LiveCycle is an enterprise software system that solves problems pertaining to mass scale processing of Portable Document Format (PDF) documents. While individual users of PDF’s tend to use Adobe Acrobat or Reader for working with PDF, LiveCycle is meant to aid the processing of tens of thousands of LiveCycle PDF documents. Hence, it is an enterprise solution that anyone who currently uses paper forms should look at if they are wanting to streamline the ingestion of data from forms. Likewise, it had many modules that can mitigate problems around PDF such as document security (think of Wiki-leaks).

LiveCycle itself is comprised of several components. We’ll walk through each of these components one at a time. the main component is akin to what many call an Enterprise Service Bus or ESB for short. This includes a set of common services, a common environment of service execution, a registry-repository system, workflow and storage components to name a few components. LiveCycle ES installs as a server and the server can bind to many different types of common enterprise infrastructure components including directories (LDAP for example). Below is a depiction of the server side component of LiveCycle ES.

The server’s core services are all registered in a registry.  There can be orchestrated and used to perform different types of operations on PDF documents and now with Uberity’s extensions, to also talk to mobile (wireless) devices.  At the bottom of the Service tier is a Service Provider Interface (SPI) which is where back end systems often integrate.  Systems such as SAP that might consume and produce massive amounts of data for government or finance could link in to this layer to offer PDF forms as a point of interaction with humans, then automatically accept, validate and consume the form data provided by the user.  The users themselves can access data (by requesting a PDF form or perhaps by being pushed notifications of events) via the Service Invocation Layer at the top.  This is a J2EE server and can be set up in many different ways.  One option is often to install it on site however for evaluation, we have found that using the Amazon cloud is one of the best ways for evaluation.  Uberity has experience with this and we have found that while it takes an average first time installation of LiveCycle’s server on Red Hat Enterprise Linux with full SSL/TLS configuration and testing afterwards to take many over 2.5 days.  We highly recommend the turnkey Windows server installation however we do offer a flat fee to install this on the cloud for evaluation.

So what are the core component and services LiveCycle offers?   Here is a brief rundown.  The following is not an exhaustive list, rather an example to help explain what LiveCycle is.

Forms ES – this module can be licensed to automate just about every aspect of forms processing.  The ability to save money over paper forms is astounding.

Barcoded Forms ES – the barcoded forms module allows forms to be printed with a corresponding 2D bar code that can later be electronically scanned to recapture the form data electronically.  This is useful if you wanted to create something like an electronic voting system that had a fully audit able paper trail or if you needed someone to electronically fill out a form and sign it then mail it in to you for ingestion into your systems.

Digital Signatures ES – since many companies use digital signatures now, often deemed more reliable and audit able than wet ink signatures, PDF documents support this feature.  The LiveCycle Server can perform massive scale operations using the Digital Signatures module like validating 100,000 signatures to ensure certificates have not been revoked.

Output ES – Our put is used often for production print.

PDF Generator ES – this module provides almost every possible method for generating PDF, PostScript, FXA, XDP or other related files.

Process Management ES – LiveCycle ES contains a full blown business process management capability.

Reader Extensions ES – this module of LiveCycle unlocks features in Adobe Reader that enable it to perform more like Acrobat.  These extensions are often cheaper as a solution than forcing all users to buy copies of Adobe Acrobat.

Rights Management ES – Rights Management is one of our favorite modules.  You can use this to protect documents from beign distributed beyond what you want and even expire a document. The perfect solution to Wikileaks!

There are many other modules and this is only designed to show you a small cross section of LiveCycle.

So what does LiveCycle look like when you use it?  This is actually very dependent upon your role.  There are Adminstrators and other various types of power users.  This group use the administrative console which is web based.

Most people who work with received forms or kick off business processes will use the Workspace interface.  This is where privileged users can also receive work that has been queued up for them to work with.

For users who design actual PDF forms, this class will spend a lot of time in the Adobe LiveCycle Designer view. If you have ever wonder “what is LiveCycle Designer”, this is what you will see.

Another class of developer users for LiveCycle will bind these PDF forms into Business Processes.  These users will spend a lot of time in LiveCycle WorkBench.  This is an eclipse based environment where business processes can be designed by using assets (such as the form above) in combination with business logic and LiveCycle Services.  This view looks similar to the graphic below.

Finally, the Business process users will also rely on a set of services.  The view to these services are provided via the service registry.  The service registry interface is easy to use and will be the subject of future Uberity Educational Series videos that show LiveCycle Help.

This blog post only covers the basic elements of LiveCycle ES.  To put all the pieces together, this is what a fully implemented architecture could look like.

