2023 Release Two (2) Expere Engine and Tools Changelog

Expere Engine Release: 2023 Release Two (2)External release date is June 2023. Expere Engine build number is: 23.2.0.5043.

Engine: Support for Embedded PDF documents for Tagged PDFs
  • Type: Feature
Summary: Expere has been enhanced to support a new authoring format, embedded PDF, that has an imported PDF file in the content file (.REQ file). This new .REQ type allows user to import a tagged PDF and specify fields (checkbox or test) as fillable or not. Embedded PDF also has the ability to have signatures which can be configured to be electronically signed if desired. In this release, Embedded PDF functionality supports tagging for WCAG 2.0 compatibility, when a Tagged PDF document option is specified.
WCAG 2.0: Expere Engine enhanced to support Tagged .PDF's
  • Type: Feature
  • Reference: PBI 729340, 765661, 741147, 758040, 763976, 763975, 760325
  • Documentation Impact: See below for pertinent links
Summary: As a part of our continued effort to create WCAG 2.0 compatible documents we have updated the Expere Engine to now support the generation of Tagged .PDF documents. We will continue making enhancements to the Expere Engine for Tagged .PDF support, so check back for items being identified and corrected. As part of our continued work to support Tagged .PDF's, we have implemented enhancements to resolve the following WCAG 2.0-related changes:
  • Dynamic document - linking enhancement (PBI 729340): Previously, Adobe Acrobat tag tree and reading order issues occurred when two locations utilized an "*" to link to additional text; only the first instance that used the "*" appeared as a tags in the tag tree. The second instance did not appear in the tag tree. Users should expect to see the following in the tag tree:
    • The text in the body of the tagged PDF document using a "*" and the linked text containing the footnote
    • Multiple instances of the aforementioned body text and linked text

    This behavior has been enhanced to now display multiple instances of text containing a "*" and the linked text in the Adobe Acrobat tag tree when the REQ is updated to name each of the linked text so that Expere can differentiate between two or more Linked texts with the same display value.

