Hi Willie,
I'm not currently using Zend_Pdf, but there are two major use cases that
would like to use it for:
* Filling a pre-created PDF template. My main use would be for printing
check stock. I want to have a PDF document already made with all the
layout, and simply replace a few placeholders, much like HTML templates.
* Creating PDF reports. This should basically involve setting up a
header and/or footer, column labels that should repeat on each page, and
drawing tabular data. There should be easy ways to set column-level
alignment and have line wrapping within cells. The API should be
low-level enough so things like multiple groups and subtotals could be
implemented.
I haven't looked in detail at the changes you're planning for the next
version of Zend_Pdf, so it could be that your proposed version can
already handle this stuff fairly easily.
Regards,
Bryce Lohr
Willie Alberty wrote:
Kevin and I are about ready to introduce the comprehensive Zend_Pdf
updates I described last week for community review and early testing.
I am working on shoring up the documentation now and could use some
feedback:
In what ways are you are currently using Zend_Pdf?
I don't necessarily need detailed descriptions--though that would be
great--something like "we open pre-printed forms and draw text on top
of them" would be sufficient.
The reason I'm asking is, as I mentioned last week, this update breaks
backwards-compatibility. There's no real loss of functionality, it's
just that the API has evolved. For example, to draw a filled rectangle
on a page:
// current Zend_Pdf
$page->drawRectangle($x, $y, ($x + $width), ($y + $height),
Zend_Pdf_Page::SHAPE_DRAW_FILL);
// new Zend_Pdf
Zend_Pdf_Path::fillRect($page, new Zend_Pdf_Rect($x, $y, $width,
$height));
I'm working on a migration guide, and in addition to listing out each
"this API call changed to that API call," I'd like to supplement it
with some examples based on real-world use cases. These examples would
also evolve into a full-fledged tutorial which will be included in the
framework Reference Guide.
Also, if you're not currently using Zend_Pdf, but you would use it if
it did "feature X," please share that too. Hopefully the feature you
are waiting for will be included in this update, and I'll be sure to
include an example for it as well.
Thanks!
--
Willie Alberty
Spenlen Media
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://spenlen.com/