As you can see, the development tools also include Java IDE’s such as Intellij and Eclipse.  We have produced a few LiveCycle tutorials on how to invoke LiveCycle from a Java environment using Eclipse and the LiveCycle SDK.  These are available at:

The setup video is here:

http://www.uberity.com/2012/03/uberity-video-education-series-livecycle-es/

and a video of how to migrate from EJB invocation to SOAP is here:

http://www.uberity.com/2012/04/tutorial-invoke-livecycle-es3-using-soap/

Also shown above is the fact that third parties can develop their own functionality around LiveCycle ES.  Uberity specializes in building mobile interactions that integrate with the Adobe LiveCycle ES3 platform.  The next time you hear someone ask “What is LiveCycle”, this is a blog post we hope will help others answer that question.

As with all our posts, if you do not feel your questions are answered here or want to follow up, please contact us at info@uberity.com for more information.  Our experience can save your company money.  We can show you how a forms initiative will be more successful on LiveCycle ES than any other platform.  Whether it be a PDF form, HTML5 or custom native iOS application, we are here to help.

This video is to help with education and help others in the LiveCycle ES community understand how easy it is.

The sample code is here.  If you need help with this sort of stuff, Uberity is at your call at 1 877 – 880 – 7043 (Extension 11) or email duane at Uberity dot com.

import java.io.File;
import java.io.FileInputStream;
import java.util.Properties;
import com.adobe.livecycle.generatepdf.client.CreatePDFResult;
import com.adobe.idp.Document;
import com.adobe.idp.dsc.clientsdk.ServiceClientFactory;
import com.adobe.idp.dsc.clientsdk.ServiceClientFactoryProperties;
import com.adobe.livecycle.distiller.client.DistillerServiceClient;

public class JavaAPICreatePDFSoap {

public static void main(String[] args)
{
try
{
//Set connection properties required to invoke LiveCycle ES2 using SOAP mode
Properties connectionProps = new Properties();
connectionProps.setProperty(ServiceClientFactoryProperties.DSC_DEFAULT_SOAP_ENDPOINT, "http://<HOST_NAME>:<PORT>");
connectionProps.setProperty(ServiceClientFactoryProperties.DSC_TRANSPORT_PROTOCOL,ServiceClientFactoryProperties.DSC_SOAP_PROTOCOL);
connectionProps.setProperty(ServiceClientFactoryProperties.DSC_SERVER_TYPE, "JBoss");
connectionProps.setProperty(ServiceClientFactoryProperties.DSC_CREDENTIAL_USERNAME, "<USERNAME>");
connectionProps.setProperty(ServiceClientFactoryProperties.DSC_CREDENTIAL_PASSWORD, "<PASSWORD>");

// Create a ServiceClientFactory instance
ServiceClientFactory factory = ServiceClientFactory.createInstance(connectionProps);

DistillerServiceClient disClient = new DistillerServiceClient(factory );

// Get a PS file document to convert to a PDF document and populate a com.adobe.idp.Document object
String inputFileName = "C:\Adobe\Loan.ps";
FileInputStream fileInputStream = new FileInputStream(inputFileName);
Document inDoc = new Document(fileInputStream);

//Set run-time options
String adobePDFSettings = "Standard";
String securitySettings = "No Security";

//Convert a PS file into a PDF file
CreatePDFResult result = new CreatePDFResult();
result = disClient.createPDF(
inDoc,
inputFileName,
adobePDFSettings,
securitySettings,
null,
null
);

//Get the newly created document
Document createdDocument = result.getCreatedDocument();

//Save the PDF file
createdDocument.copyToFile(new File("C:\Adobe\Loan.pdf"));
}
catch (Exception e) {
e.printStackTrace();
}
}
}

Having now been accepted into the Adobe Enterprise Solution Partner Program, we are extremely excited to be amongst the first in the world to offer you, the customers, the ability to purchase Adobe LiveCycle ES3 and professional services around it, starting from initial project consulting to complete project management.  In case you haven’t heard, there are several new features that many enterprises have asked for.   Our great former colleagues Jeff Stanier and Dave Welch have done a spectacular job of making this release a “must have”.

LiveCycle ES3 first and foremost incorporates the Data Services ES3 module (version 4.6.1), an optimized Java server framework that can enhance and simplify the development of rich, data-intensive enterprise and mobile applications.  This includes several mobile platforms such as iOS, Android etc.

ES3 also offers a new SAP to Java connector for creating front-end interfaces to SAP systems. Alongside this update are connectors for FileNet 5 and easier SharePoint server farm deployment and integration.

Our favorite new feature is within LiveCycle Designer.  When you add a new submit button, Designer allows you to select an encryption method and choose from from several XML encryption/decryption algorithms.   This will help with many accounts we are currently working on.

Uberity’s Accelerant platform is also a good way to add custom mobile functionality for wireless device integration into business process.   We have already released a great free and open source mobiel SMS module including the full source code and binaries at http://blog.uberity.com/2012/02/extending-adobe-livecycle-es-to-use-sms-in-business-processes/

So why wait?  Get started today.   Contact Uberity, a company founded by former top LiveCycle ES rock stars and engineering managers.  Contact us at info@uberity.com.

If you want to seriously geek out on this and try it, you can download LiveCycle ES from http://www.adobe.com/products/livecycle/.

