Microinput Corporation - [ADOBE EXPERTS]

Upgrading from LiveCycle ES to LiveCycle ES Update 1

Adobe introduced LiveCycle ES Update 1 in June 2008. The latest release includes enhancements to installation, administration, application development, and end-user experiences. LiveCycle ES Update 1 offers a variety of benefits and reasons to upgrade from the previous version, LiveCycle ES, introduced in June 2007.

What new solution components are included in Adobe LiveCycle ES Update 1 software?
- There are three new solution components included in Adobe LiveCycle ES Update 1 software. They are:
  
  - Adobe LiveCycle Content Services ES, which enables rapid development and deployment of content-rich applications
  
  - Adobe LiveCycle PDF Generator 3D ES, which automates creation and assembly of PDF documents, including CAD drawings
  
  - LiveCycle ES Connectors for ECM, which extend your LiveCycle ES applications to connect with industry-leading enterprise content management (ECM) systems such as IBM Content Manager

What are the key enhancements to LiveCycle Workbench ES?
- The Adobe LiveCycle Workbench ES development environment now contains these enhanced capabilities:
  
  - Record and playback: Now debug your LiveCycle applications by recording processes as they're executed on the server. If you come across a problem during development, play the recordings back to see the routes your process took (and the values of variables at each step).
  
  - Process validation: Use this new feature to help ensure that your processes are well formed before deploying them to the server.
  
  - Ease-of-use enhancements: Find those services and properties you need more quickly.
  
  LiveCycle Workbench ES software embeds Adobe LiveCycle Designer ES software. Enhancements to LiveCycle Designer ES include:
  
  - Advanced typographic controls to help improve control over text formatting through pair kerning, horizontal and vertical scaling, letter spacing, and dot leaders
  
  - Tab order authoring improvements, including a new interface for creating tab order
  
  - Hyphenation control on form text and data
  
  - Ability to embed live hyperlinks into interactive forms or dynamic documents
  
  - mproved control over dynamic page layouts, including widow and orphan controls and Keep With Next controls
  
  - Web service authentication at transport and SOAP levels
  
  - Improved authoring of form guides, including panel preview, accessibility, and updated layouts, navigation, and help
What are the key enhancements to LiveCycle ES Foundation?
- Adobe LiveCycle ES Foundation offers these enhancements:
  
  - Scripted deployment: Automate and maintain applications from development and staging to production.
  
  - Process deletion: Enable script-based deletion of completed processes that are no longer needed.
  
  - Backup and restore: Take advantage of enhanced services to better support 24x7 environments.
  
  - User management enhancements: Enjoy support for single sign-on, Microsoft Active Directory referral, Domino LDAP, and other services.
  
  - JMX support: More easily monitor LiveCycle ES applications using third-party tools.
What are the additions to the platform matrix?
- - Support for new versions of Adobe clients, including Adobe Reader® 9, Adobe Acrobat® 9, Adobe Flex® 3, and Adobe AIR™
  
  - Updated support for enterprise platforms
What is involved in upgrading from LiveCycle ES to LiveCycle ES Update 1?
- The effort you've invested in creating forms and processes will be preserved. With few exceptions, your organization will be able to upgrade from LiveCycle 7 to LiveCycle ES Update 1, and all your existing assets will continue to function within the new infrastructure, without any changes.
  
  LiveCycle upgrades fall into two major categories: an upgrade event or an upgrade project. An upgrade event is an administrative effort, while an upgrade project is a development effort. If you're upgrading from LiveCycle ES to LiveCycle ES Update 1, you will have an upgrade event.
  
  When you upgrade from LiveCycle ES to LiveCycle ES Update 1, all your forms, processes, and applications will continue to work without modifications. You should be able to upgrade your system quickly and easily. You should only have to perform a minimum set of tests to ensure your system is working as expected. Use the documentation of the exceptions to prepare before you proceed with your upgrade. With Update 1, your LiveCycle ES infrastructure should remain consistent. You may need to apply minor patches to your operating system, database, or application server.
  
  Your administration team should be able to upgrade from LiveCycle ES to LiveCycle ES Update 1, but administrators may need help from your LiveCycle process and application experts to make sure that their areas continue to behave as they did with the previous version of LiveCycle.
  
  For details about upgrading, please contact Microinput representative.
If I upgrade to LiveCycle ES Update 1, does everyone in my organization need to upgrade to Adobe Reader 9?
- No. When you upgrade your server to LiveCycle ES Update 1, users inside and outside your organization who use PDF forms created by LiveCycle will not have to upgrade to Adobe Reader 9 software. LiveCycle ES Update 1 has been designed to work with Reader 7.0.5 and later, Reader 8, and Reader 9. The only reason users may be required to upgrade their Reader software is if your form authors choose to use some of the new form features provided by LiveCycle ES Update 1.
If my organization is upgrading to Reader 9, do I need to upgrade to LiveCycle Update 1?
- No. Adobe Reader can be upgraded independently of LiveCycle. Reader 9 has been tested with LiveCycle ES and LiveCycle 7. As long as your users don't use any special features of Acrobat or Reader 9, they can use the newer version of the client with the old version of the server.

Which solution components support batch conversion of PDF to PDF/A files?

Adobe LiveCycle PDF Generator ES and Adobe LiveCycle Output ES help you create PDF/A documents or convert existing documents to PDF/A, the ISO standard for long-term archiving of digital records. New with Update 1 is the ability to convert large quantities of existing PDF documents to PDF/A-1b, with a validation step that first checks compliance with the standard, and then converts the file if necessary. Because the PDF/A specification doesn't support digital signatures, LiveCycle ES gives you the option to capture signature validation information in the document's metadata, and then insert an image of the validated signature before converting it to PDF/A.

The following chart identifies supported formats in each solution component.

Convert from this format	Convert to this format with LiveCycle PDF Generator ES	Convert to this format with LiveCycle Output ES
Microsoft Office, AutoCAD	PDF/A-1a	n/a
Any supported native file format	PDF/A-1b	n/a
PostScript®	PDF/A-1b	n/a
HTML	PDF/A-1b	n/a
PDF	PDF/A-1b	PDF/A-1b
AcroForm	PDF/A-1b	PDF/A-1b
Static XFA	n/a	PDF/A-1b
Signed static XFA	n/a	PDF/A-1b
Dynamic XFA	n/a	PDF/A-1b
PDF artwork	n/a	PDF/A-1b
Signed PDF artwork	n/a	PDF/A-1b

This information also applies to Adobe LiveCycle PDF Generator 3D ES.

How do I prepare to upgrade to LiveCycle ES?
- Please contact Microinput representative for more information.
How do I request an upgrade?

If your organization holds a current maintenance and support contract, your designated point-of-contact receives an e-mail containing a complementary upgrade coupon and detailed instructions on the process when each new version is released. If you don't have access to this e-mail or if you would like to Need to Know More? about the process, contact Microinput customer service.

Can I get a trial version of LiveCycle ES Update 1?

Yes. Please contact Microinput representative.