What kind of certification is needed?

Question

Hi!
I have an issue with getting the right certification of a form. The
Adobe XML Form Object Model Reference 2.2 describes the exportData method at page 575. In the very first paragraph is says "For security purposes, this method only executes when performed on certified documents." I have certified my form for export of data and the
exportData method works fine as long as I don't specify what the file name should be. In the examples the current code is used:
xfa.host.exportData("filename.xml", 0); // will generate data in XML format
This will not work. Does it have to do with the certification or is a bug?
best regards
Håkon

Answer 1

[email protected] wrote:
> Hello Håkon Helliesen
>
> What does this exactly mean? (1) You can export the form data but with a name you don't like or (2) you can't export the form data?
>
> Do I need Security Server to export data with the export function?
>
> Thank you
> Sincerely
> Lore
You can export form data using the "File-->Form Data-->Export Data from Form" menu option in Adobe
Acrobat. This will pop up a dialog allowing you to specify a file name and file location to store
the XML file.
If you want to export the data using a button and some javascript code, you can do this as well with
Adobe Acrobat. You would make a call to the xfa.host.exportData() method without specifying a file
name. This will cause the same dialog to popup allowing you to specify a file name and file location.
If you want to do the same thing with Adobe Reader, you have to use Reader Extensions Server to add
the export capability to the document. The reason for this is because exporting data is not
standard functionality provided with Adobe Reader.
Now, if you want to call the exportData() method and specify a filename, you must certify your
document. This is done for security reasons. When you specify a filename, it will automatically
write the file out to the user's hard drive. Any time an application is automatically writing a
file out to the user's hard drive, there is some opportunity for malicious code, so Adobe is
requiring that this be a certified document to prevent this capability from be exploited to spread
viruses and spyware. To certify a document, you must add a digital signature to the document. You
can do this in two ways:
- You can certify the document manually using Adobe Acrobat
- You can certify the document programmatically using Adobe LiveCycle Security
So no, you don't need Security Server to export data. You should use the above information to
determine what is the best approach for you.
Justin Klei
Cardinal Solutions Group
www.cardinalsolutions.com