Policy Document creation from an XML feed

Yes, this is something that PDF can do. There are a few options.

A. Getting Data into Acrobat
1. Acrobat can import xml into a form.
2. Acrobat can import an XML file as an attachment
3. Acrobat can conntect to a Web Service, HTML site, or a DB, or Excel file

Acrobat JavaScript can parse XML, extract data from field, and read raw data from a file attachement. The extracted data can then be used to fill in form fields or build a custom (text only) report.

Acrobat JavaScript can also attach a PDF to an email and send it off.

The easiest approach is to build a dynamic LiveCycle form where one page represents a single XML record, and then import the xml into it.

Form a more automated approach, or if the XML is not a single file, I'd suggest building an automation script to control the entire process of acquiring the XML, applying it to a PDF, and then emailing it out.

Thom Parker
The source for PDF Scripting Info
[url=http://www.pdfScripting.com]pdfscripting.com[/url]

The Acrobat JavaScript Reference, Use it Early and Often
[url=http://www.adobe.com/devnet/acrobat/javascript.php]http://www.adobe.com/devnet/acrobat/javascript.php[/url]

Then most important JavaScript Development tool in Acrobat
[url=http://www.pdfscripting.com/public/34.cfm#JSIntro][b]The Console Window (Video tutorial)[/b][/url]
[url=http://www.acrobatusers.com/tutorials/2006/javascript_console][b]The Console Window(article)[/b][/url]

Thomp, commenting on this post you said

"Form a more automated approach, or if the XML is not a single file, I'd suggest building an automation script to control the entire process of acquiring the XML, applying it to a PDF, and then emailing it out."

this is the kind of process we need -- are there any scripting samples for something similar online that you know of?

our ideal workflow is (1) user submits xml from livecycle to x email address including hidden field specifying it's document type e.g. {companydoc1234} (2) this tool chceks for new email(s) (3) tool applies xml to all acrobat (template) forms under folder companydoc1234 on server (4) filled templates returned by email

we've not found anything like this/or anyone who seemed to know where to start (but to be fair we're probably asking the wrong questions)

thanks for any pointers/suggestions

So you need an automatic data handling process? What you are describing is a fairly sophisticated workflow.

If you are talking about a very small volumn process, then you could do this on the desktop with a custom VB app and some Acrobat JavaScript. No servers involved.

But Acrobat is a desktop tool and cannot be used in a server process. So if your talking about a larger server based process you'll need server side tools. In this case, forget about email. Submit the data directly to the server.

The perfect server side tool for this is ColdFusion. It can both handle incoming data and form filling with LiveCycle forms.

These are the guys who know all about it:
http://www.fuzzyorange.co.uk/

Thom Parker
The source for PDF Scripting Info
[url=http://www.pdfScripting.com]pdfscripting.com[/url]

The Acrobat JavaScript Reference, Use it Early and Often
[url=http://www.adobe.com/devnet/acrobat/javascript.php]http://www.adobe.com/devnet/acrobat/javascript.php[/url]

Then most important JavaScript Development tool in Acrobat
[url=http://www.pdfscripting.com/public/34.cfm#JSIntro][b]The Console Window (Video tutorial)[/b][/url]
[url=http://www.acrobatusers.com/tutorials/2006/javascript_console][b]The Console Window(article)[/b][/url]

thanks thomp,

ill check them out