Previewing the Result from a DDX Document

Use Document Builder to preview the resultant document that LiveCycle ES2.5 services produce when the document template is interpreted. Before you can preview a document template, you must provide actual instances of the source documents and assets used in the document template. If all source documents and assets have actual instantiations, you can view the resultant document.

Set up your system for previewing XDP results

The Preview feature uses your browser to display the result from interpreting the DDX document. By default, browsers use Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Reader to open PDF and XDP file types. However, those programs cannot open XDP files. To view an XDP result, configure your system to use Designer to open XDP files.

On Windows systems

  1. Open a folder.

  2. Select Tools> File Options > File Types.

  3. Select the XDP extension from the Registered File Types panel and click Change.

  4. If Designer is present in the Programs list, select it. Otherwise, click Browse and navigate to the Designer executable installed on your computer.

Preview the DDX result

  1. In Document Builder, open the DDX document to preview.

  2. Ensure the DDX document is valid. (See Validating the DDX Document .)

  3. Click Preview Result.

  4. Provide each file’s location in the Select Source Files window. Document Builder lets you specify the file location by using several conventions:

    • Single file on your computer: Select File and click Browse Identify the location of the file.

    • Folder on your computer: Select Folder and click Browse. Identify the location of the folder.

    • String: Select String and enter the desired value for the string parameter.

    When you use the Folder option to supply values to a Source Match property, the files in the folder and all the files in the subfolders are uploaded to the Assembler service.
    To ensure a reasonable preview of the DDX result, the files you supply must contain the properties referenced from the DDX.

  5. Provide values for input map URLs in the Select Source Files window (for example an input map URL could supply the string value for a styled text element. Perform these tasks:

    • Type the input map URL name in the New Source field (lower-left corner) and click Add.

    • Select String and type the value of the string.

  6. To delete entries in the Select Source Files dialog box, select the item (a check mark appears) and then click Delete.

  7. Click OK.

  8. Click Open in Browser to view the resultant document in your browser.

  9. Click Save to save the resultant document or the job log.

Here is an example that shows how to provide an input map URL in the Preview dialog window. For the first source ( sourcePDF1 ), select the type, click the Browse button, and select the file. For the second source ( companyStrings/watermarkString ), select the String type and enter the string in the field. You can use these values to preview the DDX document described in Create a DDX document that adds a dynamic watermark . The resultant document bears a watermark with the styled text that the input map URL provides.

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