Build a Livecycle Encryption Process using Watched Folders from Uberity

At Überity we love technology. This Boston Dynamics “Cheetah” galloping robot project is something we’ve been keeping an eye on for a while. We were originally impressed with the ability of the chassis to withstand direct hits back in the Big Dog days.

This newly released video shows the “Cheetah” at speeds of 18 miles per hour (mph), setting a new land speed record for legged robots. This still won’t outrun a real cheetah but is much quieter than the Big Dog chassis variants. The coolest thing about this particular robot’s movements is that the back, body and legs movement are all mimicking the real animal. A slowed down section of the video reveals the beauty of such engineering. Perhaps we are geeks, but we find this really interesting.

According to sources at Engadget, the free range variant of this model will be put through trials later this year. Read more about DARPA’s M3 program at http://www.darpa.mil/Our_Work/DSO/Programs/Maximum_Mobility_and_Manipulation_…

The first video is aimed at LiveCycle ES developers who wish to set up the Eclipse IDE to start programatically invoking Adobe LiveCycle ES directly from a Java Environment.  This is a fairly common pattern and many developers struggle with the first steps.  Once the setup is complete, as shown in this video, subsequent projects are much easier to build.  The version of LiveCycle used in this video is ES2 however the same principles apply to other versions.

To begin, you will need to download and install the following:

1. Adobe LiveCycle ES - http://technoracle.blogspot.com/2011/08/livecycle-es3-is-now-released-as-adep.html

2. Eclipse IDE – http://www.eclipse.org/downloads/

3. Ensure you have a PDF document and Adobe Reader

Here is the video

Next week Überity’s Co-Founder and President Duane Nickull will provide a keynote on his experiences entitled “Startup Heaven or Hell” in Vienna, Austria at the Technische Universität Wien, Fakultät für Informatik.  The talk will focus on ten important lessons for young entrepreneurs and the big pitfalls to avoid when starting a company.  The slides will be posted here later.

For non-free conversions, some common patterns are converting PDF to formats better suitable for mobile or wireless device rendering.  While PDF is a great document format for both static and dynamic documents, there are some very specific things that make dynamic PDF’s not ideally suited for mobile or wireless usage.   While not free, if you are looking for a free PDF to some-other-format tool, Uberity does have experience in this area.  We recently completed a small utility server that can ingest PDF forms and turn them into other formats.  We have no immediate plans to convert this to a product but are very interested in talking to anyone who has such a need to ascertain what kind of a product market might exist.

Another type of pattern is to strip text out of PDF documents and use it for mobile interactions.  This is not highly problematic, especially if you are only doing one or two at a time.  If you are looking to mass convert many PDF’s into another format, a server can probably save you both time and money.  Once getting in to using PDF’s with automated business process management, the answer is often to consider LiveCycle.

Adobe LiveCycle ES is not free.  LiveCycle ES can do just about anything with PDF you would ever imagine.  We (Uberity) now sell Adobe LiveCycle and would be happy to discuss capacity planning and how to calculate ROI.  One of our specialties is also understanding long term goals to make sure the right technologies are chosen today, especially in the mobile space linked to LiveCycle use or extending it to other wireless environments like tablets.

For the record, PDF is an open standard with ISO and anyone is allowed to build tooling around it.  The real issue when looking for “free PDF to <other format>” is understanding your true costs over time.

More references:

ISO 32000 (Portable Document Format or PDF) standard - http://www.iso.org/iso/pressrelease.htm?refid=Ref1141

Adobe LiveCycle (Adobe Product Website) - http://www.adobe.com/products/livecycle/

When creating a new project, you can specify the type as Android in IDEA v 11 and simply point it at the SDK. IntelliJ IDEA supports development of many types of mobile applications for all Android platforms including the latest 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich – API level 14). After setting up a project, there are tons of great wizards to use like the Create Activity wizard to generate Android code (uses the Alt+Insert shortcut in the Project tool window). If you need DDMS you can always just kick it off via the DDMS executable in the Android SDK. i.e. for screen captures etc.

Uberity highly recommends checking it out at Intellij for Android

Stacy Young, CTO

For anyone wanting to use SMS services as part of a LiveCycle ES business process, using the Uberity-Twilio Service Component with a Twilio account provides the functionality you need.  Once account details are entered, you can add enterprise SMS capabilities your LiveCycle ES business processes.  These could range from a simple one way SMS push from a business process to a more critical use of SMS such as validating a user actually has possession of their cell phone or wireless device by pushing a unique code to the device.  The source code is open and free on GitHub so anyone can modify it to build these patterns.

Image of a LiveCycle ES Business Process integrating the Uberity Technology Corporation - Twilio SMS feature

To beging working with the Uberity-Twilio LiveCycle component, download the component or source code from the URL’s above, sign up for an account at http://www.twilio.com/ (it is cheap as chips), and obtain your SID, AUTH keys as well as your outbound number, which the DSC needs to send messages with.  Configure the DSC, add it to your LiveCycle ES instance and you are good to go.