    Note:
    • Users must update their content libraries and files in order to utilize the new LinkName attribute.
    • For more information on linking text in the Requirements Editor, refer to the following help topic: Authoring Superscripts Using LinkText/LinkReference for PDF Tagging.
    • In order to use the new LinkName attribute, users should ensure they are using content stylesheet version 22.8 or later.
  • Dynamic Tagged PDF updated to support PdfMerge and MergeCopyPDF (PBI 765661): Expere has been enhanced so that when generating a tagged PDF from multiple dynamic REQ files using the PdfMerge and MergeCopyPDF ancillary outputs, fillable fields appear in the tag tree in the order they appear in the merged PDF document.
  • Tagged PDF tags displayed in incorrect order (PBI 741147 / 758040 / 763976 / 763975): Expere was enhanced to better support tagging with Dynamic documents for the following functionality:
    • Text containing emphasis tags; when testing CertificationOfBeneficialOwners.req, the tag tree order was incorrect for some text. The tagged PDF functionality has been enhanced to tag text with ‘emphasis’ tags in the proper order in the Adobe Acrobat tag tree.
    • Fillable fields; when testing AutomaticTransferAuthorizationPlainLanguage.req, the Adobe Acrobat tag tree order was incorrect when fillable fields were present. For example: the phrase "Routing Number" and the corresponding fillable field should have appeared in sequential order in the tag tree; however, the fillable field appeared further down in the tag tree. The tagged PDF functionality has been enhancd so that tags used for fillable fields appear in the proper order in the Adobe Acrobat tag tree.
    • List items / bulleted lists: tags associated to lists (i.e. bulleted items within a document) appeared out of order in the Adobe Acrobat tag tree for dynamic documents. The tagged PDF functionality has been enhanced so that tags used with list items appear in the proper order in the Adobe Acrobat tag tree.
  • ADA Implementation Guide updated (PBI 760325): the ADA Implementation Guide has been revised in conjunction with the April release of Expere Content and the Hosted Expere application, which includes released WCAG 2.0-compliant documents and supporting technology. For more information, consult the ADA Implementation Guide.
WCAG 2.0: Expere Engine enhanced to support embedded .PDF's
  • Type: Enhancement
  • Reference: PBI 759760, 760512, 768023, 764256, 767178
  • Documentation Impacts: See below for any pertinent links.
Summary: As part of our continued effort to create WCAG 2.0 compatible documents, we have updated the Expere Engine to support a new document format that we refer to as Embedded PDF. The Embedded PDF will allow Expere to support Tagged PDFs of what was traditionally Static REQs. We will continue making enhancements to the Expere Engine for Embedded PDF REQ files, so check back for items being identified and corrected. As part of our continued work to support Tagged PDFs for Embedded PDF REQ files, we will have implemented the below enhancements:
  • Embedded PDF - fillable checkboxes checked by default (PBI 767178): it was identified that fillable checkboxes were selected by default when generating an Embedded PDF REQ document. The Engine has been enhanced so that when generating an Embedded PDF REQ document, a fillable checkbox is ONLY selected if the corresponding PTR in the REQ file results in PRINT "Checked:true;".
    Note: In the REQ file, a fillable checkbox PTR will contain the following syntax if a checkbox is checked by default when generating a document: PRINT "Checked:true;"; an unchecked checkbox will either contain no syntax or the following syntax: PRINT "Checked:false;".
  • Embedded PDF - Barcodes supported on multiple page Embedded PDF documents (PBI 760512): Expere has been updated to produce barcodes on multiple page embeddedPDF REQ files. The requested barcode (ancillary or transaction barcode) will be present on each page where the Form_Barcode[] fields are present. If no barcode is requested, the document generates without the barcode and Form_Barcode[] fields removed.
  • Embedded PDF - Enhanced Barcode/Cover Page functionality (PBI 768023): Expere has been enhanced so the Adobe Acrobat tag tree in the resulting Tagged PDF is correct and passes the Accessibility Check when using a barcode or barcode cover page.
  • Accessibility Checker failed with tagged PDF (PBI 759760): when generating a single or multi-page tagged PDF for an embeddedPDF document, Adobe Acrobate Accessibility Check reported a "Tagged Content - Failed" error. The tagged PDF functionality has been enhanced to eliminate the "Tagged Content - Failed" error from Adobe Acrobat Accessibility Check in this scenario.
  • Embedded PDF - tagging behavior with checkboxes enhanced (PBI 764256): when generating tagged PDFs containing checkboxes, the Adobe Acrobat tag tree miss represented the checkboxes. The Adobe Acrobat tag tree now has the checkbox Form name populated when generating a tagged PDF. Note that the "Path" tag will only display a value if the checkbox is checked.

    Note: When utilizing a screen reader with the Tagged PDF output to read checkboxes, the users should expect the following:
    • checked checkboxes will be read as checkbox is marked
    • unchecked checkboxes will be read as checkbox is not marked
    • text fields with values will be read in their entirety
    • empty text fields will not be read and will be skipped
Expere: electronic signing enhancements - associating Notaries and Witnesses to a known signer
Summary: Expere has been enhanced to support associating Notaries and Witnesses with a known or unknown signer to make the entire signing process eSignable. As a result, we have implemented the following:
  • Self-hosted Expere users / integrators (Java and .NET) (PBI 772529): a new <LinkToSignerIdentifier/> element now appears in the Expere response > <SignaturePoint/> container. This element associates a known signer with a notary or witness and uses the same value as the in-scope signer ID.
  • Hosted Expere users / integrators: DocServices WSDL UPDATED with new <LinkToSignerIdentifier> (PBI 773210): a new <LinkToSignerIdentifier/> element has been added to the <SignaturePoint/> container in the EDS DocServices WSDL. This element associates a known signer with a notary or witness and uses the same value as the in-scope signer ID.
Note: A corresponding content update is required in order to use this functionality. There is no user action at this time.

