Web Dynpro InteractiveForm API -
IWDInteractiveForm 
Definition
You can use the InteractiveForm UI element to insert an interactive PDF form into a view. This enables you to create and design a form from scratch. The layout of the PDF form is designed using the tool Adobe Designer (a software product by Adobe). The required Adobe-specific standard objects are provided by a library. These standard objects are subdivided into field objects and text module objects. They represent layout elements like text fields, time fields, push buttons, or checkboxes. They can be inserted into the PDF form template. Field objects like push buttons, radio buttons, checkboxes, and dropdown list boxes enable the user to interact with the application. On the other hand, text module objects like circles, rectangles, and static texts have a static characteristic and can only be used for presentations with a static content. The function of the field objects is similar to that of Web Dynpro UI elements and, like Web Dynpro UI elements, they can also be bound to context attributes of the context of the corresponding view that is filled with the data. However, the standard objects are not displayed in SAP Standard Design 2002 on the PDF form. For information about the use of Adobe Designer, refer to the online help of this tool.
The Adobe Designer is automatically called when you edit the InteractiveForm UI element inserted into the view. You edit the InteractiveForm UI element by selecting Edit in the context menu of the UI element.
You must install Acrobat Reader 6.0 or a full version of Adobe Acrobat 6.0 if you want to use the InteractiveForm UI element. In addition, the required Adobe component in the SAP NetWeaver Developer Studio must be installed. This component for the use of interactive PDF forms is not installed by default. However, it is very easy to install it.
Note that the interaction of the standard objects is not activated if the enabled property is set to false. In this case, the user cannot interact with the application.
Note that when using the InteractiveForm UI element you cannot display two
InteractiveForm UI elements at the same time in the browser window.
For detailed information on the forms based on PDF, refer to the SAP Library under
SAP NetWeaver ® Application Platform (SAP Web Application Server) ® Business Services ® PDF-based Forms.
Description of the UI Element Properties
·
dataSource
This property is used to
specify the data source. You can use it to specify the path to the context
node providing the data. The structure of this context node is displayed in
the tab Data View of the Adobe Designer. The context attributes of the
node can be bound to the Adobe-specific layout elements defined in the form.
These elements are the standard objects and provide the data at runtime.
·
mode
Specifies the mode of the UI
element. At design time, you can specify how the PDF document is created.
The mode property can be filled with the
following values and is represented by the enumeration type WDInteractiveFormMode.
generatePdf |
This mode value is used to generate a new PDF document from the data source and the template. |
updateDataInPdf |
This mode value is used to update a PDF document with the data provided by the data source or to create a new PDF document from the data source and the template if no PDF document exists. |
usePdf |
This mode value does not change the original PDF document. The data source and the template for the creation of the PDF document are ignored. |
·
pdfSource
Specifies the path of the context
element that contains the PDF document. You must bind this property to a
context attribute of the type binary. The application development can then access the
binary file and download it to the local hard disk or read and send the data
to a back-end using a Remote Function Call (RFC) and the data type
XSTRING.
Make sure that the context attribute bound to the pdfSource property is not inserted into the structure of the context node that is to be used for the data of the PDF form. Otherwise the structure of this context attribute is also displayed in the tab Data View of the Adobe Designer:
·
templateSource
Specifies the unique name of the template. The name is automatically generated
when the InteractiveForm UI element is inserted into the view. The element
contains the name of the view and the ID of the InteractiveForm UI element
– for example, <view>_<UI element ID>.xdp.
Overview of Inherited and Additional Properties
Name |
Interface |
Type |
Initial Value |
Bindable |
Value Required |
dataSource |
IWDInteractiveForm |
Object |
|
bindable_mandatory |
Yes |
IWDUIElement |
boolean |
true |
bindable |
No |
|
IWDAbstractActiveComponent |
String |
300px |
bindable |
No |
|
mode |
IWDInteractiveForm |
WDInteractiveFormMode |
updateDataInPdf |
bindable |
No |
pdfSource |
IWDInteractiveForm |
Object |
|
bindable_mandatory |
No |
templateSource |
IWDInteractiveForm |
String |
|
not_bindable |
No |
IWDUIElement |
String |
|
bindable |
No |
|
IWDUIElement |
WDVisibility |
visible |
bindable |
No |
|
IWDAbstractActiveComponent |
String |
300px |
bindable |
No |
Events
·
onCheck
Describes the action to be
executed when the user selects the Check pushbutton. If the user does not
create the onCheck action, the corresponding pushbutton is also not available
in the Adobe Designer.
·
onSubmit
Describes the action to be
executed when the user selects the Submit pushbutton. If the user does not
create the onSubmit action, the corresponding pushbutton is also not available
in the Adobe Designer.
Data Binding
For an example of
data binding of the UI element properties, refer to 
Example of the Use of an Interactive
PDF Form.
Methods in the Web Dynpro IWDInteractiveForm API
Method Name |
Parameter |
Return Value |
Description |
bindDataSource |
(String path) |
|
Binds the dataSource property to the context node specified by a path. |
bindingOfDataSource |
|
String |
Returns the path of the context element to which the dataSource property is bound. Returns NULL if no binding exists. |
bindingOfMode |
|
String |
Returns the path of the context element to which the mode property is bound. Returns NULL if no binding exists. |
bindingOfPdfSource |
|
String |
Returns the path of the context element to which the pdfSource property is bound. Returns NULL if no binding exists. |
bindMode |
(String path) |
|
Binds the value of the mode property to the context element specified by the path. |
bindPdfSource |
(String path) |
|
Binds the pdfSource property to the context node specified by a path. |
getMode |
|
WDInteractiveFormMode |
Returns the value of the mode property. |
getOnCheck |
|
IWDAction |
Returns the action that is executed if the onCheck event is raised. |
getOnSubmit |
|
IWDAction |
Returns the action that is executed if the onSubmit event is raised. |
getPdfSource |
|
Object |
Returns the value of the pdfSource property. |
getTemplateSource |
|
String |
Returns the value of the templateSource property. |
mappingOfOnCheck |
|
IWDParameterMapping |
Returns the parameter mapping for the onCheck action. |
mappingOfOnSubmit |
|
IWDParameterMapping |
Returns the parameter mapping for the onSubmit action. |
setMode |
(WDInteractiveFormMode mode) |
|
Sets the value of the mode property. |
setOnCheck |
(IWDAction action) |
|
Sets the action that is executed when the onCheck event is triggered. |
setOnSubmit |
(IWDAction action) |
|
Sets the action that is executed when the onSubmit event is triggered. |
setPdfSource |
(Object pdfSource) |
|
Sets the value of the pdfSource property. |
setTemplateSource |
(String templateSource) |
|
Sets the value of the templateSource property. |
Additional methods described in the following APIs are available using inheritance: IWDAbstractActiveComponent, IWDUIElement, IWDViewElement.