Generate a .PDF and .xls on a fly from a HTML page..

[cakeday]

I have a HTML link, which opens a .psp page( A .psp webpage is like a .jsp page). This .psp page brings data back in a HTML table, which is in turn returned from an Oracle database.

I have seen this happen a lot on the web, but am not sure how to do it..

What is want to do is, have a view PDF button on the the web report and when they click on that button export all the data that is contained on the webpage into a PDF format in a seperate window. The PDF will have to be generated on the fly.

I am not even sure, what all softwares do i need, if i need one?

I have Acrobat Distiller 5.0 and Adobe Acrobat 5.0 on my machine, if i need any of them?

Also, i want to give them a button that says view in EXCEL, and when they click on this button, it should export all the data into excel.. (The closest i have seen on web is it opens as a CSV(comma seperated value) file)

Any ideas on how to do it? Examples will help immensely, since i am new to this technology.

Thank you.

 

[tgreer]

A lot of sites use GhostScript, often in combination with ImageMagick.

For a commercial solution, I really like activePDF Server.

Then there are lots of what I call "primitive PDF" tools; these are tools that allow you to build up a PDF document directly, sort of like PDF APIs. PDF4NET is an example.

You can't use Distiller, it's not licensed for servers.

I'm a PostScript programmer, so I write PostScript code and use activePDF Server to "distill" my PostScript to PDFs.

Thomas D. Greer

http://www.tgreer.com

 

[alsoknownas]

Here what you need when trying to create .pdf's on the fly from .asp:

http://www.activepdf.com

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

[alsoknownas]

... And here's how to exported to Excel:

http://www.serverwatch.com/tutorials/article.php/1493331

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

[cakeday]

Now, i am more confused.

From what it sounds like and a little bit of research that i have done,
Looks like i might need to buy the following,
activePDF WebGrabber/Server Professional Bundle with Annual Subscription, 1 server license.

But i am not sure how this works though.

So where do i put the code, so i can click on a button and export the data on the web screen into a .PDF file??

How does activePDF WebGrabber works?

Are there any "primitive PDF tools" that i can play with, so i can probably get an idea of how all of this works?

Does, "so I write PostScript code and use activePDF Server to "distill" my PostScript to PDFs" create PDFs on a fly, meaning grabbing data that is on the webpage and putting it in a PDF format?


Is there a trial version out there somewhere, where i can play with it and make sure if this is what i need before i actually buy it?

Also, i am not working with the .NET or .ASP technology..
I am working with a .PSP technology(which is called PL/SQL server pages, which is a front end technology for ORACLE. what psp pages are they embed select statements and html and javascript or vbscript(but i have never tried embedding vbscript in my psp pages.))

About exporting the webreport into excel spreadsheet:
So the excel export script that you gave me, is there anything that is a javascript version? I tried running the excel code in my psp page and it compiles without errors. But when i run it, i don't see a file on my c:\excelface.xls

I know, probably all of the above questions are more like dumb questions to you all. But i am so new to the PDF and Excel exporting that i am totally lost.

Thank you guys.

 

[tgreer]

activePDF works as a system printer. So you essentially "print" your HTML file or spreadsheet to activePDF Server, and it spits out a PDF.

Yes, they have a trial version, and offer limited free tech support to get you going.

Thomas D. Greer

http://www.tgreer.com

 

[cakeday]

When you say "print", do you mean actual printing or does it export what is on the webpage to a .PDF file which in turn could be viewed on the web?

Also, i have been researching the web for a while, and seems like the other option is, like you mentioned earlier is, "PostScript code and use activePDF Server to "distill" my PostScript to PDFs" - Is this what i will be doing?

If so, i have no clue as to how to start writing PostScript Code?

Is there any example code that i could look at? Meanwhile, i am going to look more into ActivePDF.

Thank you very much!

 

[MColeman]

I used WebSuperGoo's pdf interface with some success.

It's inexpensive and comes with a lot of samples.

http://www.supergoo.com