Example Notary response snippet:


<r:Signer>
	<r:Id>null</r:Id>
	<r:Description>Notary</r:Description>
	<r:SignaturePoints>
		<r:SignaturePoint>
			<r:IncludeDate>false</r:IncludeDate>
			<r:PageNumber>19</r:PageNumber>
			<r:PageOrder>1</r:PageOrder>
			<r:Height>36.0</r:Height>
			<r:Width>198.0</r:Width>
			<r:SignatureText>_</r:SignatureText>
			<r:XCoordinate>93.6</r:XCoordinate>
			<r:YCoordinate>190.44</r:YCoordinate>
			<r:Type>Signature</r:Type>
			<r:FieldName>SIG_Notary_0__true_1</r:FieldName>
			<r:Sequencing>2</r:Sequencing>
			<r:SignatureRequired>true</r:SignatureRequired>
			<r:LinkToSignerIdentifier>b1</r:LinkToSignerIdentifier>
		</r:SignaturePoint>
	</r:SignaturePoints>
</r:Signer>

Example Witness response snippet:


<r:Signer>
	<r:Id>b1-witness</r:Id>
	<r:Description>Witness</r:Description>
	<r:SignaturePoints>
		<r:SignaturePoint>
			<r:IncludeDate>false</r:IncludeDate>
			<r:PageNumber>19</r:PageNumber>
			<r:PageOrder>1</r:PageOrder>
			<r:Height>36.0</r:Height>
			<r:Width>198.0</r:Width>
			<r:SignatureText>_</r:SignatureText>
			<r:XCoordinate>93.6</r:XCoordinate>
			<r:YCoordinate>190.44</r:YCoordinate>
			<r:Type>Signature</r:Type>
			<r:FieldName>SIG_Witness_0_b1-witness_true_1</r:FieldName>
			<r:Sequencing>2</r:Sequencing>
			<r:SignatureRequired>true</r:SignatureRequired>
			<r:LinkToSignerIdentifier>b1</r:LinkToSignerIdentifier>
		</r:SignaturePoint>
	</r:SignaturePoints>
</r:Signer>
Engine: Barcode processing flow updated for upcoming iText upgrade
  • Type: Enhancement
  • Reference: PBI 762635
Summary: Internal analysis has determined that an upcoming iText upgrade would impact the way barcodes function within the Expere Engine. As a result, barcode processing has been updated within Expere to accommodate an upcoming iText upgrade.
Note: This upgrade will not affect integrations or generated documents.
Engine: Encryption behavior enhanced
Summary: Previously, a transaction using an Encryption ancillary output and containing a combination of RTF and PDF document options would fail as Encryption can only be applied to PDF documents. Expere has been enhanced so that while an Encryption ancillary output can still only be applied to PDF documents, the transaction will not fail and a document package can be generated.
Engine: Notary fillable field behavior enhanced
Summary: It was reported that despite the electronic signature ("eSignature") for a borrower being suppressed, and thus unable to be electronically signed, the fields in the Notary section within the same document appeared as fillable in the generated PDF. The expected behavior is that when signatures are "wet sign", the notary and all associated fields should not appear as fillable. Additionally, the presence of <SuppressESignature/> in a particular element (for example: a Notary section) within the .REQ file will result in those fields not appearing as fillable.
Engine: Show dropdown / File Name behavior enhanced
  • Type: Enhancement
  • Reference: PBI 764341
Summary: It has been identified that when generating a dynamic document with the most recent version of FOP (2.8) as a standard PDF, Document Title value (found in Adobe Acrobat > Document Properties > Initial View > Show dropdown) is specified rather than the File Name value. Expere has been enhance to specify the File Name value when generating a standard PDF using the most recent version of FOP (2.8) from a dynamic REQ file.
Engine: SelectAndGenerate call behavior enhanced
  • Type: Enhancement
  • Reference: PBI 768197
Summary: A user reported that a transaction failed to generate and return documents with a SelectAndGenerate method. Internal analysis determined that an Expere assembly service incorrectly handled a unique ID that was present within the content library. Expere has been enhanced so that internally, any unique ID present in a document package is handled so that the package generates successfully.
Engine: fillable checkboxes checked by default with static documents
  • Type: Enhancement
  • Reference: PBI 767178
Summary: it was identified that fillable checkboxes were selected by default when generating a Static document. The Engine has been enhanced so that when generating a Static document, a fillable checkbox is ONLY selected if the corresponding PTR in the REQ file results in PRINT "Checked:true;".
Note: In the REQ file, a fillable checkbox PTR will contain the following syntax if a checkbox is checked by default when generating a document: PRINT "Checked:true;"; an unchecked checkbox will either contain no syntax or the following syntax: PRINT "Checked:false;".
Engine: updated to use Saxon 11.4
  • Type: Enhancement
  • Reference: PBI 760025
