Handling a full stop in a XML element name

The “.” (full stop) character is valid in an XML name, this means there can be cases were you need to escape a full stop in a SOM expression.

This is the default format when using SQL Server and the FOR XML AUTO option and the table has
a schema, you will end up with XML like;

<ClientMgmt>

<ClientMgmt.ClientDetails name="..." />
<ClientMgmt.ClientDetails name="..." />
…

In a SOM Expression the full stop needs to be escaped with a “\” (backslash), when we put this in JavaScript code we again need to escape the backslash, so end up with three backslash characters.

$data.resolveNodes('ClientMgmt.ClientMgmt\\\.ClientDetails[*]')

Interestingly when trying the same in the Acrobat JavaScript debugger you need to use four backslash characters.

Going deeper with floating fields

Floating fields allow variable text to be inserted within a text object.  A floating field is referenced within a rich text field using XFA extension to the xHTML <span> element, e.g.

As inserted by the LiveCycle Designer Insert ... Floating Field command you will get something like this in the XML Source

<span xfa:embedType="uri" xfa:embedMode="raw" xfa:embed="#floatingField007456"/>

The full XFA syntax for a floating field is;

<span xmlns:xfa="http://www.xfa.org/schema/xfa-data/1.0/"
      xfa:embedType="uri | som"
      xfa:embed="<SOM expr> | <uri>"
      xfa:embedMode="raw | formatted"/>

embedType

When the embedType has a value of "uri" then the embed value will be the id of the floating field, prefixed with a "#" symbol.

But you can see from the syntax that there are some other options available.  Sometimes we might create a floating field bind it to our data connection just to display the value embedded in some text.  Say the floating field was bound to $data.formData.firstName then we could change our span element to reference the data connection directly, in which case we don't need the floating field at all.

Another situation you may need to use a SOM expression in an embedded field is when you have multiple levels of repeating data, such as a list of countries within which we have a list of cities

If I wanted to use a floating field to display the country element within the repeating city element, there is no way Designer can make the reference.  Designer will give you a binding expression like $record.counties.country, which will always return you the first country.  In this case we can again change the embedType to "som" but use a form object SOM expression, something like;

<span xfa:embedType="som" xfa:embedMode="raw" xfa:embed="countries.country"/>

This will resolve to the form object with the SOM expression countries.country, which should be the right country for the city we are processing.

embedMode

By default the embedMode is set to "raw", which means only the floating fields value is inserted, all font formatting is taken from the surrounding text.  A value of formatted for embedMode means the font attributes of the inserted text are taken from the inserted field, which can be useful if we need to dynamically update them as in this sample, FloatingFields.pdf.

Adobe LiveCycle Designer Tip #8 - Bringing colour to your workspace (and other settings)

I recently received an upgraded computer, which meant I had to re-install LiveCycle Designer ... and find all my settings again.

Tools ... Options ... Document Handling

Increase the number of files in the Recently Used File List to 10.  This seems to be the maximum, although there is no error when a higher number is entered the value will not be saved.

Set the Create Backup Copy on Save, this will create a _BAK.pdf file (or a _BAK.xdp file) which gives you a chance to recover your work if Designer crashes on you.  The disadvantage of setting this option is when you edit a fragment the _BAK file will be created and the fragment will be duplicated when viewed in the fragment library.  Another way you can recover your work if Designer crashes to look for a PDF file in your Windows %temp% directory with some random looking name _1f7o26cap4d25e8q1t.pdf this is the file that is created whenever you perform a PDF Preview.

Tools ... Options ... Workspace

Under JavaScript Syntax Formatting ... select a custom color for strings and numbers, I use an orange color.  I used to have a boss who set his to red, he never wanted to see any red.  I'm not that strict so set mine to an orange.  The idea is to make you think if these values would be better off in a form variable or a dataset.

Select the Show Line Numbers checkbox, any runtime errors will refer to a line number so showing line numbers makes it easier to find the right line.  Just make sure there are no blank lines at the start of your script as these aren't counted when line numbers are displayed in error messages.

Tools ... Options ... Data Binding

Set the Show Dynamic Properties checkbox, this will enable the option to bind values in a drop down to the data connection

Set the Default Binding for New Subforms to "No Data Binding"

Window ... Drawing Aids

Deselect the Snap to Grid option to allow finer control over the form objects, typically I use flowed subforms but even with a positional subform it is usually easier to align with another object, under the Layout menu or learn the keyboard shortcuts, Ctrl-LeftArrow to align a group of fields on there left boundary, etc.

Tools ... Keyboard Shoutcuts

Add Ctrl-Shift-w for Warp in Subform and Ctrl-Shift-u for Unwarp Subform.  The default keyboard shortcuts are listed in Using Designer ES4 / Working with the Keyboard / Default keyboard shortcuts

SOM Expressions with Relative Indexes

Most SOM expressions I work with have an absolute index number, something like form1[0].[0].Table1[0].Row1[0].TextField1[0] where all the numbers within the square brackets are absolute numbers.  But these numbers can be relative, that is have a positive or negative sign.  So if I was on TextField1 of row 2 and wanted to reference TextField1 of row 1 I could use a SOM expression like;

Row1.resolveNode('Row1[-1].TextField1');

Similarly if I have a series of fields with the same name and so have different indexes, say TextField[0], TextFIeld[1] etc, I can reference the next field, in document order, called TextField with a SOM expression

this.resolveNode('TextField[+1]').rawValue

We can also refer to the next field without knowing it's name using the class name reference (that is with a "#" character).

this.resolveNode('#field[+1]').somExpression

or the next button

this.resolveNodes('#field.(ui.oneOfChild.className == "button")').item(1).somExpression

This sample gives examples of these expressions and uses a relative SOM expression to calculate a running total in a table.

RelativeIndex.pdf