Community Blogs: Thom Parker  

Posted: 2009-01-25

First Conference of 2009

Normally I only attend and speak and speak at just Acrobat and PDF conferences. That's not because I'm a conference snob. It's just a matter Ytong of practicality. In the past there were just too many conferences deal with and I figured it was better to go where people would already know what I was talking about.

• Acrobat 9
• Forms: Acrobat
• JavaScript

Posted: 2008-10-31

Copying and Pasting Code

I just want to say a few words about code reuse. Copying and pasting JavaScript code from the forums, articles, and sample docs available on this site as well as others is probably the most popular usage model. Let's face it, most people are not professional programmers, and after all, that's what those scripts are there for. And for anyone who is not a programmer, copied code brings a very high value to the table.

However, as anyone who has done this knows, it's rare that you can copy a script verbatim. Most scripts are written for the specific document they are attached to, or if they are posted in an article or forum message they might be written more as pseudo-code, which provides the structure of a program but doesn't fill in the details. In these cases you don't have to be a programmer to make the appropriate changes for your usage. You just have to pay attention to the details. Remember, whoever wrote the code spent time and effort designing the code and probably years learning what they needed to be able to write the code in the first place. It didn't come free and easy to them and if you want to benefit from it you should spend a little time and effort as well.

So here are some rules, or things to think about when you copy someone else's code for your own use.

1. You're situation is unique. It may be very common or similar to someone else's situation, but if it wasn't unique in some way it wouldn't require a custom code solution.
2. As such, it's particularly important for you to be aware of what makes it unique. Most often it's the names of things, like form fields. But it may also be structure, a copied script might affect one field, but you need it to affect two fields.
3. Being aware of what makes your form unique tells you how a copied script needs to be changed.
4. The essence of a script is it's structure. It is a pattern of action. But in order to connect this pattern of action to a specific thing, like a document, all of the scripts elements have to be named. It's the names that make the connection between the pattern and the actual application.
5. When it comes to reusing code, names are everything.
6. Always be aware of the names of the elements on your form and the elements in the script.
7. If you duplicate a section of code in a script, all the names have to be changed so the script doesn't overwrite itself.
8. If you copy code for manipulating form fields the field names in the script have to exactly match the names of the fields on your document.
9. If a script uses a group of fields together, such as a calculation for a row or column in a table. Then there is probably a pattern to the field names. In this case you don't just change the names in the script, you will probably have to rename your form fields to match the naming pattern in the script. You don't necessarily use the names in the script, you use the the naming pattern used in the script.
10. Did I mention that names are everything?
11. Every function and variable in a script requires a unique name. Not to say that there aren't situations where the same name can be used for different things in different places. But even then it's a bad idea. If you ever have to look at a piece of code again it's a good idea to use short, descriptive, and unique names for everything so there is no confusion.
12. Be Aware of the names of things in other scripts on your document. If you copy a script that uses a name that already exist in your document, even if they are in different document level scripts, they may interfere with one another.
13. With out a detailed analysis of your particular document and needs, and this is especially true for LiveCycle forms, no one can just give you an exact solution.
14. Designing scripts from the ground up takes time, effort, and a detailed knowledge of the particulars. This is really your job, so if you are copying scripts, be kind to the developer, you're getting their invaluable help for free.
15. If you are asking for advice on how to modify a script, be specific and clear. Provide all necessary information.
16. And since it's your job, it's your responsibility to make the appropriate changes to the copied script. Remember, it's the names that count.
17. Ok, values are important as well. Often you'll have to change the values used in a script. But this is less important to making the script work.
18. Yeah, you need the correct values to make the script work correctly, but to make the script work at all the names have to be right.
19. Names first, then values.
20. And for heaven's sake, don't forget to relax:)

Posted: 2008-10-18

MAX Time Again

Act Now!! You have only one final opportunity to see me speak this year. At the Adobe MAX Conference in San Francisco. Ok, there will other people there as well, and Acrobat isn't exactly the main attraction;)

Posted: 2008-10-16

Old Friend, new Blog

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Posted: 2008-10-14

Post Conference, back from Minneapolis

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Posted: 2008-10-12

Back On Line (again)

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Posted: 2008-06-17

Acrobat 9 JavaScript Revealed

There are plenty new changes to Acrobat JavaScript with the soon to be released Acrobat 9.

• JavaScript

Posted: 2008-02-04

PDF around the world

Last November, WindJack Solutions traveled to Thailand and the Philippines. We went to Thailand first for a wedding and then flew from Bangkok to Manila, then from Manila to Davao (where the Great Ted Padova lives), and then back again to Thailand before coming back to the US. We did some touring and sat (or stood) around in a lot of airports, so we had quite a bit of time and contact with the middle classes and business travelers from all over Asia, as well as the sessions I did in Davao which introduced me to the local techy scene. Let me tell you people, they are not waiting for PDF to come to them. Asia has got to be the fastest growing techy market in the world and they are into everything, including PDF.

