creating pdf's from web... on the fly or physical?

[davejam]

Hi all,

I am writing a system where many of the tasks involve the need to create pdf's.

I am not sure of the best way to approach this except for working out initially whether its better to have them stored on the server as physical files or try and find software that will create a file for email / download from software on the web.

Also if there is any current software / third party applications that are best with recommendations please drop a message here...

Guessing a physical file would be best as it would be available for email, also would possibly load faster and would also be a footprint in time rather than the possibility of a changing document.

Any hints, tips or recommendations are thankful

cheers

daveJam

*two wrongs don't make a right..... but three lefts do!!!!*

 

[nickdel]

davejam, have a look at this article. It may help you get started:

http://www.15seconds.com/issue/990902.htm

You may also want to have a look at the free PDF creator on sourceforge

http://sourceforge.net/projects/pdfcreator/

As it's open source and written in VB it may give you a few idea's of how to go about doing this.

 

[Sheco]

I have had OK luck with the Persits ASPPDF object but it costs money.

http://www.asppdf.com/

 

[davejam]

if i can find the best product/plugin for what i need, and for the process that i need, ie. for emailing etc as to whether i have to have a physical saved file or can create them on the fly to view and send (and not send as a link) then pricing up is where i'm heading....

have a meeting at the end of the week to give my preferred solution and pricing, also how i intend on using it....

I thought i'd run it past heads that may have already had success (like yourself) with a current product, if theres others with success stories that match my criteria then please give me the nudge....

its nice to get feedback on a product before spending the money and realising its not all that it promises!!!


But with the issue of emailing, is it best to store files (needing vast server space) or is there a package that can create them for screen and email only from a record in an SQL database.

Cheers

daveJam

*two wrongs don't make a right..... but three lefts do!!!!*

 

[Sheco]

I use the ASPPDF object for preparing IRS tax returns.

The PDF files are downloaded from the IRS and I used acrobat to place "form fields" in the places where I want dynamic text.

Then I use the ASPPDF object to fill in the blanks and send the file to the browser where the user can view and save it.

This process works very well and has just handled our most busy weeks with no problem preparing individual returns.


I do have one complaint about the product. When you get over 100 pages, It is very slow at combining multiple PDF files together. The more pages you add, the slower it goes. Specifically I have a situation where I need hundreds of instances of a single page document, but with different values in the data fields on each page. So I go thru a loop and make one page and then add it to a growing multi-page file.