Summary: As part of the regular comprehensive security tests that are run against Expere components, we have updated the Expere Engine to use Saxon version 11.4.
Engine: fillable field naming convention updated for static and dynamic documents
Summary: We had previously updated the Expere eSignature naming convention to replace "dots" or "periods" (".") with "underscores" ("_") for Signature fields and Signature Date fields when generating dynamic, static, and embedded PDF REQ's. In this release we have enhanced the naming convention for Non-Signature and Signature Data fields to now use "underscores" ("_") instead of "dots" or "periods" ("."); for example: BR_1_Phone_VA or Community_Number for FillableFields and Signatory_Attest_Checkbox or Flood_Hazard_Yes for FillableCheckboxes.
Note:
  • With static and dynamic documents, Expere will automatically change periods / dots (".") to underscores ("_") for all fields (i.e. signature, signature date, checkboxes, text fields); therefore, no user action is required for the Expere content. However, it is recommended that integrations are reviewed if they are using or expecting specific field names.
  • This naming convention applies to embedded PDF, static, and dynamic REQ's.
Engine: Encryption behavior enhanced
Summary: Previously, a transaction using an Encryption ancillary output and containing a combination of RTF and PDF document options would fail as Encryption can only be applied to PDF documents. Expere has been enhanced so that while an Encryption ancillary output can still only be applied to PDF documents, the transaction will not fail and a document package can be generated.
Engine: Borrower element naming convention enhanced for SMARTDocs
Summary: To work more consistently with eOriginal workflows, Expere has updated the SignatureIDRef naming convention to use _RoleType's value plus _SignatureOrderNumber's value plus the text of 'SignatureLine' within the <SIGNATURE_MODEL> for each signer; for example: the SignatureIDREF="Borrower1SignatureLine", SignatureIDREF="Borrower2SignatureLine").
Engine: SMARTDoc missing formatted value
Issue: During the course of testing a separate SMARTDoc-related item, internal users discovered that an exception was thrown when no value was present for formats requiring a numeric value, such as currency, dates, and percent fields. As a result, a document was not generated.
Solution: This issue has been resolved: Expere now allows an empty string (no value) for numerical formats with a SMARTDoc.
Expere Testing System: build framework updated for 2023 Release Two
  • Type: Enhancement
  • Reference: PBI 764529
Summary: The Expere Testing System build framework has been updated to support the latest version of our static code analysis tool. There is no change in user functionality.
DocViewer: eSignature field behavior enhanced with Embedded PDFs
  • Type: Enhancement
  • Reference: PBI 768237
Summary: It was reported that the Product Technical Rules (PTR) used to generate certain data within an .REQ file were appearing in eSignature fields in DocViewer. This behavior has been enhanced so that no PTR code appears in the eSignature fields.
DocViewer: InstanceDisplayName behavior enhanced for Embedded PDF documents
  • Type: Enhancement
  • Reference: PBI 767182
  • Documentation Impacts: No documentation impact
Summary: It was reported that when viewing documents in DocViewer, the Form to View First dropdown did not display a form name, which is derived from the InstanceDisplayName in the requirements (.REQ file). As a result, DocViewer has been enhanced to display the InstanceDisplayName in the Form to View First dropdown.
DocViewer: XPath Attributes behavior enhanced
  • Type: Enhancement
  • Reference: PBI 751602
Summary: A user reported that adding a custom XPath attribute resulted in an "[object Object]" value to display in an editable field rather than the actual value. As a result, DocViewer has been enhanced to support the use of custom XPath attributes: "[object Object]" no longer appears in a corresponding dropdown.
DocViewer: underline special characters behavior enhanced
  • Type: Enhancement
  • Reference: PBI 757168
Summary: A user reported that a discrepany existed in the way an underlined word appeared in DocViewer compared to a standard PDF. For example: in the REQ, a "product technical rule" (PTR) is used to add business logic and rules to underline the last name of the parties for a particular state using HTML code &lt;u&gt;"./LastName "&lt;/u&gt in the PTR to produce the underline. When generating a PDF, the state was underlined correctly. However, when using DocViewer, the HTML Code &lt;u&gt;LastName&lt;/u&gt appeared instead.

This behavior has been modified so that DocViewer will no longer display the HTML code used to add underlines.