Re: Creating a printable report simply, rtf or PDF

Greetings from a fellow genealogist.

Have a look at this site: http://www.phpclasses.org/

There are a few RTF generators available there, although I have not tried
any of them myself.

Good luck with the research!

Katipo


"Peter Chant" <pete@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:428ellF1hcahhU1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Any thoughts in the newsgroup?
>
> Over Christmas I produced, using PHP and MySQL, a database and front end
> to
> record my familys family tree with a short biography and linked photos and
> locations if desired. All this works fairly well.
>
> However, as a followup I'd like to create a report this data as a report
> (or
> booklet) in printed format. The simplest and probably least satisfactory
> way is to format it in very simple HTML and import it into the word
> processor of choice.
>
> Better ways I assume are to export it in PDF or RTF. I am veering toward
> RTF.
>
> PDF - pros:
>
> Probably the neatest solution from a user point of view.
>
>
> PDF - cons:
>
> PHP was not compliled on my Slackware 10.0 linux system with the pdf
> functions working.
>
> My parents are running XP home, I doubt if phpdev5 (beta) has the same pdf
> functions compliled in.
>
> Basically I don't want to go through the rigmarole of recompiling php on
> two
> dissimilar systems.
>
> I could generate XLS-FO directly, then use FOP to generate PDF. I would
> probably spend a lot of time getting this to work under two separate
> systems, and have to get java working on XP. Hastle if I am not all that
> familiar with java.
>
> I could create a DTD, get my script to produce XML and then use a template
> and something like sablotron to generate XML. That seems like a
> sledgehammer to crack a nut. Also, I must be getting the wrong end of the
> stick with XML, as last time I tried it created far far more work than it
> saved. Saving effort seems to be a large point of XML.
>
>
> RTF - pros:
>
> Since this is basically one step from hand coding, using my script to
> directly generate rtf is relatively self contained and therefore not
> dependent on successfully installing a lot of other stuff.
>
> RTF - cons:
>
> I've still not managed to add images to RTF.
>
> RTF is horrid, wrt to human readability of what my scripts are generating,
> making debugging rather nasty.
>
> Even if it works now in open office and word I have no way of knowing I
> have
> not created broken RTF that future word processors might balk at.
>
> Any thoughts?
>
> Pete
>
>
>
>
> --
> http://www.petezilla.co.uk


.

Relevant Pages

  • Creating a printable report simply, rtf or PDF
    ... Over Christmas I produced, using PHP and MySQL, a database and front end to ... Better ways I assume are to export it in PDF or RTF. ... get my script to produce XML and then use a template ...
    (comp.lang.php)
  • Re: HP 4MP printer driver current?
    ... I can print the RTF file from the G4, ... When you print to a PDF, ... When Preview is involved in the print process, the original format of ... Preview to examine a document in a print queue. ...
    (comp.sys.mac.system)
  • Re: HP 4MP printer driver current?
    ... So the built-in PDF rendering can cope with the document, ... If I save it (Print>Save As PDF) as a PDF in Word, ... I can print the RTF file from the G4, ... If the computer is spitting up an "Unexpected EOF" error, ...
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  • Re: Book machine!
    ... : than a reader would. ... They might also use pdf for that. ... Or use rich text .RTF which supports color coding ... aren't exactly specialized formatting. ...
    (rec.arts.sf.written)
  • Re: HP 4MP printer driver current?
    ... I can print the RTF file from the G4, ... When you print to a PDF, ... When Preview is involved in the print process, the original format of ... Preview to examine a document in a print queue. ...
    (comp.sys.mac.system)