The Adobe intelligent document architecture As the need to interact with data stored in enterprise applications has expanded beyond the initial set of core users, the expense and time required to adapt the systems to meet this need have become prohibitive. The result has been a proliferation of manual workarounds, resulting in process inefficiencies, delays, and poor quality of information.
The Adobe intelligent document architecture enables enterprises to solve these problems by facilitating information sharing and business transactions that extend beyond core applications and users.
The intelligent document architecture is made up of three components:
The intelligent document Intelligent documents retain the best characteristics of static documents, such as a familiar look and feel, while adding powerful business logic capabilities, such as data validations and routing instructions, that allow for more efficient interaction with enterprise applications.
Intelligent documents are made up of three functional layers:
Presentation layer. Lets you create a content-rich document of high visual quality that reflects the intention of the author.
Business logic layer. Provides the ability to embed business logic, such as calculations and validations, directly into the document. Document security can be controlled at this layer.
XML data transport layer. Enables capturing data and moving it to people and applications based on the rules of the business.
Because they are based on Adobe® Portable Document Format (PDF), intelligent documents include these additional components:
Security features. With support for electronic signatures and document control, enterprises can better protect document authenticity, integrity, and confidentiality.
Archiving capability. Ideally suited for archiving purposes, Adobe PDF can lock down content to create auditable documents of record — especially important for governmental agencies and highly regulated industries.
Universal clients The intelligent document architecture provides access to intelligent documents through universal clients — free Adobe Reader® software and Web browsers. Universal clients enable users inside and outside the firewall to interact with intelligent documents over any device, from desktop and laptop computers to PDAs, mobile phones, and kiosks.
Adobe Reader is supported on every major operating system and virtually every electronic device. To date, more than 500 million copies of Reader have been distributed worldwide, making Adobe PDF a recognized standard for secure and reliable document exchange.
Because intelligent documents contain data and business logic within them, people can use Adobe Reader to participate in business processes even when they are offline. In addition, Adobe Reader can activate dormant features contained within intelligent documents to provide additional interactive capabilities, such as saving forms and data locally, adding comments, and applying digital signatures.
With universal clients, customers, partners, and employees can view and interact with intelligent documents any time, anywhere, on any device.
Document services Adobe document services enable you to create and integrate intelligent documents with your enterprise applications and business processes. Key capabilities include collaboration, document generation, form design, and process management.
Collaboration: Streamline collaborative processes among users to accelerate review cycles.
Document generation: Dynamically generate personalized, customer-facing documents from enterprise applications for enhanced customer communications.
Form design: Easily design intelligent documents that contain business logic and leverage the power of XML.
Process management: Deploy intelligent data capture systems and rules-based process management to facilitate business transactions.
