Hand-picked user assistance content from the LiveCycle community
Posts tagged ADEP
Quick Tip: CSS to customize the TabbedViewNavigator and ActionBar in Flex Mobile Applications
0591 days
If you are building Flex Mobile applications on of the first things you will end up wanting to change is the default look of the TabbedViewNavigator and ActionBar! This can be done through skinning but for simple changes it can be done much quicker with CSS. The CSS below illustrates how to do this.
@namespace s "library://ns.adobe.com/flex/spark";
s|TabbedViewNavigator #tabBar {
chromeColor:#028bba;
}
s|ActionBar
{
chromeColor: #028bba;
fontSize: 28;
fontWeight: bold;
}
Save the file as a CSS file and include it in the Flex Mobile application using MXML
<fx:Style source="file_name.css" />
This is the CSS that I used for mapi and ends up looking like this:
All the CSS properties for both the TabbedViewNavigator and ActionBar can be found here:
A general article on Styling and Themes can be found here: Styles and themes
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Original article at http://www.underprise.com/2011/09/22/quick-tip-css-to-customize-the-tabbedviewnavigator-and-actionbar-in-flex-mobile-applications/.
Using Reader Extensions and Barcoded Forms
0596 days
I’m starting a new hands on series for LiveCycle called appropriately: Hands On LiveCycle. This series will give you a complete and working sample LCA (LiveCycle Archive) file that you can import and run on your LiveCycle server. These hands on entries will attempt to solve a real world problem and will start out simple and continue to grow in complexity. If you have a suggestion for a hands on entry you would like to see feel free to let me know!
I’m kicking the series off with a problem that something that most consumers and agencies can relate to. How to handle a form that requires a wet signature, or an actual physical signature on the document.
In a perfect world everyone would accept a digital signature and all forms would be able to be submitted online. However, we don’t live in a perfect world and a good number of companies and government agencies still require a wet signature on a document or form to do business. If you wanted to fill out a form for a financial service or a government request the typical process today might go something like this:
- Download the document
- Print the document
- Fill out the document
- Sign the document
- Mail the document
Once the document is in the mail the process continues:
- Receive the document
- Key in the data in the document to the database
- Store the document on the server
There are quite a few things that can go wrong with this human centric process. The document could get lost in the mail, the user could fat finger the data, causing delays, or the document could be stored in the wrong place. There are several ways that this process can be improved, just by using LiveCycle Reader Extensions, the LiveCycle Foundation Services and the free Adobe Reader (Barcoded Forms is now included with the LiveCycle Reader Extensions service) Using LiveCycle Reader Extensions allows you to automate several pieces of this process and in some cases more, depending on how a company or agency is willing to accept the form.
For this LiveCycle Hands On, it is assumed that the document will be filled out, printed, signed and mailed in by the applicant. Once the document arrives at the agency, it will be scanned and placed in a folder that is watched by LiveCycle. Once LiveCycle sees the document in the folder it will be processed, the applicant data will be stored in a database and the document will be written to the file system.
This process could be made even faster by removing the snail mail portion if the agency was willing to accept a document by email. If so, the applicant could scan the document themselves, attach it to an email and send it to an email address that LiveCycle monitors. Also, with the use of Reader Extensions, the user can now save a copy of the completed form to their hard drive.
Download the zip file: Barcoded_Form_Demo.zip
The zip file for this hands on has a .lca file containing a form, some sample data and a process as well as a sample filled out form and a SQL script to create the demo table. The SQL Script should be run on the server that is hosting the LiveCycle Database and should use the adobe schema. The form will work either as the PDF file included, or if the form is printed out and scanned. LiveCycle is able to decode the information from the barcode either way.
The Barcoded Form Demo Process:
The process is broken down below into steps and the operations used.
- LiveCycle recieves a document from the watched folder to start the process
- LiveCycle extracts the data from the barcode and adds it to a XML variable. Operation: Decode Category: Barcoded Forms
- LiveCycle extracts the XML form data from the barcode data and stores it in an XML list variable. Category: Extract To XML Service: Barcoded Forms
- LiveCycle sets the form data to the first element of the XML list variable. Operation: Set Value Category: Foundation
- LiveCycle inserts the data into the database. Operation: Execute SQL Statement Category: Foundation
- LiveCycle writes the document to the file system. Operation: Write Document Category: Foundation
Please feel free to ask any questions in the comments and I will try to answer them as quickly as I can!
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Original article at http://www.underprise.com/2011/05/20/using-reader-extensions-and-barcoded-forms/.
Adobe Digital Enterprise Platform in 10 minutes!
0598 days
For those of you who are new to the Adobe Digital Enterprise Platform (ADEP), the short (but concise) 10 minute video below is a MUST watch, for an introduction to the platform.
Watch out for the ADEP Developers Channel on YouTube for more…
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Original article at http://blogs.adobe.com/saket/adep-10-minute-intro/.
