XFA Specification
Chapter 3, Object Models in XFA
Document Object Models
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The Configuration DOM
This DOM holds option settings that modify the behavior of all the other DOMs. It may also hold private
(custom) options.
Because it affects so many other things the Configuration DOM is the first one loaded by an XFA processor.
If a script modifies a value in the Configuration DOM there is often no immediate effect because the value
applies to processing which has already occurred.
A major part of the content of the Configuration DOM is a set of data transformation options used by the
XFA Data DOM. It is common to include the Configuration DOM in an XDP in order to ensure that
necessary transformations are carried out.
The Connection Set DOM
This DOM holds information concerning web services using WSDL, such as the URL at which the service is
located.
The Connection Set DOM names each transaction it describes. The transaction names are used to
associate the transactions with events that activate the transactions. Hence this DOM is mandatory if the
form uses web services. It is otherwise optional.
This DOM is commonly loaded from and/or written to an XDP.
The Connection Set Data DOM
This DOM is a temporary buffer holding data going to or coming from a WSDL service, or data going to an
HTTP server for a POST operation.
When used with WSDL this DOM is loaded from and/or written to XML documents, but those documents
are transient messages exchanged with the web service. This DOM is never loaded from or written out to
an XDP or other persistent document.
The Data Description DOM
This DOM holds a schema for the data (as stored in the XFA Data DOM), and/or documents to be
exchanged with web services.
The data description is mandatory if web services are being used, because it supplies the structure of the
documents to be exchanged with the web service. Otherwise it is optional.
Even when present and describing data, its effects are limited. When loading data, XFA does not check
whether data conforms to the data description. Once loaded, scripts may modify the data in ways that are
not consistent with the data description. The data description only affects the data binding operation. If a
data description is present and the data conforms to it then the XFA processor ensures that data inserted
by the data binding operation (see
“Interaction of the DOMs” on page 78)
is also in conformance. Without
the data description, the XFA processor would insert data that conformed to the structure of the template.
Thus the data description enhances the independence of data and template.
The Form DOM
This internal DOM holds the result of merging the data with the template. All nodes in the Form DOM are
tied to nodes representing form entities (such as fields or boilerplate) in the Template DOM. Some nodes in