Hyperlinks, Dynamic Content, and JavaScript in Forms 

Hyperlinks

Any hyperlinks embedded in a form are included in the certification or signing of the form, and are handled as character strings. The page referenced by a hyperlink is not signed. This means that when you change a hyperlink address after the form has been certified or signed, you invalidate the certification or signature, just like any other change made to the form layout. Any changes made to the content of the page referenced by the hyperlink, however, do not affect the validity of a certification or signature.

Dynamic Content

Adobe LiveCycle Designer does not support the inclusion of dynamic content such as video or audio files in forms. Dynamic content will not be run by Adobe Document Services on the server, but you can use Adobe Acrobat to include this content in PDF forms on the client side. When you sign the form, you also sign the dynamic content; any changes made to this content will invalidate the signature. Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Reader lets you decide whether you want to run the dynamic content or not. For certified documents, you also have the option of specifying that you always want dynamic content to run. To do this, configure the appropriate certificate of the certified document accordingly in Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Reader. For more information, see the online help for Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Reader.

Embedded JavaScript

Any JavaScript in a form is included in the certification or signing of the form. When you change the JavaScript code, you invalidate the certification or signature, just like any other change made to the form layout.

Running Scripts

Scripts can modify the appearance and content of forms. If a script modifies a form after it has been signed, the signature check notifies you of this. This modification is handled in exactly the same way as, for example, manual changes made to input fields after a form is signed. The way the signature is displayed in Adobe Reader or Adobe Acrobat indicates that the signature is valid and that changes have been made to fields.

Adobe Acrobat (or Reader) informs you when you certify or sign a form that contains JavaScript, on the client side. For recipients of the form, you can include a message (an attestation), guaranteeing, for example, that the script will not make any changes to the data in the form. When certifications or signatures are implemented on the server side, this is usually done by the application.

High-Privilege JavaScript

High-privilege JavaScript is a type of JavaScript that can run special functions, such as accessing hard drives. Any high-privilege JavaScript embedded in a form is executed only under the following conditions, both on the client side and on the server side:

·        The form must be certified.

·        The certification must be valid.

·        The relevant certificate must be configured to allow the execution of high-privilege JavaScript.

For more information, see the Adobe Document Services Configuration Guide and the online help in Adobe Acrobat and Adobe Reader.