I'm a relative newcomer to XSLT and FOP but I immediately saw the value it could offer.
We have a layer of DB access objects which produce XML for reporting purposes. Rather than plug in an expensive "off the shelf" reporting tool I suggested and prototyped an XSLT/FOP reporting architecture. It works. The largest report so far has been 3000 pages (why anyone would want a report 3000 pages long is beyond me) and it renders quite quickly for a report of that scale. I am also using it online to produce on-demand PDF versions of reports originating in XML form. I haven't done anything fancy with FOP yet but so far I haven't had to. I want it to help me produce well-formatted tabular reports reliably and on schedule. It works perfectly so I can't ask any more than that. Okay, that is perhaps not entirely true. I wouldn't mind being able to specify multiple output files for the larger reports, but that, frankly, can be dealt with higher up the processing chain. Mark Lawford Analyst Programmer Enable ISS - Hastings Mid Range Services Cavendish House, Castle Street, Hastings, East Sussex TN34 3DY * 01424 4533018/ (7) 4274 3018 * 07957 280 811 * [EMAIL PROTECTED] * Mail Van E -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: 08 February 2005 15:03 To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: representative example needed > Thanks! Success stories ([1] is my favorite)--as well > as failures (honesty of its limitations also being > helpful in increasing confidence in FOP)--are always > welcome on this list. Oh, you want success stories. That I can do. I use FOP to produce all the documentation for a small software firm. I am a consulting technical writer (though I have been programming at least part time since 1987). I am responsible for creating documents both for the company itself and for several customers (each of whom naturally wants their own logos, legal wording, and so on). I use two primary stylesheets with FOP: One to produce most of my conventional documents (user guides, API guides, etc.) and another specifically for data dictionaries. The firm specializes in data warehouses for the software industry, so each customer needs a customized data dictionary. So far, the largest has been over 1600 pages in size, and FOP produces it in about 2 minutes. By the way, I use Saxon to write the FO source, since I use a number of XSLT 2 features. I also use Saxon to write the HTML versions of our documents. The only thing I really wish FOP had is better control over page breaks. I use small tables to keep headings with their trailing paragraphs and images with their captions. Other than that, I use an attribute in my five levels of heading elements to force a page break (with break-before), so I can make things look OK. Still, I wish it did better with keeps and breaks in general. I gather that's the big problem that drove the creation of a new branch and the current 1.0 effort. I've had to accept some other limitations and fiddle with memory settings, but keeps and breaks have been the only real limitation to date. In sum, thanks for FOP! It makes me look good with my client and my client's customers. I very much look forward to seeing future versions. Jay Bryant Bryant Communication Services (presently consulting at Synergistic Solution Technologies) --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Internet communications are not secure and therefore the Barclays Group does not accept legal responsibility for the contents of this message. Although the Barclays Group operates anti-virus programmes, it does not accept responsibility for any damage whatsoever that is caused by viruses being passed. Any views or opinions presented are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of the Barclays Group. Replies to this email may be monitored by the Barclays Group for operational or business reasons. Barclays Bank PLC. Authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority. --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
