pdf creation from within Jade

[nzwta]

Just a general query, is anyone using something from within Jade to create PDF files. At present we use a third party (AMYUNI) software that creates a printer that when printed to it saves the pdf files in a specific folder. It occurred to me that somehting like iText might be able to be used in a more controlled way from within Jade and then I wondered what the rest of the Jade community are using as I guess we aren't doing anything that different to everyone else??

Things we are interested in are digitally signing SOME files, changing the background picture in the pdf file based on various rules and attaching these to emails and sending out.

Thanks
David

[torrie]

We use PDF995 (See www.software995.com) basically because it's easy to configure from within JADE. You can specify the output file name in the PDF995.INI file and then use a flag file to determine when the print job is completed. (Create a file on disk prior to printing and configure PDF995 to run a batch file to delete this when the print job completes.) I believe that there are some options for encrypting and applying stationary as well but we've never used them. Most of the details are in the Developers Guide (http://www.pdf995.com/faq_dev.html)

[derm]

We use an XSL processer developed by a company called RenderX. We generate XML files (MSWordML) from which the XSL processer generates PDF output. The XSL processer can be configured to process large volumes if you are willing to pay for the license. Useful links:

http://www.renderx.com/tools/xep.html
http://www.renderx.com/tools/enmasse.html
http://www.renderx.com/tools/word2fo.html

[MJones]

Just a general query, is anyone using something from within Jade to create PDF files. At present we use a third party (AMYUNI) software that creates a printer that when printed to it saves the pdf files in a specific folder.

Hi David,
I am not sure if you are aware of this but the latest version of AMYUNI offers a .NET assembly that can be imported into JADE and then used to both configure and print jobs. It is not without its faults (we have encountered some memory cleanup issues on >1000 page print jobs) but certainly allows you to control PDF content creation within JADE on a more 'interactive' basis than a normal printer driver.

Regards,
Michael Jones