Re: Creating formatted documents on the fly n CF
Reed, I've had good success using a product from Caere called OmniForm Internet Filer (or something of the sort). This is similar to Adobe's PDF/FDF forms but is easier to work with (not to mention less expensive). The forms themselves are written using a text markup language (using Caere's visual design tool which will import various formats as well as do scanning/OCR) and can therefore have CF code embedded in them (and then processed via CFINCLUDE, for example). This would be similar to a RTF solution (which is also a text markup language) with the added benefit that you can specify which parts of the generated forms are modifiable, if any. On the client side, one needs a little (free) browser plugin to interpret the resulting forms. Might be worth your time to check out. Cheers, -Max -- Archives: http://www.eGroups.com/list/cf-talk To Unsubscribe visit http://www.houseoffusion.com/index.cfm?sidebar=lists&body=lists/cf_talk or send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with 'unsubscribe' in the body.
Re: Creating formatted documents on the fly n CF
Reed, Hello.. > What would be a good solution in CF? Interacting with Word in the > background seems to be harder in a server based environment than when it is > on the user's client PC. Working with Word may be easier... initially. > What about Using Acrobat forms: generating an > Acrobat FDF file from CF, and letting Acrobat do the merge? We're doing this ... using Adobe Acrobat FDFToolkit and CFObject/wddx. So far so good. CF and PDF can do this. Acrobat will likely not be the tool to "merge" the data. You'll need Adobe's FDFTookit or another "server" side tool that manipulates fdf/pdf. I'd recommend Digital Applications "FDFMerge" www.digapp.com. Its not the cheapest solution, but is considered by many to be the best Server Side pdf forms tool available. > One of the > variables seems to be the fact that some of the content will vary from one > type of deal to the next, but a good bit of it is the same. To keep your sanity, and use PDF Forms for this.. you may need to standardize your potential layouts as different forms, then "concatenate(sp?)" or merge the fdf merged forms into one that is displayed to the user. > Also, there is > the fact that the tables of hardware information that need to be generated > will vary in size - can Acrobat Forms handle that? Im not sure I understand what you mean? You can pump db data into your pdf forms...pretty straight forward, however if you need to change the layout of your pdf doc dynamically and on the fly - that is a different animal, and will likey require some "raw" pdf creation tools/libraries. (www.pdflib.com www.fastio.com) Not my cup o' tea - but many people doing it daily. > One of the shortcomings of the current app is that it generates Word docs, > which are modifiable. One of the ideas for the new app is to generate PDF > files as output. Are there any background PDF generation tools? I looked > in the developer's exchange, and saw some PDF tools, but nothing along this > line. One of the cool things we liked about pdf, acrobat 4, is that the form and individual "fields" can be set to "read only", and the whole pdf can be "signed" programatically. Any alterations to the form doc after signature shows a trail by date, by user - all contained within the document (pretty cool). Also the protability and index/searchability of pdf's may make it worth the extra efforts. As far as server side pdf generation tools go.. heres a few places to start your quest. (in no particular oder) www.pdfzone.com www.planetpdf.com www.acrobuddies.com www.acroforms.com www.digapp.com www.fastio.com www.pdflib.com www.activepdf.com And of course Adobe's developer sites All the best, Stephen M. Aylor Aylor Insurance Agency, Inc. "Specialized Insurance for IT - We Cover IT" [EMAIL PROTECTED] 949.581.2333 (v) 949.581.2814 (f) -- Archives: http://www.eGroups.com/list/cf-talk To Unsubscribe visit http://www.houseoffusion.com/index.cfm?sidebar=lists&body=lists/cf_talk or send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with 'unsubscribe' in the body.
