Troubleshooting LiveCycle Workbench Compatibility errors

I've come across a problem a few times using Workbench when trying to connect to servers only to be told I can't because there is a version number mismatch (even though both Workbench and the server are at the same service pack level).  One way around this temporarily (if you know the versions are the same but for some reason the server version is being reported incorrectly) is to disable the compatibility check in Workbench:

1. Open your workbench.ini file (usually located in C:\Users\<user_name>\Apps\Adobe LiveCycle Workbench ES3\workbench
2. Locate the line "-Dcom.adobe.connection.compatibilitycheck.disable=false
3. Change the value to "true"
4. Open Workbench and try to connect to the server again

Setting up WebLogic as a Windows Service

A common requirement when dealing with any application server install on Windows is to set it up as a Windows service.  It's a bad idea to rely on the command line for running the server as it makes it far harder to administer.

For WebLogic the steps to do this are available on Oracle's website:
http://docs.oracle.com/cd/E11035_01/wls100/server_start/winservice.html

A useful diagnostic if the service doesn't appear to be working is to try and invoke the service using the beasvc command.  See the section "Verifying the Setup" in the above link for more information.  More times than not if your service isn't starting then there was an error in the script you used to create the service in the first place (e.g. JVM argument).

Overview of the ADEP Document Services modules

When LiveCycle became ADEP Document Services all of the existing modules were ported over but I thought it would be useful to revisit them all and see what as new.  This post gives a summary of the modules which are available to any Document Services solution (excluding the foundation services which come with all Document Services modules) and should be familiar to those who have worked with LiveCycle ES1/ES2 in the past.

LiveCycle Content Services in the ADEP world

A source of confusion I've come across when explaining the new world of ADEP to those familiar with the LiveCycle days is what has happened to Content Services.  Content Services was essentially the repository for storing files and anything else you needed persisting in your application.  It was built around the Open Source CMS by Alfresco and was used on almost all of the projects I worked on.  In the move to ADEP it's the one module the fate of which I wasn't 100% sure of.