Adobe Livecycle is an enterprise software solution designed for document services and workflows.
http://work.whoischarles.com/content/presentation-slide-deck
Adobe Livecycle - A Brief But Thorough Introduction
1. Adobe
LiveCycle
Charles Bihis
September 7th, 2006
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2006 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All Rights Reserved.
2. About Me
Charles Bihis
“Software Developer Intern” with Enterprise and Developer Relations Group @ Adobe
Systems Inc.
4th year student at UBC
Studying Software Engineering
Blog @ adobe.charlesbihis.com
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2006 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All Rights Reserved.
3. Agenda
Overview of the technology
Broad overview the LiveCycle suite
Individual LiveCycle components
Talk about 7 of the 11 components in the LiveCycle suite
Interspersed with demos and example uses
Q&A
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2006 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All Rights Reserved.
4. LiveCycle 101
Enterprise software designed for document services and workflows
Combines the familiar Adobe Reader® software, PDF, and XML
standards with powerful workflow capabilities
Uses J2EE on the server side
Compatible on industry-standard servers
Windows, Solaris, Linux & AIX
Can easily integrate into existing .NET or ColdFusion environments
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2006 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All Rights Reserved.
5. How Can I Run LiveCycle
Supported Web Application Servers
WebSphere, JBoss & WebLogic
Supported Operating Systems
Windows, Solaris, Linux & AIX
Supported Databases
DB2, Oracle 9i, SQL Server 2000 & MySQL 4.1
More info at www.adobe.com/products/livecycle
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2006 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All Rights Reserved.
6. LiveCycle Products
LiveCycle is an umbrella term for a suite of products
LiveCycle Designer
LiveCycle Forms
LiveCycle Form Manager
LiveCycle Barcoded Forms
LiveCycle Document Security
LiveCycle Reader Extensions
LiveCycle Workflow
Other LiveCycle products
LiveCycle Policy Server
LiveCycle PDF Generator
LiveCycle Assembler
LiveCycle Print
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2006 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All Rights Reserved.
7. LiveCycle Products
LiveCycle is an umbrella term for a suite of products
LiveCycle Designer
LiveCycle Forms
LiveCycle Form Manager
LiveCycle Barcoded Forms
LiveCycle Document Security
LiveCycle Reader Extensions
LiveCycle Workflow
Other LiveCycle products
LiveCycle Policy Server
LiveCycle PDF Generator
LiveCycle Assembler
LiveCycle Print
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2006 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All Rights Reserved.
8. LiveCycle Designer
Graphical interface for the design, creation, and maintenance of forms
Forms created are XML-based
Layout is completely XML
Scripting language is FormCalc (Adobe language) or JavaScript
Commonly referred to as “XFA (XML Form Architecture) based forms”
Can import from PDF, Word, and even InfoPath templates
XML forms are “wrapped” inside a PDF file so that they can be opened
in Adobe Acrobat or Free Adobe Reader
Cross-platform delivery (Windows, Mac, Linux, Pocket PC)
Facilitates conversion of paper forms to electronic documents
the “Paperless Office”
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2006 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All Rights Reserved.
9. Practical Example
Imagine that you are a mortgage broker
People must fill out forms to launch some internal process
Use LiveCycle Designer to create these forms
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2006 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All Rights Reserved.
10. LiveCycle Products
LiveCycle is an umbrella term for a suite of products
LiveCycle Designer
LiveCycle Forms
LiveCycle Form Manager
LiveCycle Barcoded Forms
LiveCycle Document Security
LiveCycle Reader Extensions
LiveCycle Workflow
Other LiveCycle products
LiveCycle Policy Server
LiveCycle PDF Generator
LiveCycle Assembler
LiveCycle Print
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2006 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All Rights Reserved.
11. LiveCycle Forms
Use Forms APIs to...
Pre-populate fields
Extract data from XFA-based forms
Allows creation of dynamic forms
Since forms are XML base, you can deploy them as…
Dynamic PDF files
XML Data Packages (XDPs) for use online
Benefits of deploying as PDF
Abliity to save form locally and fill in offline – perfect for longer forms
High-fidelity rendering – PDF forms can look EXACTLY as they do online
Client and server-side validations
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2006 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All Rights Reserved.
