LiveCycle Designer - Easy script to reset dynamic tables

2013-05-26T14:14:00.002-07:00

There are numerous examples on generating and populating dynamic tables in Adobe LiveCycle Designer, but very few demonstrating how to reset tables tables to their original state.

A very common request I get is to render a table based on certain selection criteria, which results in the table continuously changing. Since the table and data are 'dynamic', it's important that the form properly redender when this selection are made. (The data in the form below is being populated by a web service that I developed in Adobe LiveCycle ES3)

In the form below, there is a dynamic table that changes based on the which user is selected in the drop-down field. The number of rows for the resulting tables in unknown, so in order to properly re-render the table correctly, I reset the table to its initial state.

I've created a simple function below for this purpose. It accepts the row object reference as an input paramater. The function gets the total number of rows in the table, and removes all instances expect the first instance.

LiveCycle Designer - Parsing digital signature data with JavaScript

2013-05-26T11:23:00.003-07:00

Validating and extracting data from Digital Signatures in Adobe LiveCycle Designer is a topic that I'm frequently asked about. One frequently requested requirement involves displaying the signature date and the common name of the person that signed the digital signature; however, many people do not know that there is much more that can be obtained from the digital signature using JavaScript.

In addition to the date and common name, the following elements can be obtained using JavaScript:

Validity Start Date
Validity End Date
Serial Number
Issuer DN (Distinguished Date)
Contact Information

Before attempting to extract data from a digital signature, the signature should be validated. When a user selects the signature field, a pop-up prompting them to select their signature and or enter a password is displayed.

To validate the digital signature in JavaScript, the 'signatureValidate()' method is used. In the code below, the oState variable will be assigned one of the following possible values.

-1 not a signature field

0 signature is blank

1 unknown status

2 signature is invalid

3 signature is valid, identity of signer could not be verified

4 signature and identity of signer are both valid

In the code below I am only checking to ensure that a the signature is valid signature. I will use Adobe LiveCycle Digital Signatures ES3 to validate the identity of the signer and certificate.

Please note the full path is used when referencing the Signature field object.
If you wanted to ensure the identity of the signature was valid, you could do so by changing the condition to:
if(oState == 4)

var oState = event.target.getField("form1[0].signatureForm[0].SignatureField1[0]").signatureValidate();

The next step is getting the signature and certificate information.

In the image above, the variables 'signatureInformation' and 'signatureCertificate' are defined. The 'signatureInformation' variable is used to store the the signature information data returned from the 'signatureInfo()' method. The 'signatureCertificate' variable stores the certificate information of the digital signature that was used to sign the referenced signature field.

A few useful signatureInfo() properties:

name - Name of the user that created the signature (returns String)
contactInfo - The user-specified contact information for determining trust (returns String)
date - The date and time that the signature was created, returned as a JavaScript Date object.
timestamp - The URL of the server for time-stamping (returns String)
verifyDate - The date and time that the signature was verified (if the signature has been verified), returned as a JavaScript Date object.

A few useful certificate properties:

subjectCN - The common name of the signer (returns String)
serialNumber - A unique identifier for this certificate, used in conjunction with issuerDN (returns String)
validityStart - The validity start date of the certificate. Before a digital ID can be used for signing Acrobat, ensures that the signing time is more recent than the validityStart date, returned as a JavaScript Date object.
validityEnd - The validity end date of the certificate. Before a digital ID can be used for signing, Acrobat ensures that the signing time is prior to the validityEnd date.
issuerDN - The distinguished name of the issuer of the certificate, returned as an RDN object.

Some of the properties of the RDN object include:

cn - common name
dateOfBirth
countryOfCitizenship
givenName
initials
name
dc - domain component
o - organization
ou - organizational unit

The code below demonstrates how signatureInfo, certificate and RDN properties can be used to obtain information about the digital signature.

To learn more about me and my development services, please visit www.toniwilliams.net.

Adobe LiveCycle and E-Forms Development with Toni Williams

LiveCycle Designer - Easy script to reset dynamic tables

LiveCycle Designer - Parsing digital signature data with JavaScript