187.1.156868.1)
ConvertPdfService: Version: 8.0.3188.1.405432.9 (8.0.3188.1.405432.9)
Img2PDFSvc: Version: PDFGImg2PDF8.00 (PDFGImg2PDF8.00)
Native2PDFSvc: Version: PDFG8.00 (PDFG8.00)
OpenOffice2PDFSvc: Version: PDFG8.00 (PDFG8.00)
PDFMakerSvc: Version: PDFG8.00 (PDFG8.00)
PsToPdfSvc: Version: PS2PDF8.00 (PS2PDF8.00)
XMLFormService: Version: 8.0.70921.0.413567.6 (8.0.70707.0.403125.11)

You can also verify whether you are running SP1b by logging into the LIveCycle Administration Console and navigating to Home->About. For each of the 'Installed Components', you should see 8.0.1 under the 'Version' column and SP1b under the 'Patch' column.