This is not specifically LyX, but LaTeX. I ask for your indulgence. :-)
Many moons ago I asked for opinions on using LaTeX as a report tool for a python application (a mathematical model, to be more precise), and finally decided that ReportLab would be the better solution. However, having learned RL and started using it, I see the shortcomings. For the record, there are two that concern me: 1) a very limited set of built-in PostScript fonts and 2) graphics support that is primarily bit-mapped and not vector based. The former means using Times (ugly, IMNSHO) and the latter means writing .pdf files of plots, then appending them to the rear of the generated ReportLab document. RL is really good as a database report writer, but that's not really how I'm using it. It occurred to me this afternoon that I can write a LaTeX doc preamble and save it as a python string, wrap what I want written to the report in LaTeX markup (pre-written strings), generate the plots as .eps files, then programmatically call latex, dvips, and ps2pdf when the reports are finished. Probably the report class would be most appropriate. Has anyone done this? Our model is written in Python, so we can use the open() and write() methods to squirt strings to a disk file. The output would look good, and I'd have a lot of flexibility in structuring the reports. Thoughts? Rich -- Richard B. Shepard, Ph.D. | Integrity Credibility Applied Ecosystem Services, Inc. | Innovation <http://www.appl-ecosys.com> Voice: 503-667-4517 Fax: 503-667-8863
