SAP INTERACTIVE FORMS BY ADOBE

Avinash Babu
AGENDA
What are we going to learn?
Why Adobe forms?
Advantages of Adobe forms over paper based forms.
Advantages of Adobe forms over existing technology.
Tools used.
Architecture of Standalone and SFP forms.
Live cycle designer
Objects in Live Cycle Designer
Interactive forms design and use.
Scripting Techniques.
Use of Adobe forms in Webdynpro
WHAT ARE WE GOING TO LEARN?
Design of Online Print Based Forms
Design of Interactive Offline form

Design of Online Interactive forms (webdynpro)

Creating WSDL

Connecting to backend using WSDL

Using SFP forms in print program

WHY ADOBE FORMS?
Automate and streamline forms-based business
processes
Fully integrated into SAP Netweaver

Available to any SAP solution

Combine the benefits of the open technology

standards XML and PDF
Can be deployed in online and offline scenarios

Minimize Errors and Offer Easier Data Access

Create Interactive Documents

User Friendly forms, Design tool, Lowers cost of

operation
ADVANTAGES OF USING FORMS OVER PAPER

Paper forms are error-prone and easily outdated

Processes require manual data re-entry.

Process status is hard to track.

Paper forms produce high costs (e.g. production,

storage).
ADOBE FORMS VS SMARTFORMS & SAP
SCRIPTS
Adobe forms are Interactive
Form Interface Reusability

Offline forms

Separate tool to develop - Adobe Live cycle

designer
Paper like layout

Digital Signatures

Forms can be filled in advance automatically

with specific data from SAP applications
Validations of the fields in the form itself using
scripting techniques
Distribute via email / portal
TOOLS

Adobe Livecycle Designer

Tool provided by Adobe to create XML forms that can
be rendered as PDF
Adobe Document Services
Adobe Document Services provided by SAP runs as a
module on J2EE Application Server to provide Adobe
PDF Based Form Outputs and also Adobe Interactive
Forms for Input/Output.
ARCHITECTURE STANDALONE FORMS

PDF
Live Cycle Document
Designer
ARCHITECTURE - ONLINE FORMS
ARCHITECTURE CONT..
TYPES OF FORMS

Interactive Forms
Forms can be used in 2 basic Scenarios
Online Forms
The user is logged on to the SAP system when he or she

fills out the form.

Offline Forms / Standalone forms

The user is not logged on to the SAP system when he or

she fills out the form. Submits later or sends it to the

issuer.
Forms for Printing, E-mail, Fax etc..
Form Builder closely integrated with SAP
Development workbench to create PDF based forms.
ADOBE LIVECYCLE DESIGNER

Script
Window

Layout
ELEMENTS OF A FORM

Pages
Master Pages
Body Pages

Elements
Standard Objects
Static Objects such as texts, graphics, rectangles, circles
and lines.
Dynamic Objects like options and list fields, date and time
fields, text fields etc
Special date objects (Localizing the form using
language and country)
User Defined Objects
Bar Codes
DATA CONNECTION?
Web Service Definition Language
The Web Services Description Language (WSDL)
is an XML-based language that is used for describing
the functionality offered by a Web service
How to create WSDL in SAP?
BSP Application webservicebrowser

XML Schema
An XML Schema describes the structure of an XML
document.
SCENARIO I : STATIC FORMS
Create a form layout
Add Text box, labels, radio buttons and check
boxes.
Add dropdown and add values.

Add Table

Add Images Field and Image

Play with the controls

SCENARIO II : INTERACTIVE FORM
Create a Bapi/FM to access the data from
backend.
Get data as a export field and table parameters.

Submit the data from the form

Retrieve the data on to the form using button

controls.
USE OF SCRIPTS ON THE FORM

Supports 2 Scripting Techniques

Javascript

Formcalc
SCRIPTS CONT..
SCRIPTING TECHNIQUES
Execute(0)

Execute(1)

Adding values to dropdown

JAVASCIRPTS/FORMCALC TO KNOW..
Executing Data connection
Validating the fields
Dynamically populating the fields like dropdowns
and text boxes.
Launching a URL from adobe form

Script/Formcalc to get current date/time

Resolving a node what and why?

Submitting the form to an email client

EXECUTE DATA CONNECTION
ADDING / REMOVING INSTANCES
Adding Instance

Removing Instance
SCENARIO III USE OF SCRIPTS
Add library objects and use the visible
functionality.
Add a table/subform and use adding and
removing of instances
Executing dataconnection with the help of scripts

Adding values to dropdown dynamically

Get Current date and time

Submit table of data to backend

CREATING SFP FORMS
DESIGNING FORMS WITH FORM BUILDER

Tool Integrated with ABAP Workbench

Used to create forms
Create Form Interface
Create Form Object
Add fields to the Form Context
Add the fields to the form (drag and drop)
Activate the form
Two ways to create Form Object
Right click from package and create form object
Use transaction SFP
FORM INTERFACE
FORM CONTEXT
FORM BUILDER
CALLING FORMS IN AN APPLICATION
PROGRAM
FP_JOB_OPEN
The form output is controlled using the parameters
(IE_OUTPUTPARAMS) with the type
SFPOUTPUTPARAMS
FP_FUNCTION_MODULE_NAME
Determine the name of the Function Module.
Calling the Generated Function Module
FP_JOB_CLOSE
EXAMPLE FOR CALLING FORMS
FORM LAYOUT
Unknown layout type
The form has not yet been classified. This is the case if you
are creating a new form or editing a form created with an
older version of SAP NetWeaver. You still have to classify
the form.
Standard layout
Use this layout type for PDF-based print forms, or for
interactive forms used in an offline scenario and not
integrated in a Web Dynpro environment at runtime.
xACF layout
The Active Components Framework technology is used to
integrate the form at runtime in Web Dynpro applications;
ActiveX must be enabled in the browser.
ZCI layout
Zero Client Installation (ZCI) technology is used to
integrate the form at runtime in Web Dynpro applications.
ADOBE FORMS IN WEBDYNPRO ABAP
SCENARIO IV
Create a report to display the print output of
sales order header.
Report to get the sales order number as input
Read the header data
Design the PDF form with the logo
Pass the data to the Adobe forms
Show the output as print preview
Create a report to display the print output of
Sales order item
Show a table of data dynamically from report
program as a print preview
Make it dynamic and submit the data back to the
system.
ADOBE STANDALONE FORMS
Submit data to a program from adobe form
Retrieve data to form

Sales order Header Details retrieve form

Sales order Items Details retrieve form