Adobe Interactive Forms / Web Services - Connection query

[Former Member]

Hi

We have CRM 2007 and want to use Adobe Interactive forms for our sales managers to upload customer information when they're out in the field. Before they leave all information about the customer will be downloaded to an Adobe Interactive Form. The client sees the customer and then enters the information required to e.g. create a sales order. He has an Internet connection but is not neccessarily logged into CRM 2007. He is a registered user in CRM 2007.

My question is: if we create the web services to send and receive data to the CRM 2007 system, does the sales manager have to be online and signed into the CRM system to upload the Adobe Interactive Forms back to the server, or does the web service handle this?

Kind regards

Declan

[Former Member · Accepted solution]

Hello!

And in what system are you planning do design your web service?

Isn't it CRM2007 where you have to develop this service (e.g. with WebDynpro ABAP)?

Regards,

Petr Perstnev

[Former Member]

Hello Pradeep,

It was a nice blog and we have implemented the offline Adobe Interactive forms with WSDL connection. The issue we have is how to transport the WSDL file to the QA, Pre Prod and Production system as we do not want to save the WSDL file on local machines for each user who completes the offline form.

Thanks.

Vishwanath

[Former Member]

Yes, we're designing it in CRM 2007.

I just need to know if the web service means the registered user does not need to be signed into the system at the time he uploads.

Cheers

Declan

[Former Member]

Hi,

Actually we have two Scenarios of Adobe Interactive Forms that can be used in SAP, one is Online and other is Offline.

Online Interactive Forms need SAP connection every time when the Form is to be processed. It is usually used for Enterprise Portal and are being created using the WebDynpro ABAP/Java.

Offline Interactive Forms doesnt need SAP Connection every time. Once the Form is designed and rendered using SAP then it can be saved to Desktop and after that to submit the form data Submit by Email / WebServices / WebDynpro-Upload can be used to post the data back to the SAP.

First you need to decide where the Form is used for Offline or Online process.

Also while using the WebService the complete PDF is not send to SAP it just uses the Web Service Connection to trigger the RFC Function Module. For Online Interactive Forms the Complete PDF is rendered in SAP for each and every process of SUBMIT.

For your question: if we create the web services to send and receive data to the CRM 2007 system, does the sales manager have to be online and signed into the CRM system to upload the Adobe Interactive Forms back to the server, or does the web service handle this?

--> Here WebService can handle basic authentication, if necessary authentication can be provided in the form for each and every call to webservice. If not required then it can be defaulted to specific user. But using the WerbService Upload of PDF cannot be handled. It can designed using the WebDynpro Upload functionality, where the PDF form can be uploaded and intern coding can be written to post data to SAP.

Regards

Pradeep Goli

Edited by: Pradeep Goli on May 26, 2009 3:49 PM

[Former Member]

Hi Pradeep,

Thanks very much for your reply. We have to go for the offline process using webservice as we do not have CRM 7.0. I am still a little confused with what happens when the Sales Manager attempts to upload the customer record from within the Adobe Interactive Form after his visit.

Can you explain what actually happens when I click the button on the form to upload the data? e.g. does the form trigger execution of the web service which in effect opens up the connection to the CRM 2007 system and authenticates the user? If authentication is successful what happens then? What else does the web service do in this process? Does the form have a link to the web dynpro program embedded in it and this is executed to upload the data? What tells us if the upload was successful, if the user is not online.

Is each Adobe Interactive Form set up with its own webservice and web dynpro?

Can you confirm again that the user will not have to have the CRM application running at the time he presses the submit button in the Adobe Interactive Form?

I'm not actually going to develop this but need to provide the documentation to the client to show how this will work.

Regards

Declan

[Former Member]

Hi Mitchell,

You are going to use the Offline Adobe Interactive Form through the WebService.

Actually WebService is "a software system designed to support interoperable machine-to-machine interaction over a network". Web services are a set of tools that can be used in a number of ways. The three most common styles of use are RPC, SOA and REST. RPC Web services present a distributed function (or method) call interface that is familiar to many developers. Typically, the basic unit of RPC Web services is the WSDL operation. In SAP RPC is nothing but the RFC Function Module.

That is we design a Function Module of type RFC. In this we code like if we consider creation of purchase order then we get all the data using the variables defined in the import parameters, and in turn call the BAPI or any other like BDC etc to create the Purchase Order. And after the Successfull creation of the Purchase Order we get the Return Statement from the BAPI or BDC, etc and we define on export parameter and pass this return parameter to that export parameter and we show this message in the Adobe Form.

Now for this FM we create one WebService and after creation of WebService when we goto the wsadmin tcode we can get on URL or the WSDL(written in XML language) code, this code is to be saved in a notepad with ".wsdl" extension. And now in the Adobe Form we create on Data Connection of type WSDL and when we proceed creation of new connection it asks for the URL path or WSDL file path, then when we define the path the Connection is successfully created. This connection can be seen in the form in "Data View" pallette.

Now binding is to be done to the fields present in the form, this is to be done in the object pallette, i.e. by going into binding tab of the object pallette of that fields and there we find the "Import/Export" bindings then we need to select the Data Connection that is now created and point to respective field.

Now in the Data View, goto the Connection there a button can seen, that button(name it submit (commonly used name) ) must be draged into the layout designer.

After the rendering the form, when we fill on all the fields in the form and click on the submit button then the webservice gets triggered the RFC Function Module so Function Module gets executed in the SAP and posts the data into the respective Transaction(for eg. Purchase Order).

Here there is UPLOAD functionality is used it completely depends on the WebService. Actually the Scenario is the PDF Form is send to the user to enter all the data in the form, when the user fills on all the data, he sends back the form through mail or some other way, now the form which is send back must be uploaded into the SAP to process the data. If you want to design the UPLOAD of PDF form then the scenario is different from webservice, like you need to create on WebDynpro Application and in that application you need to provide the UPLOAD Functionality, and when PDF is uploaded then it needed to be converted using some method to read all the data for which the fields are filled. and now what ever previous code written in Function Module that code is needed to be written in the WebDynpro Methods.

Also WebServices can also be used for filling up any entries based on some entries filled. this methos can be used in both Offline and Online. In offline if you are using Submit by Email or UPLOAD then this webservice can also be used.

Regards

Pradeep Goli

Edited by: Pradeep Goli on May 26, 2009 5:48 PM

[Former Member]

Thank you for your help Pradeep.

Regards

Declan

[Former Member]

Hi Pradeep,

very good text! What i would like to see is a blog/some coding for this offline - web service scenario. The text is very good, but understanding would be better by seeing screenshots and coding. Is it possible to create such blog or does it exists already and i couldn't find!?

[Former Member]

Hi Christopher,

Thanks... Thank you very much... for giving me such a thought, soon I'll plan and prepare a blog and post in SDN.

Regards

Pradeep Goli

[Former Member]

Great, thanks a lot! Would be great if you add the link to this blog, so we receive an update thread e-mail

[Former Member]

Hi Pradeep,

I've a similar scenario of an offline adobe form but I need to submit the data to SAP R/3. Now before submitting the data, I need to authenticate the user against the LDAP server. Is it possible to do that in adobe forms?

Thanks and Regards

Nidhi Jain

[Former Member]

Hi ! Pradeep,

thank you for your help. And how Offline Adobe Interactive Form post data to SAP through the WebService? or how Offline Adobe Interactive Form trigger Web Service? and have you posted your blog about this issue to SDN ?

thanks

Callen Chen