Rendering Forms as HTML

The Forms service renders forms as HTML in response to an HTTP request from a web browser. A benefit of rendering a form as HTML is that the computer on which the client web browser is located does not require Adobe Reader, Acrobat, or Flash player (for form guides).

To render a form as HTML, the form design must be saved as an XDP file. A form design that is saved as a PDF file cannot be rendered as HTML. When developing a form design in Designer ES that will be rendered as HTML, consider the following criteria:

•	Do not use an object's border properties to draw lines, boxes, or grids on your form. Some browsers may not line up borders exactly as they appear in a Designer ES preview. Objects may appear layered or may push other objects off their expected position.

•	You can use lines, rectangles, and circles to define the background.

•	Draw text slightly larger than what seems to be required to accommodate the text. Some web browsers do not display the text legibly.

HTML pages

When a form design is rendered as an HTML form, each second-level subform is rendered as an HTML page (panel). You can view a subform’s hierarchy in Designer ES. Child subforms that belong to the root subform (the default name of a root subform is form1) are the panel subforms. The following example shows a form design’s subforms.

	form1

		Master Pages

		PanelSubform1

			NestedDynamicSubform

				TextEdit1

		PanelSubform2

			TextEdit1

		PanelSubform3

			TextEdit1

		PanelSubform4

			TextEdit1

When form designs are rendered as HTML forms, the panels are not constrained to any particular page size. If you have dynamic subforms, they should be nested within the panel subform. Dynamic subforms are able to expand to an infinite number of HTML pages.

When a form is rendered as an HTML form, page sizes (required for paginating forms rendered as PDF) have no meaning. Because a dynamic form can expand to an infinite number of HTML pages, it is important to avoid footers on the master page. A footer beneath the content area on a master page can overwrite HTML content that flows past a page boundary.

You must explicitly move from panel to panel using the xfa.host.pageUp and xfa.host.pageDown methods. You change pages by sending a form to the Forms service and having the Forms service render the form back to the client device, typically a web browser.

Note: The process of sending a form to the Forms service and then having the Forms service render the form back to the client device is referred to as round tripping data to the server.

Note: If you want to customize the look of the HTML Digital Signature button on an HTML form, you must change the following properties in the fscdigsig.css file (within the adobe-forms-ds.ear > adobe-forms-ds.war file):

.fsc-ds-ssb: This style sheet is applicable in case of a blank sign field.

.fsc-ds-ssv: This style sheet is applicable in case of a Valid sign field.

.fsc-ds-ssc: This style sheet is applicable in case of a Valid sign field but data has changed.

.fsc-ds-ssi: This style sheet is applicable in case of a invalid sign field.

.fsc-ds-popup-bg: This style sheet property is not being used.

.fsc-ds-popup-btn: This style sheet property is not being used.

Current page: http://livedocs.adobe.com/livecycle/es/sdkHelp/programmer/sdkHelp/renderingHTML.38.1.html