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What is the difference between AcroForms and XFA forms?

What is the difference between an AcroForm and XFA form?

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wndjacksolutions

LiveCycle, or XFA, forms are extremely useful in many situations because they are a Data Oriented technology. They are all about the data. XFA includes features for handling the data separately from the form template, dynamically manipulating the template to fit the data, and connecting to external data sources. These are all massively useful, forms only features.

The problem with XFA and PDF is that all the action happens in the XML. The PDF acts simply as a wrapper for the XFA form. All the form features are in the XFA XML, not the PDF. So for example, you can add bookmarks to a dynamic LC form in Acrobat Professional. Acrobat modifies the PDF structure, not the XFA XML. When the LC PDF is loaded into LC Designer, LC Designer extracts only the XML. So any features that were added in Acrobat, i.e., part of the PDF structure, are stripped out.

To be fair, the most recent incarnation of XFA includes a way to use a standard PDF page as a background for the LC Form. However, this is only useful for Static XFA forms and only provides a minimal ability to use and perserve many regular PDF features. It is a somewhat unholy union of technologies.

Just to add to Leonards statments, the new release of ColdFusion 4 supports parsing and form filling of LiveCycle PDFs. As far as I know, at this time, CF4 is the only generally accessible server side technology that will handling LiveCycle Forms. I say "generally accessible" because up til now, the only way to implement server side LC PDF handling (not data handling, which is simpler) was to own the LiveCycle Servers. The LC Servers are inaccessible to most users.

It is not impossible for a developer to write thier own LC PDF parsing and building tools, it's just a matter of whether or not it's worth the effort. LC forms have been around a few years now continue to grow in popularity. So I expect that more 3rd Party and reasonably priced tools will be comming down the pipe.

Thom Parker, The source for PDF Scripting Info ( www.pdfscripting.com)

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rowan
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Great answer, that’s some very useful information.

rowan
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I’ll add the info about CF4.

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  • 2

leonard rosenthol

I need to correct a number of things here...

1) While it is true that the XFA specification is controlled by Adobe, it is an open, published specification just as PDF was prior to it being turned over to the ISO.

2) XFA is normatively referenced in ISO 32000-1 and therefore is also part of the standard - just as JPEG, TrueType fonts and various other technologies are. A conforming ISO 32000-1 reader should support it.

3) There are at least a half-dozen companies OTHER THAN ADOBE that support XFA - and do so with their own independent implementations of the technology. This includes not only viewers (such as Nuance) but also client & server-based PDF processing tools and libraries - from commercial to open source.

4) XFA is integrated into PDF in a variety of ways and as such, a blanket statement about "compatibility with other parts of PDF" is invalid. While dynamic XFA-based documents do not rely on many other aspects of PDF, static XFA and XFA-Foreground are directly integrated with PDF and are as compatible as AcroForms. (though they do have their own scripting DOM).

5) Adobe fully supports BOTH types of forms technologies as evidenced by not only the inclusion of XFA-based editing tools (such as Designer) but also significatly improved AcroForm editing tools in Acrobat 9. Also, the Form Recognition feature of Acrobat generates AcroForms and not XFA-based forms. Both are valid and fully supported.

Leonard Rosenthol PDF Standards Architect Adobe Systems

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rowan
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Thanks for your comments. I would be interested to see your answer to this question (What is the difference between AcroForms and XFA forms?) then since you’re obviously very involved with both XFA forms and AcroForms. It would be very beneficial for everyone if you were to outline the key differences, as you perceive them.

pdf seeder
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Yes, the more information about the differences the better…

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  • 2

rowan [ Admin ]

AcroForms are the original PDF forms technology. Designed as an integral part of PDF, AcroForms could be described as being "native" to the PDF format. XFA Forms on the other hand are based on XML technology and could not be described in the same way. Generally speaking, as a forms technology, XFA Forms are more dynamic and could be considered technologically superior, however, that doesn't necessarily make them a superior solution for every situation.

=== AcroForms ===

AcroForms (also known as Acrobat Forms) are the original interactive forms technology in PDFs and were first introduced with the release of version 1.2 of the PDF specification at the same time as the release of Acrobat 3 in 1996. The technical details for AcroForms are outlined in the latest PDF specification and is thus part of the ISO standard for PDF.

Key points about AcroForms:

  • AcroForms are an integral part of PDF and the original PDF forms technology.
  • AcroForms are native to PDF and the use of them will not break other features such as bookmarks, high fidelity production, etc.
  • There is no distinction between the AcroForms JavaScript model and the Acrobat JavaScript model.
  • AcroForms are widely supported by many 3rd party vendors. Meaning that if you're not happy with your first solution, you can find an alternative solution relatively easily.
  • There is no restriction on using AcroForms technology on a server.
  • AcroForms are part of the ISO standard for PDF.
  • AcroForms accept FDF and xFDF input.

=== XFA Forms ===

XFA Forms were introduced in version 1.5 of the PDF specification at the same time as the release of Acrobat 6 in 2003. XFA Forms are interactive forms based on XML Forms Architecture (XFA) and is an open, published specification from Adobe.

Key points about XFA Forms:

  • Adobe acquired the XFA Forms technology from a company called JetForm Corporation in 2002. This techology was re-released via Acrobat LiveCycle Designer.
  • XFA Forms are not PDF. They're XML based and are in some ways incompatible with conventional PDF files (it depends if you're using a static or dynamic XFA form).
  • XFA Forms created by Adobe LiveCycle Designer or Acrobat 9 can't be edited by none-Adobe software. The form will simply display an error message telling you to use an Adobe product if you wish to view and or edit the form. This message is displayed even if the product that you're opening the XFA form in supports XFA Forms technology.
  • Currently Adobe LiveCycle server or ColdFusion 4 is required to process XFA forms in a server environment. There are no commercial or open source alternatives available (though technically a developer could create an alternative if they they thought it was worth the effort).
  • XFA Forms are not as widely supported as AcroForms by vendors.
  • The JavaScript model for XFA is completely different to the JavaScript model for the AcroForms model.
  • XFA Forms are not compatible with AcroForms and they cannot be modified by older versions of Acrobat. (i.e. version 5, 4, etc).
  • Adobe supports both AcroForms and XFA Forms in Acrobat 8 and 9.

Further reading:

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