12. Practical Example
Create forms using LiveCycle Designer
Use LiveCycle Forms to render the forms as HTML or PDF for
deploying to clients or other employees
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2006 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All Rights Reserved.
13. LiveCycle Products
LiveCycle is an umbrella term for a suite of products
LiveCycle Designer
LiveCycle Forms
LiveCycle Form Manager
LiveCycle Barcoded Forms
LiveCycle Document Security
LiveCycle Reader Extensions
LiveCycle Workflow
Other LiveCycle products
LiveCycle Policy Server
LiveCycle PDF Generator
LiveCycle Assembler
LiveCycle Print
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2006 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All Rights Reserved.
14. LiveCycle Form Manager
Consolidate all of a single user’s forms for access via a web-based
portal
Centralizes all of the management of the forms
Provides access and enables forms search through a web interface
Also acts as a repository for all previous forms where you were a
participant
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2006 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All Rights Reserved.
16. Practical Example
Create forms using LiveCycle Designer
Use LiveCycle Forms to render the forms as HTML or PDF for
deploying to clients or other employees
Bank uses LiveCycle Form Manager to manage forms internally
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2006 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All Rights Reserved.
17. LiveCycle Products
LiveCycle is an umbrella term for a suite of products
LiveCycle Designer
LiveCycle Forms
LiveCycle Form Manager
LiveCycle Barcoded Forms
LiveCycle Document Security
LiveCycle Reader Extensions
LiveCycle Workflow
Other LiveCycle products
LiveCycle Policy Server
LiveCycle PDF Generator
LiveCycle Assembler
LiveCycle Print
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2006 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All Rights Reserved.
18. LiveCycle Barcoded Forms
Have PDF and HTML forms for “online” submissions
Use 2D barcoded technology to automate capture of data from printed
or faxed forms
Just like barcodes form grocery items, LiveCycle barcodes contain
information from the particular form being submitted
Barcode IS an industry standard and not Adobe proprietary
Industry standard barcode Portable Data File (PDF) 417
Not related to Adobe Portable Document (PDF)
Reduce costly and error-prone manual data entry from printed or faxed
submissions
Error-checking incorporated into barcode
More advanced than simple bit-check digit in 1D barcodes
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2006 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All Rights Reserved.
19. Practical Example
Create forms using LiveCycle Designer
Use LiveCycle Forms to render the forms as HTML or PDF for
deploying to clients or other employees
Bank uses LiveCycle Form Manager to manage forms internally
External users can fill out forms in Adobe Reader, print off forms with
barcode, and mail them to the bank to be scanned; data retrieved
without manual input yet still ensuring client side validation and
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2006 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All Rights Reserved.
20. LiveCycle Products
LiveCycle is an umbrella term for a suite of products
LiveCycle Designer
LiveCycle Forms
LiveCycle Form Manager
LiveCycle Barcoded Forms
LiveCycle Document Security
LiveCycle Reader Extensions
LiveCycle Workflow
Other LiveCycle products
LiveCycle Policy Server
LiveCycle PDF Generator
LiveCycle Assembler
LiveCycle Print
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2006 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All Rights Reserved.
21. LiveCycle Document Security
Provides digital signatures and encryption capabilities
Digitally sign PDF files
Validate digital signatures
Encrypt and decrypt documents
Uses 128-bit RC4 with Adobe Acrobat 5.0 and later
Upon encryption, PDF is turned into cipher text and is unreadable without the strong
key
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2006 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All Rights Reserved.
23. Practical Example
Create forms using LiveCycle Designer
Use LiveCycle Forms to render the forms as HTML or PDF for
deploying to clients or other employees
Bank uses LiveCycle Form Manager to manage forms internally
External users can fill out forms in Adobe Reader, print off forms with
barcode, and mail them to the bank to be scanned; data retrieved
without manual input yet still ensuring client side validation
Bank can also accept digital signatures for applications
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2006 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All Rights Reserved.
