Adobe Systems is teaching PDF documents how to speak XML to provide ties to enterprise systems.
The San Jose, Calif., company is working on a new version of its Form Designer product that will allow companies to include
XML schemas when creating forms. These forms can be distributed in PDF or XDP (XML Data Package) format. Once filled in, they
can be processed as a PDF or as XML, Adobe said.
XDP files are XML files that contain XML form data, XML form templates, PDF documents, and other XML information. They work
with enterprise applications via common XML tools and Web services, according to Adobe.
"Enterprise systems are already speaking XML so we are delivering XML technology customers have asked for," said Charles Myers,
product manager in Adobe's ePaper Solutions Group.
For example, a bank can make a loan application form available online. A customer can fill it in offline using the free Acrobat
Reader software from Adobe and then submit it to the bank. Because the data is submitted as XML, it can go directly into a
loan processing system that supports XML, Adobe said.
Form Designer is a product Adobe acquired when it bought Canadian electronic-forms software and service provider Accelio in
April last year. The new version of the software is scheduled to be available in early 2004, with a beta test phase planned
for the fourth quarter of this year, Adobe said.
Pricing for the new Form Designer has yet to be determined. The current version costs $1,695, according to Adobe's Web site.
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