I think that probably 8 out of 10 people I talked to knew what PDF was, better stats than here. Just to give you a general idea of the fast pace of growth. We were in Bangkok 8 years ago and it was a typical smelly, crowded third world city. Now they have excellent, clean, subways, elevated trains, shopping malls, and highways, and skyscrapers as far as you can see. The suburbs are packed with business and conference centers and western style condos. You wouldn't know it was the same city.

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In the airports and touring we met lots of Filipino travelers. Nearly all of them work in call centers and use PDF as a standard business tool. These guys are the heart of the upwardly mobile. They are all well educated and keen on technology. They have disposable income and go to Thailand for shopping. In the Manila airport we met one guy from Singapore who does conference organizing all over Asia. When we told him we were in the Acrobat/PDF software business he looked at us with awe and said "PDF saved my life!!". That's a pretty good endorsement.

Many years ago we were in India where we had a similar experience. The clerks in nearly every hotel we stayed in had degrees in Computer Science. The place was brimming over with un-used talent. Well, things can't go on like that for long. Today India is not only the software outsourcing capital of the world, it's also the hub of a home grown Asian software and technology market, i.e., they don't need us so much anymore to buy their stuff. I know lots of guys from India that came over here 10-20 years ago because this was where the money was. Lots of them are sorry they left India because now they can't afford to go back. It's grown too fast and it's now a place to be. One guy told me that he tried to buy some Land around Bangalore (where he is from) and couldn't even come close to affording it. He was shocked at the change.

I heard the same story almost 20 years ago from a guy I knew from Taiwan . He left for greener pastures here in the US and after a while he couldn't go back because it was too expensive. All his friends made a fortune with big salaries and real-estate.

The Philippines seems to be in exactly this same position right now. Overflowing with talented ambitious kids.

Posted: 2008-01-28

The Long Awaited Post

Sorry to have been gone for so long, but over the last few months things have been happening.

To start out, for the month of November WindJack Solutions took a trip to Asia. Part of that time was spent in the Philippines at the home of the world famous PDF author and all around great guy, Ted Padova. When Ted heard we were coming he immediately started finding ways to put us work. The city Ted lives in, Davao, has several higher educational institutions and a growing high-tech community. He's a member of a group of people who are very keen on making Davao the high tech center of the Philippines, what they like to call the "Silicon Gulf Coast".

Posted: 2007-10-09

Adobe MAX Returns

I know I should have been blogging about the MAX before I actually went, but I have excuses. I had to do quite a bit of prep, 2 different sessions with complex examples. Besides, you never know how these things are going to turn out, better to wait and see. Given how things went last year, i.e. zero interest in PDF, I was a bit skeptical.

So now that I'm back, I can say that it was way better for us PDF types than last year. The traditional Adobe stuff like Acrobat and the Creative Suite were much better represented. PDF seemed to come up at every turn, have some kind of association with all the hot stuff (i.e. AIR, Flex, and ColdFusion), and the attendees seemed generally interested in knowing more about how PDF could be better integrated into their tool-sets and workflows. I take this as a sign that the Web development ecosystem is maturing.

But I'm getting too philosophical. Fact is, all my presentations Rocked, or at least I think they did. I haven't seen the evaluations yet, but I'm happy to bask in false glory until the results come in. Probably the biggest reason the sessions seemed to go so well was that people really are more interested in PDF. But, I like to think that it was because for the first time in my speaking career I had a not so boring talk. Let's face it, JavaScript can be pretty dull after lunch in a hot conference room. I'm seen my share of attendees go comatose after 20 minutes of data types and variable scope. I've even had people fall out of their chairs, not that I'm proud of it, but it just goes to show how completely devoid of entertainment value this stuff can be.

This time I had a Hip-Hop video ,a lot of really cool examples, and no code. The session was called "Pimp My PDF", which in itself is pretty entertaining. It was all about the kinds of interactive and dynamic features that can be added to a PDF. To start off the talk I did a little routine where I was confused about the name of the talk, and then I played the video. This is the First Ever PDF HipHop Song, and it was created just for me and my talk by my good friends Aki and Rachel Kumar, who are seriously creative as well as being die hard techies. Actually, Rachel was the one who wrote, scored, choreographed, made all the props, and directed it. That girls got talent. Here's a link to the video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hnfMuw93Uyk

After something like that the rest of the session is at serious risk of being boring by comparison. But fortunately, I had some great unboring examples provided by both Ted Padova and Bob Connolly. Bob's got an incredible portfolio of fancy multimedia PDFs (brochures, e-mags, and the like). You can see this stuff at his web site, (http://www.bcpictures.com/) .

Lots of other stuff also went on at the conference- sneak peeks, Bruce Chizen's keynote, other more interesting sessions than mine, and of course all the orgies with free food and alcohol. Whoops, I don't think I was supposed to give that bit away, NDA and all ;^) Oh well, See ya next year in San Francisco, should be wilder!