XFA Specification
Chapter 1, Introduction to XML Forms Architecture (XFA)
Family of XFA Grammars
16
Printing Forms
An XFA processing application can be requested to print a filled-out or blank form. During this process, the
characteristics of the form may be printed with a range of options.
●
As viewed by user. The form may be printed with the same characteristics as seen by the user during
form fill-in.
Bar coded. The form may be printed, using barcode values in place of text values.
●
Processing Machine-Generated Data
Most people think of an interactive form as something that interacts with a user, but XFA templates may
specify interactions that are entirely machine oriented. For example, an XFA template may describe a
machine-interactive form that consumes data produced by another machine, performs some calculations
and scripts, and then submits the updated data to another machine. The sources of data could be a data
base front-end, a barcode reader, or a client application submitting data.
Family of XFA Grammars
XFA defines a family of XML grammars used to define an interactive form. These grammars are reflected in
the internal representation of XFA forms, when a form is being processed. They are also reflected in XDP,
which is the external representation of XFA forms, when part or all of an XFA form is being moved from one
application to another.
Representation of an XFA Form
XFA
datasets
template
PDF
Other
XFA-related
packages
XML
data