XFA: Архитектура XML-форм и её развитие

Family of proprietary XML specifications

XFA (also known as XFA forms) stands for XML Forms Architecture, a family of proprietary XML specifications that was suggested and developed by JetForm to enhance the processing of web forms. It can be also used in PDF files starting with the PDF 1.5 specification. The XFA specification is referenced as an external specification necessary for full application of the ISO 32000 1 specification (PDF 1.7). The XML Forms Architecture was not standardized as an ISO standard, and has been deprecated in PDF 2.0. The XFA proposal was submitted to the W3C in May 1999. In 2002, the JetForm Corporation was acquired by Adobe Systems, and the latter introduced XFA forms with PDF 1.5 and the subsequent Acrobat releases (6 and 7) in 2003. XFA forms are saved internally in PDF files or as XDP (XML Data Package) files which can be opened in Adobe's LiveCycle Designer software. An XDP can package a PDF file, along with XML form and template data. XDP provides a mechanism for packaging form components within a surrounding XML container. Although XFA can make use of PDF, XFA is not tied to a particular page description language. The XFA specification includes an appendix that discusses details of the Adobe specific XFA implementation and behaviors of Adobe products that deviate from the XFA specification. Data filled in an XFA form may be submitted to a host using an HTTP POST operation in XDP format, PDF format, XFDF format, XML 1.0 format or as an URL encoded format. XFA supports the use of XSLT to transform the XML data before it is loaded to XFA Data DOM or after it is unloaded from XFA Data DOM. One of XFA approaches to pagination duplicates the pagination logic and much of the syntax of XSL FO. XFA forms are synonymous with SmartForms in the Australian government.

XFA defines static forms (since XFA 2.0 and before) and dynamic forms (since XFA 2.1 or 2.2). In a static form the form’s appearance and layout is fixed, regardless of the field content. Any unfilled fields are present in the form. By default, static forms do not require re rendering. XFA recognises two types of static forms: "old style static forms" (using "full XFA") and XFAF (a subset of full XFA, defined since XFA 2.5). Dynamic forms (defined since XFA 2.1 or 2.2) can change in appearance in several ways in response to changes in the data. Dynamic form requires rendering of its content on file opening. Dynamic forms may also be designed to change structure to accommodate changes in the structure of the data supplied to the form. For example, a page of a form may be omitted if there is no data for it. Another example is a field that may occupy a variable amount of space on the page, resizing itself to efficiently hold its content. Dynamic form cannot rely on a PDF representation of its boilerplate, because the positioning and layout of the boilerplate change as the fields grow and shrink or as subforms are omitted and included.

PDF 1.7 supports two different methods for integrating data and PDF forms. AcroForms (also known as Acrobat forms), introduced and included in the PDF 1.2 format specification. Adobe XML Forms Architecture (XFA) forms, introduced in the PDF 1.5 format specification as an optional feature (The XFA specification is not included in the PDF specification, it is only referenced.) Adobe XFA Forms are not compatible with AcroForms. When an XFA is packaged inside a PDF file, it is placed in the AcroForm document resources dictionary ("Shell PDF") or referenced from the AcroForm entry in the document catalog. Creating XFA Forms for use in Adobe Reader requires Adobe LiveCycle Designer. Adobe Reader contains "disabled features" for use of XFA Forms, that will activate only when opening a PDF document that was created using enabling technology available only from Adobe. The XFA Forms are not compatible with Adobe Reader prior to version 6.

XFA forms can be created and used as PDF 1.5 1.7 files or as XDP (XML Data Package). The format of an XFA resource in PDF is described by the XML Data Package Specification.

Rich text may appear in data supplied to the XFA forms, in XFA templates as default text values, as field captions, or as boilerplate (draw) content. Starting with PDF 1.5 (XFA 2.02), the text contents of variable text form fields, as well as markup annotations, may include formatting information (style information). These rich text strings are XML documents that conform to the rich text conventions specified for the XML Forms Architecture specification, which is itself a subset of the XHTML 1.0 specification, augmented with a restricted set of CSS2 style attributes. In PDF 1.6, PDF supports the rich text elements and attributes specified in the XML Forms Architecture (XFA) Specification, 2.2. In PDF 1.7, PDF supports the rich text elements and attributes specified in the XML Forms Architecture (XFA) Specification, 2.4. In 2017 the ISO Committee deprecated XFA from PDF 2.0.

