Smartform vs Adobe POs in SRM 5.0

[Former Member]

Hi,

Is Smartforms still the preferred tool for developing PO type documents in SRM 5.0? If it's not and one could use Adobe, does it matter which option is taken?

I haven't seen the Adobe format option in the config so I'm assuming that at this point it's not available.

Regards,

Jerry Martinek

[Former Member · Accepted solution]

Hi Jerry,

Smartforms are still used in SRM 5.0.

Adobe & SAP partnership aims to handle all SAP output through Adobe technology.

In SRM 5.0, only few new scenarios are using Adobe forms instead of Smartforms (like skill template in SRM 4.0 for "Request external staff" scenario): Invoice Management System (IMS).

If Adobe Document Server is installed, then you can design forms using Adobe Designer instead of Smarforms.

And the end, the result is the same: a PDF document.

But Adobe Designer is much more flexible than Smartforms, and can also be used to build interactive forms (the content is then interpreted by the application, like for IMS).

Rgds

Christophe

[Former Member · Accepted solution]

Hello Christophe,

Thank you for your response. If I understand your response correctly, at sometime in the future, SAP will be migrating/cutting over to Adobe from Smartforms.

In SRM 5.0, this Adobe technology is not yet standard but is 'possible' so one could produce an Adobe form if desired. At this point however, we should continue using Smartforms until the official cutover.

Also, at this point, SAP doesn't provide Adobe PO templates. Any idea when this may happen?

Regards,

Jerry Martinek

[Former Member · Accepted solution]

Jerry,

we can not say that:

"In SRM 5.0, this Adobe technology is not yet standard but is 'possible' so one could produce an Adobe form if desired".

It is standard !! and even used in few scenarios.

For your forms design, you can use both methods as you prefer.

SAP did not migrated all smartforms to Adobe because there is not enough added value and time to spend for this in the case of "simple" output forms.

Do you know one customer using standard smartforms ?

No, everyone is designing its own forms.

You can do much more with Adobe than with Smartforms, in the area of interactive forms especially, with embedded application logic.

Adobe designer is maybe more fun and more precise and let you create more complex forms, but for usual forms to output a PDF PO, the workload is not justified.

Rgds

Christophe

[Former Member]

Jerry,

Yes Smartforms is preferred option for PO documents development. When you output the PO, it is created as a PDF document.

Regards