New XFRX version is out - 14.6

This is a bugfix release that, among other bugs, fixes the intermittent Word freezing. We were able to get it fixed completely in Word 2007 by shuffling with objects z-index, unfortunately, they did something in 2010 and we couldn't make it work unless we save the output as docx. So from now, if you select the "DOC" or "FDOC" output type and you have Word 2010 or 2013, XFRX will generate the output as docx. We have also added two new output types - DOCX and FDOCX - that allow you to generate docx with Word 2007 as well. Please see more in the release notes at www.eqeus.com/whatsnew/whatsnew146.html

You can now follow us on Twitter at @eqeuscom

You can now keep up to date with us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/eqeuscom.

New XFRX version has been released (14.5)

The new version is a bug fix release that increases the product stability and output accuracy throughout all output types. Please see more in the release notes at www.eqeus.com/whatsnew/whatsnew145.html

Documentation update

The XFRX documentation has been updated to version 14.3. (http://www.eqeus.com/xfrxmanual.php)

New XFRX version - 14.2

Please see the list of bug fixes and new features in the release notes at http://www.eqeus.com/whatsnew/whatsnew142.html

Office 2010 and click-to-run

The latest Office 2010 can be installed in the "Click-to-run" virtualized mode that allows for faster setup and instant update. This mode, however, does not support COM automation and as such cannot be used with XFRX.

More info about the COM automation issues: http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/en/worddev/thread/e051e92f-5f33-4741-804a-78ceca4cd41e

More info about click-to-run: http://blogs.technet.com/b/office2010/archive/2009/11/06/click-to-run-delivering-office-in-the-21st-century.aspx

XFRX now supports digital signatures in PDF (new version 14.0)

XFRX is now able to produce digitally signed PDF documents in all supported VFP versions.

The digital signature can be used to validate the document content and the identity of the signer. (You can find more at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_signature). XFRX implements the "MDP (modification detection and prevention) signature" based on the PDF specification version 1.7, published in November 2006.

The signing algorithm in XFRX computes the encrypted document digest and places it, together with the user certificate, into the PDF document. When the PDF document is opened, the Adobe Acrobat (Reader) validates the digest to make sure the document has not been changed since it was signed. It also checks to see of the certificate is a trusted one and complains if it is not. The signature dictionary inside PDF can also contains additional information and user rights - see below.

At this moment XFRX supports invisible signatures only (Acrobat will show the signature information, but there is no visual element on the document itself linking to the digital signature). We will support visible signatures in future versions.

In the current version, XFRX is using the CMS/PKCS #7 detached messages signature algorithm in the .net framework to calculate the digest - which means the .NET framework 2.0 or newer is required. The actual process is run via an external exe - "xfrx.sign.net.exe", that is executed during the report conversion process. In future, we can alternatively use the OpenSSL library instead - please let us know which option you prefer.

The demo application that is bundled with the package (demo.scx/demo9.scx) contains a testing self-signed certificate file (TestEqeus.pfx) and a sample that creates a signed PDF using the pfx. Please note Acrobat will confirm the file has not changed since it was signed, but it will complaing the certificate is not trusted - you would either need to add the certificate as a trusted one or you would need to use a real certificate from a certification authority (such as VeriSign).

Your feedback is very important for us. Please let us if you find this feature useful and what features you're missing.

New XFRX version - 12.9

A new XFRX version is out. This is a maintenance release fixing bugs reported in the previous version. Please see release notes for more information (http://www.eqeus.com/whatsnew/whatsnew129.html)