XFA version Year of publication Referenced in PDF version New features Adobe Acrobat version Adobe Designer version 2.02 2003 1.5 XFA 2.0 supports only static forms 6.0 6 2.1 Connection Set DOM, Connection Data DOM, Data Description DOM, Layout DOM, Connection Set DOM, Connection Data DOM, Data Description DOM, Layout DOM, Special Object Models, Exclusion group element’s capability expanded, Hide/reveal containers depending on relevance, Growable containers, Paragraph formatting, Barcode formatting, Image aspect, Noninteractive fields, Support for Web Services ('doc literal' SOAP operations over HTTP; the Web Service's WSDL defines SOAP binding operations), Submission of form parts to a target URI, Subforms may include calculations, Calculations may specify override conditions, Scripts specify whether they should be executed on the client, server or both, Document variables, Validation checks against validation specific picture clauses, Event source included as an event attribute, Use of data description when writing out XML, Dynamic forms, Repeating subforms, Explicit data references, Subform sets, Record processing, Global fields, Data description element, Default data binding to include attribute data, Subform scope option, Automatically breaking layout, Dynamic layout, Flowing layout strategy, Flowing layout support for tables and table rows, Rich text: Embedded objects, Subscript and superscript support, New Widget Types, Support for Asian Language Representations, Scripting Object Model: Referencing objects by their class names, FormCalc: New functions to access locale 2.2 2004 1.6 Connection Set DOM, Connection Data DOM, Event for populating drop down choice list widgets, W3C XML digital signatures, Uniquely identifying templates, Document variables used as named script objects 7.0 7 2.4 2006 1.7 and ISO 32000 1 Form fragments, Bar code encryption, Barcode character encoding, URL encoded option for submit, Choice list enter and exit events pair up, Manifests as scripting variables, Complex binding, Conditional binding, Support for right to left text flow, Conditional breaking, Nesting tables, Captions can differ between views 7.0 7.1 2.5 2007 1.7 Adobe Extension Level 1 Secure submit, Index change event, XFA Foreground (XFAF), Change to initial page selection, Explicit control of printer pagination, Widget functionality: Control over scrolling, Checkmark shapes, Button highlight, Explicit control over number of cells in combs, Security and Control: MDP+ document signatures 8.0 8 2.6 2008 1.7 Adobe Extension Level 2 Adobe XMP documented, Adobe configuration syntax documented, Template version control, Adobe legacy flags documented (for backward compatibility), Image storage in PDF (images stored as resources in the PDF container), New barcode types (UPS Maxicode, Aztec, Data Matrix, and the RSS14 family) 8.1, 8.1.1 ES 8.1 2.7 2008 1.7 Adobe Extension Level 3 Locale set typefaces, New set of rules for picking alternate fonts 8.1, 8.1.1 ES 8.1.2 2.8 2008 1.7 Adobe Extension Level 3 New variables dataset, Form fragments declaring traversals, Access property extended to subforms, Improved orphan and widow control, Keep property extended to fields and draws, Authentication policy for web services, Submit via WSDL/SOAP, Pre and post submit events standardized, Pre sign and post sign events added, Pre events may cancel the associated action, Change in keep behavior, Pair kerning support, Hyphenation support, Rich text: Outbound hyperlinks 9.0 ES 8.2 3.0 2009 1.7 Adobe Extension Level 5 Compatibility flag override in LiveCycle, Inactive presence, Event propagation (upward to their ancestral objects), Validation events added, Global validation handling control 9.1 3.1 2009 1.7 Adobe Extension Level 6 Support for relational data, Data injection into data description, Barcode examples expanded and illustrated, Automation Examples expanded and corrected, Control over duplex imposition, Rendering: Support for long or short edge duplexing, Support for more label printers X (10) ES 2 3.3 2012 1.7 Adobe Extension Level 8 Bulleted List, Numbered List and Nested List Support, Support for Right To Left flowed content Subforms and Tables, Deprecating legacy rendering, XML Encryption and Decryption Support, autoSave element added, ADBE JSConsole and ADBE JSDebugger elements added, Flash (SWF) Integration in XFA X (10) ES 3