Document Output Formats (DocumentFormat)

Document assembly refers to the process by which a request is submitted to the Expere Document Engine to process and compile an XML document for rendering into an output. One of the key values that must be submitted on a request for document assembly is the document format. This value determines the format of the generated document (the output). Expere supports four primary output formats:

PDF (PDF): generates a PDF document as the output.
XML (RAW_XML): generated an assembled XML files as the output.
RTF: generates an RTF (rich text format) document as the output.
TaggedPDF: generated a PDF document with tagging enabled as the output.

Note: If a request is made for an unsupported document format, an error is returned.

Output format options for document assembly are defined in the request using a DocumentFormat element containing a DocumentFormatType scope object with enumerations determining the output format for ALL documents assembled as part of the request. All the document assembly methods include the DocumentFormatType element. The element is optional; when the DocumentFormat value is supplied (through the DocumentFormatTypeEnum), all documents assembled as part of the request will be formatted according to the type supplied. If the element is omitted in the request, each document assembled as part of the request will be formatted according to the DocFormat defined in the DocWorkOrder object on the PackageDoc (PKGD) container element.

A combination of document output formats is also supported with a single request to assemble a set of documents. In this model, a container object (DocumentSet) holds any number of document (Document) objects. The Document object contains a Format object with the DocFormatType scope object with enumerations determining the output format for the specific Document within the DocumentSet assembled as part of the request. This provides the ability to produce mixed document output formats with a single assemble document request.

Note: On the DocumentFormatTypeEnum, you will notice enumerated values for a SmartDoc output (SmartDoc/1-5). These output formats, while available for selection, are not generally used and should be avoided. The SmartDoc output format is a proprietary document format used mainly with static documents developed using the I-32 runtime tools.