Find your OSGi-ready enterprise (thirdparty) libraries
0600 days
Ok, this is going to be a short one…
While building custom OSGi bundles or components over the Adobe Digital Enterprise Platform (which contains the Apache Felix OSGi container) or any other OSGi container for that matter, you may often come across a need to access and hence introduce OSGi bundles of other enterprise thirdparty libraries within the container.
A common way to achieve this is to create a wrapper bundle for these libraries using the BND tool. However, thanks to SpringSource, we already have the OSGi-ready versions of hundreds of open source enterprise libraries that are commonly used/needed, hosted for public use. So, you can easily search for the library you are looking for here, before creating one on your own (in case the one you are looking for does not exist – which should be quite rare).
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Original article at http://blogs.adobe.com/saket/osgified-libraries/.
Google Maps component for ADEP WEM/CQ5
0602 days
by moderator
in LiveCycle in action
I’ve completed building my first custom component for ADEP WEM (formerly known as CQ5) and what else to build but the HelloWorld of modern day websites? A Google Map component! With this component you can now simple drag and drop a map onto a page, then click the edit button to enter the address that [...]
Read the complete article at this URL and download the component from here.
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Original article at http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/MarkSzulcsBlog/~3/BvNOR3oFsyo/.
What is Customer Experience Management?
0602 days
Customer Experience (CX a.k.a CEM) is the sum of all experiences a customer has with a supplier of goods or services, over the lifecycle of their relationship. This covers several phases including awareness, discovery, attraction, interaction, transaction, use, service, cultivation and advocacy.
These are not simply sequential, but rather a continuum of phases existing within the context of CX.CX is not something you just bolt on to your existing enterprise architecture.
These are not simply sequential, but rather a continuum of phases existing within the context of CX.CX is not something you just bolt on to your existing enterprise architecture.
So why does CEM/CX matter? The simple answer is for retention of your existing business customers. Your competition is a click away and studies show people are 3 times more likely to tell others about a bad experience than a good one. People declaring a bad experience with you are ripe for your competition to steal.
With social media, bad CX stories can escalate virally and ruin the reputation of a business in weeks or even days. People notice BAD experiences and get emotional! They want a good customer experience.
Original post at http://technoracle.blogspot.com
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Original article at http://technoracle.blogspot.com/2011/04/what-is-customer-experience-management.html.
Solutions and the Application Context
0603 days
Solutions over ADEP have introduced the concept of an application context (aka app context), which can be seen as a unique identifier, that various server side modules use to identify the execution context (from the current execution thread) and process requests in context of that solution. For instance, when persisting content/assets onto the CRX repository, the platform’s persistence module (official known as Platform Content) uses the current (invoking) app context to determine where to store the content/assets, and what configurations to use (which would typically be different for different solutions). See snapshot below, indicating the solution specific content areas.
Note that the storage location is /content/apps/cm for Correspondence Management, and /content/apps/icr for Integrated Content Review, which happen to be the app contexts for the two solutions.
Since it is essential for the server to identify the execution context, if you do not set or establish the application context before you make calls to the solution APIs, you will encounter a server error that says : “Unable to fetch application context“. To set the app context, use one of the two methods:
App context in your Flex application
If you are invoking a solution API from a flex application, ensure that you set the app context using:
var appToken:AsyncToken = com.adobe.ep.ux.content.services.search.lccontent.LCCQueryServiceFactory.getInstance().setAppContextService("/content/apps/cm"); // setting app context for the CM solution
appToken.addResponder(new mx.rpc.Responder(<your success handler>, <your fault handler>));
App context in your Java application
If you are invoking a solution API from a java based application, ensure that you set the app context using:
com.adobe.livecycle.content.appcontext.AppContextManager.setCurrentAppContext("/content/apps/cm"); // setting app context for the CM solution
The app context concept is also used (or rather leveraged) in other scenarios such as driving solution specific Building Block (BB) configurations. Since a Building Block is meant to be reusable across solutions, it exposes certain configurations that can be different for different solutions. Hence, the BB needs to behave differently depending upon the context in which it is being used or invoked. Below is an example where the Data Dictionary BB is used by two solutions – CM and ICR – and has configurations specific to each solution, lying within the solution’s specific app context - /apps/cm for CM and /apps/icr for ICR.
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Original article at http://blogs.adobe.com/saket/solutions-and-the-application-context/.
Converting DOC(X) in LiveCycle PDF Generator yeilds error: ALC-PDG-019-060-Encountered error while importing the XMP file.
0603 days
- Tai
When PDFG ES2 converts Word documents, it extracts the metadata and compiles it as an XMP for the PDF.
There is a known problem however, when a file contains custom metadata: PDFG cannot compile the XMP properly for such files.
To check the metadata in the DOC, open Word.
Use the MS Office menu (the big round one, top left) : Prepare : Properties
A small yellow info bar will appear above the editing area.
In that area, Click “DIP Properties – …” and select “Advanced properties …”
Go to the “Custom” tab
If there are items in the space at the bottom labelled “Properties”, then your DOCX is likely to fail to convert.
There are two solutions to this:
A) Workaround.