24. LiveCycle Products
LiveCycle is an umbrella term for a suite of products
LiveCycle Designer
LiveCycle Forms
LiveCycle Form Manager
LiveCycle Barcoded Forms
LiveCycle Document Security
LiveCycle Reader Extensions
LiveCycle Workflow
Other LiveCycle products
LiveCycle Policy Server
LiveCycle PDF Generator
LiveCycle Assembler
LiveCycle Print
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2006 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All Rights Reserved.
25. LiveCycle Reader Extensions
Extends a PDF file to allow functionality in Reader that is normally
available only in Adobe Acrobat
Active hidden functionality within Free Adobe Reader
Enable end-users to save, complete, sign, and submit PDF documents
Allow mark-ups and commenting
Provide enhanced security with digital signatures
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2006 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All Rights Reserved.
26. Practical Example
Create forms using LiveCycle Designer
Use LiveCycle Forms to render the forms as HTML or PDF for
deploying to clients or other employees
Bank uses LiveCycle Form Manager to manage forms internally
External users can fill out forms in Adobe Reader, print off forms with
barcode, and mail them to the bank to be scanned; data retrieved
without manual input yet still ensuring client side validation
Bank can also accept digital signatures for applications
Bank applies Reader Extensions to original application form, allowing
user to save data from the form locally
26
2006 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All Rights Reserved.
27. LiveCycle Products
LiveCycle is an umbrella term for a suite of products
LiveCycle Designer
LiveCycle Forms
LiveCycle Form Manager
LiveCycle Barcoded Forms
LiveCycle Document Security
LiveCycle Reader Extensions
LiveCycle Workflow
Other LiveCycle products
LiveCycle Policy Server
LiveCycle PDF Generator
LiveCycle Assembler
LiveCycle Print
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2006 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All Rights Reserved.
28. LiveCycle Workflow
Can put together end-to-end workflows incorporating people, systems,
documents and even web services
Has intuitive visual tools; no need to code out the workflow
Uses industry standard technologies, such as PDF, J2EE, XML, and
Web services
Makes LiveCycle Workflow highly scalable and easily integrated into any infrastucture
Optimizes the business process so that the correct people handle the
correct documents
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2006 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All Rights Reserved.
30. Practical Example
Create forms using LiveCycle Designer
Use LiveCycle Forms to render the forms as HTML or PDF for
deploying to clients or other employees
Bank uses LiveCycle Form Manager to manage forms internally
External users can fill out forms in Adobe Reader, print off forms with
barcode, and mail them to the bank to be scanned; data retrieved
without manual input yet still ensuring client side validation
Bank can also accept digital signatures for applications
Bank applies Reader Extensions to original application form, allowing
user to save data from the form locally
Adobe LiveCycle Workflow routes banking application to the right
people at the bank
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2006 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All Rights Reserved.
31. Q&
A
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2006 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All Rights Reserved.
32. Better by Adobe™
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2006 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All Rights Reserved.
33. LiveCycle Policy Server
DRM for your documents
Enforce security policies on documents at any time, even AFTER
distribution
Reduce risks in distributing confidential information
Control document access and usage rights online or offline
Know when a document has been viewed, printed, or altered
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2006 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All Rights Reserved.
34. LiveCycle PDF Generator
Speed up deployment of PDF file generation
Optimize enterprise PDF file generation by keeping a centralized
administrative console to manage conversion jobs and statistics
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2006 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All Rights Reserved.
35. LiveCycle Assembler
Assemble, disassemble, and manipulate PDF documents
Adapt current PDF documents by applying customizations, such as
watermarks, headers, images, or more content
Automate creation of similar types of documents
e.g. customer invoices
e.g. marketing materials
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2006 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All Rights Reserved.
36. LiveCycle Print
Used in conjunction with LiveCycle Forms
Dynamically print customized forms
Automate combination of XML data and XFA template before sending to
the printer
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2006 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All Rights Reserved.