RE: Creating formatted documents on the fly n CF
-BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE- Hash: SHA1 You can create RTF files that will open in Word with very little difficulty. If you're interested in this approach, just say so and I'll spill the beans on it. Or you can do a search of the Forums for the RTF articles I wrote a few years back that tell you everything you need to know about creating RTF files from CF Data. :) Dustin > -Original Message- > From: Reed Powell [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] > Sent: Monday, May 01, 2000 7:55 AM > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subject: Creating formatted documents on the fly n CF > > > I just inherited another application, currently written in VBA, > that needs to be integrated into the rest of my CF web site. Am > looking for > ideas on a > couple of techniques. > > The application is used to gather information from a salesperson > about the deal that they are pursuing, and then generates the > appropriate customer documents (statements of work, etc), that > contain the correct > paragraphs and > supporting details, based on what the salesperson entered. For > instance, if > the salesperson says that this is a server management deal, for > 15 servers, > then the SOW will be specific to server management, and there will > be sections that contain information on those 15 servers. If it > were a network > support deal, there would be information on routers, etc. > > The current app is in VBA, with the data in an Access database. > VBA interacts with MS Word to create the documents. The application > actually runs on the client PC, with the Access database on a > network drive. > > What would be a good solution in CF? Interacting with Word in the > background seems to be harder in a server based environment than > when it is > on the user's client PC. What about Using Acrobat forms: > generating an Acrobat FDF file from CF, and letting Acrobat do the > merge? One of the variables seems to be the fact that some of the > content will vary from one type of deal to the next, but a good bit > of it is the same. > Also, there is > the fact that the tables of hardware information that need to be > generated will vary in size - can Acrobat Forms handle that? > > If the printing capabilities of HTML were a little further along, > I'd be thinking of simply generating HTML docs, but things like > pagination, indexing, etc., are currently a pain to handle. I do > have the > flexibility of > limiting users to only using IE. > > One of the shortcomings of the current app is that it generates > Word docs, which are modifiable. One of the ideas for the new app > is to generate PDF files as output. Are there any background PDF > generation tools? I looked in the developer's exchange, and saw > some PDF tools, but nothing > along this > line. > > Thanks for the help! > -reed > > -- > > Archives: http://www.eGroups.com/list/cf-talk > To Unsubscribe visit > http://www.houseoffusion.com/index.cfm?sidebar=lists&body=lists/cf _talk or send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with 'unsubscribe' in the body. -BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE- Version: PGPfreeware 6.5.3 for non-commercial use <http://www.pgp.com> Comment: Confidential message from Dustin Miller, Pres. - Fusion Trio iQA/AwUBOQ2BLDoKpYTSSYa4EQJvXQCgikkIZD3iUWfWtncBniAXG+s+5GEAoOdn uecjp7pwkyDaOA1QSs+1sMam =e49B -END PGP SIGNATURE- -- Archives: http://www.eGroups.com/list/cf-talk To Unsubscribe visit http://www.houseoffusion.com/index.cfm?sidebar=lists&body=lists/cf_talk or send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with 'unsubscribe' in the body.
Creating formatted documents on the fly n CF
I just inherited another application, currently written in VBA, that needs to be integrated into the rest of my CF web site. Am looking for ideas on a couple of techniques. The application is used to gather information from a salesperson about the deal that they are pursuing, and then generates the appropriate customer documents (statements of work, etc), that contain the correct paragraphs and supporting details, based on what the salesperson entered. For instance, if the salesperson says that this is a server management deal, for 15 servers, then the SOW will be specific to server management, and there will be sections that contain information on those 15 servers. If it were a network support deal, there would be information on routers, etc. The current app is in VBA, with the data in an Access database. VBA interacts with MS Word to create the documents. The application actually runs on the client PC, with the Access database on a network drive. What would be a good solution in CF? Interacting with Word in the background seems to be harder in a server based environment than when it is on the user's client PC. What about Using Acrobat forms: generating an Acrobat FDF file from CF, and letting Acrobat do the merge? One of the variables seems to be the fact that some of the content will vary from one type of deal to the next, but a good bit of it is the same. Also, there is the fact that the tables of hardware information that need to be generated will vary in size - can Acrobat Forms handle that? If the printing capabilities of HTML were a little further along, I'd be thinking of simply generating HTML docs, but things like pagination, indexing, etc., are currently a pain to handle. I do have the flexibility of limiting users to only using IE. One of the shortcomings of the current app is that it generates Word docs, which are modifiable. One of the ideas for the new app is to generate PDF files as output. Are there any background PDF generation tools? I looked in the developer's exchange, and saw some PDF tools, but nothing along this line. Thanks for the help! -reed -- Archives: http://www.eGroups.com/list/cf-talk To Unsubscribe visit http://www.houseoffusion.com/index.cfm?sidebar=lists&body=lists/cf_talk or send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with 'unsubscribe' in the body.
