Review, Commenting, and Approval building block architecture

The Review, Commenting, and Approval building block provides services to easily create flexible human-centric processes to handle the review and approval of documents. In addition to the services, various assets are provided and installed as part of the ReviewCommentingAndApproval application.

The building block services also provide the basis for LiveCycle applications that include managed and auditable workflows for document review, commenting, and approval. You can use the services in Workbench or invoke them programmatically using Java APIs and Flex APIs

Human centric processes are processes that involve users to review information, provide information, or both using Acrobat or Adobe Reader 9.2 and later. (See Designing human-centric processes in LiveCycle Workbench 9.5 Help .)

The following block diagram describes the architecture and indicates how various services interact together. The following legend describes the color scheme:

• Yellow: Building block services and components.

• Purple: Customer components.

• Blue: LiveCycle server.

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Review, Commenting, and Approval building block architecture diagram.

Review Commenting & Approval Core:

The service provides functions to handle building block functions from the user. It is invoked by a custom application or another service external to the building block. When the service is invoked, it provides the following building block functions:

• Initiates, revises, and revokes reviews. When review is created, a review context is created based on a provided review template. The review context has a unique identifier and used to identify the review.

• Calls the ReviewZoneProvider service to create a review zone to store.

• Requests sent by users to retrieve review documents, add or remove participants from a review, revise a review, revoke a review and search for a review.

• Update review details, such as the reviewers and approvers, a review stage duration.

• Tracks and searches review and review templates.

• Sends configuration information for audits.

• Define custom events for notifying significant occurrences during a review.

Review Comment & Approval Util:

The service provides non-core building block functions required by the Review Commenting & Approval Core service, such as finding users, checking permissions, and converting documents to string values.

Email Templater:

The EmailTemplatorService creates email to send to approvers, reviewers, review moderators, review initiators, and review administrators. Emails are created using email templates provided by the Review Commenting & Approval Core service. The EmailTemplatorService uses Apache Velocity engine to send notification email.

Repository layer:

The repository layer interfaces with a repository to save review documents and any generated assets that are part of a review. The repository hosts the review using Web-based Distributed Authoring and Versioning (WebDAV) functions to access a Content Management System. The functionality is provided by a service called ReviewZoneProviderService.

Review Zone Provider:

The service provides functions to store review asset, such as supporting documents, review documents, and review templates. As the default, the service, ReviewZoneProviderService uses LiveCycle Content Services 9, but can be modified to use another enterprise content management (ECM) system.

The ECM system you choose is required to support WebDAV for reading and writing of files.

Review Commenting & Approval (system):

The service provides internal functionality for the building block and communicates with the LiveCycle services to implement building block functions. It is not supported to invoke Review Commenting & Approval (system) operations or use APIs from your custom Flex or Java applications. Review Commenting & Approval (system) operation are for internal use only.

ExternalUserRegistrationService:

The service registers external users to LiveCycle Cycle. Each user is identified by a unique email address in a review and requires credentials to in LiveCycle. The ExternalUserRegistrationService service interacts with the LiveCycle server to create new user profiles for users not registered with Adobe User Management.

Data Access Layer:

An abstract layer that uses Hibernate technology to write and read data to a relational database system.

RDBMS:

A relational database system that stores reviews contexts, emails of users, audits, and other review information required by the building block. (See Database tables .)

Building block events:

Custom events that indicate when an occurrence has happened during the review. Examples of such events include, when a review stage has completed or when reviewers and approvers are added to a review. (See Events .)

Audit module:

The module is tightly integrated with the building block services. This module provides audit and logging capabilities for the building block. Each occurrence of an event is logged as an audit action. Any action that occurs in the building block is audited, such as adding an approver to an approval process or completion of a stage within a review. (See Auditing .)

LiveCycle application:

Custom processes, schemas, data files, PDF and XDP files are provided in a LiveCycle ES2.5 application. The assets are required to implement building block functions. You can modify some aspects of building block functions by creating custom versions of the assets. (See Understanding the Review, Commenting, and Approval Building Block Assets .)

LiveCycle ES2.5:

The building block interacts with the LiveCycle server. The building block uses process management, content management, and document services provided by the LiveCycle server. (See LiveCycle ES2.5 Overview .) The following table describes the purpose of the services used by the building block.

Service	Purpose for Review, Commenting, and Approval building block
Process Management	Creates and assigns review and approval tasks.
Reader Extensions	Enables users to comment and sign PDF forms using Adobe Reader.
Content Services	Provides a repository to store review templates, review documents, supporting documents, and other review artifacts.
Forms	Generates approval routing slips and review tracking sheets.
Output	Generates and flattens approval routing slips (ARS), review tracking sheets (RTS), and forms for printing.
Signatures	Provides server-side digital signing capabilities.
PDF Generator	Converts non-PDF files to PDF files for review documents.
Assembler	Merges and modifies PDF documents for reviews.

Custom LiveCycle processes:

You build custom processes to invoke and call the building block functions. You can integrate these custom processes into a review and configure them to execute before and after a review stage. You can also create custom processes as custom task types for the building block. Custom task types are processes that assign tasks to review participants and review initiators.

Custom applications:

Custom applications provide the user interface for users to use building block functionality for your solution.

The Managed Review & Approval Solution Accelerator provides a solution template developed using Flex® that you can leverage to build your own user interface. (See Using the solution template in Managed Review & Approval Solution Accelerator 9.5 Solution Guide .)