thanks for the info! That really helps. A couple more questions:
You need a valid LCDS license to do PDF generation in general
does that mean the LCDS Express version will not include the PDF
Generation?
It depends on whether the non-Acrobat reader can support XFA
templates + dynamic datasets.
Is there a way to "merge" the XPD / XFA / PDF on the server and then
deliver a more "compatible" PDF format (does LiveCycle Forms do this?).
On a side note, is there a way to get more detailed info (from a
human) about LiveCycle Products. I have called Adobe a number of
times and they refer me to people who either don't call back or don't
have the knowledge to know which solution to recommend. It seems
like a mystery product line!
I am not opposed to paying for a solution, but before we invest we
have to know what to buy.
- Kevin
On Apr 24, 2007, at 4:25 PM, Peter Farland wrote:
> 1) Can LCDS take XDP files made in LiveCycle Designer
> and intelligently merge them with XML to create PDFs?
> (I notice in the java code in the LCDS sample, the pdf
> is hard coded as a '.pdf' file.)
[Pete] You need a valid LCDS license to do PDF generation in general,
however, in the final release you will be able to use raw XDP files as
inputs too (a new API was added after Beta 2 to allow this). So, to
summarize, you have to options:
A. Use LiveCycle Designer to create a PDF shell document
(containing XDP
+ XFA template), import XFA dataset and generate a PDF that can target
Acrobat Reader 7 and later.
B. Use LiveCycle Designer OR your own method to create a raw XDP
document that contains an XFA template. You import the XFA dataset and
generate a PDF that can target Acrobat Reader 8 (and later). The
restrictions are that you cannot use PDF chunk elements in your XDP
and
you must specify the dynamicRender option in your XFA.
> 2) Is there any other way to make the PDF/XDP
> templates other than LiveCycle Designer?
[Pete] You could construct these yourself, depending on how good your
XFA knowledge is. Wrapping an XFA inside an XDP is simple enough.
> 3) Does the client need Acrobat Reader to open the
> generated PDF's or will Mac Preview open them?
> (I had trouble opening them with Preview)
[Pete] It depends on whether the non-Acrobat reader can support XFA
templates + dynamic datasets.
