Word is NOT the thing to use. Take your word doc, do a "save as" to XML and read it again. The result is different so, there goes the exact form out of the window. You can use iText to convert from XML to PDF if you write your XML handler, it's not that difficult. The problem is the requirement that the operator must know nothing more than Word to change the templates, he must know a bit more than that.
> -----Original Message----- > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On > Behalf Of Farooque, Fahad (DAIS) > Sent: Wednesday, November 09, 2005 12:38 AM > To: '[email protected]' > Subject: [iText-questions] iText library > > Dear Sir/Madam, > I have recently downloaded the iText library and have trying > to use it for > an application I am developing as a proof of concept, but > have so far been > unsuccessful. > I am currently developing a document generation system for > the Land Services > Group (LSG), a major government department in South Australia. We have > approximately 60 form-style documents that are populated with > client data, > then printed and lodged with the department for registration. > A sample of > one document is attached. The sample has comments embedded for your > information. > The process we have in mind is as follows: > Our office maintains the master (template) documents in Word > format. This is > an essential as the document templates change format on a > regular basis, and > it is a requirement that an operator with no more than Word > experience can > maintain the documents. > At run time, a web application captures client data (which is > minimal and > usually constitutes no more than 6-8 text strings) in XML > format and passes > that XML data to our web service. The web service validates > that data and > then merges (populates) the data with the document template > and a PDF file > is generated and returned to the client for printing. > That is it in a nutshell - ah if it were only that simple. As > you will see > from the attached document, the formatting is complex, yet > the merged data > is minimal. We have to ensure that EXACTLY the same format > flows through to > the final PDF document. In addition, we have to post-process > the PDF file to > ensure that all business rules are enforced, in particular, > panels must > expand to accommodate the variable length data supplied by > our clients and > the pages must be balanced (panels adjusted) so as to ensure > minimal white > space occurs on each page. > We envision a system that would output XML metadata (from each Word > document) that contains the format instructions for the final > document and > locations for the variable data (and other more specific formatting > instructions). The XML metadata files would be called by the > web service at > run-time and a Java application would process the XML > metadata files and the > XML client data files into a PDF document. The java > application must be > capable of post-processing the PDF file based on formatting > instructions (to > balance pages and ensure white space is minimised, etc.). > Would we be able to build such an end-to-end system using the > iText library, > and how could it be accomplished? > Your assistance in this matter is greatly appreciated. > Kindest regards > <<LSG Sample.doc>> > > Fahad Farooque > > Business Analyst > > Land Administration Reform Program > > Land Services Group > > Department for Administrative and Information Services > > PO BOX 1354 Adelaide SA 5001 > > > > Ph: (08) 8226 4070 > > Fax: (08) 8226 3894 > > E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > Internet: http://www.landservices.sa.gov.au > > > > > ------------------------------------------------------- SF.Net email is sponsored by: Tame your development challenges with Apache's Geronimo App Server. Download it for free - -and be entered to win a 42" plasma tv or your very own Sony(tm)PSP. Click here to play: http://sourceforge.net/geronimo.php _______________________________________________ iText-questions mailing list [email protected] https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/itext-questions
