Specifications

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LIVECYCLE ES4 OVERVIEW
Forms Standard ES4 and Forms Pro ES4
Last updated 1/15/2015
Multichannel publishing
Form developers can use an XFA template to render both in PDF and HTML5 formats. It is specially beneficial in
scenarios where you have a large set of XFA forms that require minimal changes to adapt to Mobile Forms design
practices. You can render these existing XFA forms to HTML5 to target various devices, where XFA PDF is not yet
supported.
Developing Guides (Deprecated)
Guides (deprecated) can streamline and simplify the way that users fill a form. Form developers can quickly develop
Guides (deprecated) in Workbench by using a data model and Guide Builder. After a Guide (deprecated) is created, it
is rendered in the Forms Service API or the Render Guide (deprecated) service in Workbench (or a custom service).
Developers can also use Flash Builder to create custom Guide (deprecated) components based on the Guide
(deprecated) components that are included in Workbench.
Forms Manager
LiveCycle also provides a unified view for listing and managing all form templates using Forms Manager. You can use
Forms Manager to activate, deactivate, publish, and preview forms. For more information about Forms Manager, see
Introduction to Forms Manager.
For more information about Forms Manager, see Introduction to Forms Manager, Getting Started with Mobile Forms,
and Working with Forms
Forms customization
Mobile Forms render form templates using standard HTML5 constructs making it simple to customize and extend
forms in HTML5 format using popular web technologies, primarily CSS and JavaScript. You can easily customize the
look and feel of existing widgets, create your own custom widgets, or use custom styles in forms. For more information
about creating custom widgets and customizing existing widgets, see Customizing Mobile Forms.
How Forms works
The forms for use with Forms are typically created in Designer. Forms also supports Acrobat forms. The form author
can deploy the form designs for use with Forms either as XDP files or PDF files, depending on the requirements of the
business process. Forms can render an XDP file as an HTML form or a PDF form. A PDF file is rendered as a PDF form.
The end-user environment consists of a web browser (for HTML forms) together with Adobe Reader (for PDF forms).
Forms can detect the browser type and dynamically generate a PDF form or an HTML form based on the following
input:
• Form design created in Designer
• Form preference that the developer identifies in the LiveCycle application.
When end users request a document from Forms, the request initiates a series of specific processes and interactions
among the web application, Forms, and the web browser. The request can be initiated by clicking a button or an image
on a web page, After receiving the form, end users can interact with it online. When end users are finished with the
form, they submit it, along with form data, back to Forms.