Re: HTML and PDF Reports

["Guillermo Andrades, CPI Software" <gab@xxxxxxx>]

seems to be great,
easy print from web app is a must,
we're generating pdf but using an additional print server, but sometimes
"simply" print content using css-media-print specials.
a problem when css-printing is removing the headers and footer that browsers
add auto.

good job,
Saludos,
Guillermo Andrades




On Sat, May 10, 2008 at 9:42 PM, Nathan Andelin <nandelin@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:

> This weekend I ran across an outline for a Student Transcript.  It
> demonstrates the type of formatted output that I'd like to be able to
> generate.
>
> HTML:
>
> http://www.radile.com/rdweb/etl/transcript.html
>
> PDF:
>
> http://www.radile.com/rdweb/etl/transcript.pdf
>
> I used "docuprint" to convert the HTML file to the PDF file, but I'd
> like to follow-up with Aaron Bartell about his plans for an IBM i based
> HTML to PDF converter.
>
> The docuprint PDF conversion didn't interpret background and foreground
> colors in the transcript.css file, but other than that, I was quite
> pleased with the PDF output.
>
> One advantage to the PDF format is that printer output looks exactly
> like reader output without requiring any user intervention.
>
> HTML printer output works correctly if you set page margins to 0, and
> remove all headers and footers that may be defined in the print dialog.
>
> Nevertheless this prototype shows the possibility of using HTML and
> style sheets for precise formatted graphical output, with optional
> conversion to PDF.
>
> Last week I worked on a service program for generating HTML stream files
> and implemented the following procedures:
>
> rptOpen() - create a stream file and load an report template into memory
> according to a report definition (analogous to opening a PRINTER file).
>
> rptRecSet() - position to a particular record in the event that an HTML
> template is divided into multiple records (analogous to records in a DDS
> defined printer file).
>
> rptVarSet() - replaces output markers in the HTML template with program
> data.
>
> rptRecWrt() - write an HTML fragment to the stream file.
>
> rptNextPage() - cause a page eject.
>
> rptClose() - close the stream file, free memory, and add a record to the
> report library indicating the location of the stream file and related
> meta data.
>
> I chose to essentially follow the metaphor that IBM designed for
> generating spool files from RPG programs, except the output is HTML in
> this case.
>
> At some point I envision adding logic to the rptClose() procedure to
> pass the name of HTML stream file to a PDF converter, according to a
> flag in the report definition record.
>
> Anyway, this partially indicates the direction I'm headed for reports.
>
> --
> Nathan M. Andelin
> --
> This is the Web Enabling the AS400 / iSeries (WEB400) mailing list
> To post a message email: WEB400@xxxxxxxxxxxx
> To subscribe, unsubscribe, or change list options,
> visit: http://lists.midrange.com/mailman/listinfo/web400
> or email: WEB400-request@xxxxxxxxxxxx
> Before posting, please take a moment to review the archives
> at http://archive.midrange.com/web400.