1/ Log on to the LiveCycle Admin UI
2/ Go to Services : PDF generator : File type Settings : [your file type settings]
3/ Open Word file type settings
4/ Uncheck “Convert document info”
5/ Save
This will prevent PDFG from trying to extract and convert the Word metadata – thus excluding the problematic custom information
2) Obtain the patch
If you have an Adobe Platinum support agreement, you can contact technical support and request the patch.
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Original article at http://blogs.adobe.com/an_tai/archives/64.
Installing and working with the Windows service for the ADEP Experience Server
0608 days
Although you can start your ADEP Experience Server by double-clicking the Quickstart JAR file or the Windows batch file, most people will find it convenient to install the Experience Server as a Windows service. It will configure the Experience Server to start automatically when your Windows restarts and, helps you control the start and stop operations of the Experience server by using the Services control panel.
Install Experience Server as a Windows service
To install a Windows service for your Experience Server:
- Open the command line interface and navigate to the [ExperienceServer root]/opt/helpers/ directory.
- Execute the
instsrv.bat <serviceName>command to install the Experience Server as a Windows service.
Verify the installed Windows service
You can verify the installed Windows service in the Services control panel. To open the Services control panel, execute the start services.msc command from the command line interface or select Start > Administrative Tools > Services.
Windows service operations
To start the Windows service, do one of the following:
- In the Services control panel, select the Windows service and click Start.
- In the command line interface, execute the
net start <serviceName>command.
To stop or restart the Windows service for the Experience Server, click Stop or Restart, on the Services control panel.
Uninstall the Windows service
To uninstall the Windows service, execute the instsrv.bat -uninstall <serviceName> command on the command line interface. The Windows service gets removed from the Services control panel.
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Original article at http://blogs.adobe.com/ADEPhelp/2011/09/installing-windows-service-for-adep-experience-server.html.
Adobe Correspondence Management Solution 3.0 – Top 10 items to look out for!
0608 days
If you have not already got a chance to explore the various uber cool features of the all new Correspondence Management Solution 3.0, here are my top 10 ones that you should look out for…
1. With the all new Create Correspondence (aka Document Composer) UI, composing Letters was never so easy! . The new interface provides an easy, intuitive way of composing Letters. With a lot more controls available, such as indentation adjustments, new line, free text, one can design/create a Letter exactly as required.
2. Highlighting of the currently selected asset in the PDF Preview when composing a Letter. Wouldn’t it be a great composing experience if selecting an asset on the flex app. automatically takes you to the respective page, exactly where your content lies within the PDF!? …and then highlight the selected content as well as the target in which the content lies, so you don’t have to search/scroll-over for your content within the PDF. The solution now brings along this amazingly convenient experience for the users.
3. Working on multiple assets at a time. With the all new Manage Assets interface, one can now work on multiple assets (possibly, related to each other) at a time, by virtue of each asset/editor being opened in a new tab in the Editors view. Of course, you can also switch between tabs when working with multiple assets. Here’s a snapshot:
4. Content Preview is yet another amazing addition to the asset authoring experience, wherein you can hover over your asset (in all views that present a list of assets) and see a Preview of the asset content and metadata, be it Texts, Images, Lists, Conditions, etc. So, you no longer need to go back and open the asset editor to see what’s in it. Use the Preview experience to identify the desired asset!
5. Creating numbered and bulleted list content. You can now easily design numbered and bulleted content, by authoring List assets using the List Editor. You can control indentation on paragraph(s) (or even images), specify custom prefix/suffix characters, and much more…
6. The all new Rich Text Editor, that has great text formatting capabilities that includes styling such as Bold/Italic/Underline, Font controls, letter Spacing, line height, Margin controls, Alignment controls. The editor also allows creating advanced bulleted and numbered content, using the appropriate toolbar controls.
Spell Check (English) is another great feature that enhances the text authoring experience.
7. Ability to Publish assets and enhanced version management, with the ability to create different versions of an asset, view previous versions, revert back to last published version, etc. See this post for more on publishing assets.
8. Import/ Export of selective assets is now possible using CM 3.0 via the Manage Assets interface itself. One can select the assets to be exported and simply press the “Export Assets” button. The exported ZIP can then be imported on any other system, using the “Import Assets” action on the Manage Assets interface.
Import/Export of all assets is also now possible right from the Manage Assets (Admin) interface itself, with a single click of a button (rather than the cumbersome steps in Contentspace, as in ES 2.5).
9. CM 3.0 introduces the ability to author Tables (dynamic or static) within your correspondence.
Here’s the Fund Allocation table in the Welcome Kit letter (that is part of the CM sample assets).
10. The Asset Dependencies Browser is an excellent tool/interface to view the dependencies of an asset, and be able to generate a report out of the same.
Note : Users can further drill down into the related assets by double-clicking on the asset, which will then show the dependencies for that asset. One can switch back-n-forth using the breadcrumbs on the top bar.
These are just 10 key features that you just cannot afford to miss. There is a lot more to the solution, the details of which can be seen on this post.
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Original article at http://blogs.adobe.com/saket/adobe-correspondence-management-solution-top-10-items-to-look-out-for/.
