We create PDF's all the time and store copies as individual files, linked back to the database. Simple table holds the master account#, document path and a description. The routine that stores them breaks it into different subdirectories every 1000 documents Works like a charm, easy to access etc, have about 80,000 so far, only issue is watch your disk space. Should be easy to use the document index database to also trigger a delete or archive. I can share details if you like. Mark Lindner Lindner & Associates PC 254 Second Ave Needham MA 02494 781 247 1100 Fax 781 247 1143
-----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Emmitt Dove Sent: Monday, March 22, 2010 6:14 PM To: RBASE-L Mailing List Subject: [RBASE-L] - Re: Printing a bunch of PDF files Karen, In our Invoicing Module, we store PDFs of every invoice created. A table stores invoice number, filename, customer number, invoice date, batch number, total dollars, etc. A form exists that lets the user hone in on an invoice they wish to review by selecting customer, date range, or invoice batch, or they can simply enter the invoice number if it is known. Once they have located the invoice in question, the form displays the summary information for the invoice. A button exists to launch the PDF to view the original document. They can also print or email the document. We organize the PDFs by year and month. We also load the summary data and the path to the PDF into a centralized database (we currently have three invoicing locations) for use by Accounts Receivable. They have the same lookup / reprint / email capabilities, even though the PDF may be stored on any one of three servers on the WAN in other states. This all works quite nicely. All you need is a table to store the basic information about the document, including the full path to the document, document name, and sufficient identifying information to allow the user to locate the document of interest. Forget about how many PDFs might be involved - that is a non-issue. Store them in a structured fashion, as in by year and month. Maintain a table with enough qualifying information to lead you to a distinct PDF, and provide the user an interface to get them to the desired document. If you really are intimidated by the sheer number of documents, then also write a routine to purge them by date. That task, also quite simple, is another conversation. Emmitt Dove Manager, Converting Applications Development Evergreen Packaging, Inc. [email protected] (203) 214-5683 m (203) 643-8022 o (203) 643-8086 f [email protected] From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of [email protected] Sent: Monday, March 22, 2010 14:15 To: RBASE-L Mailing List Subject: [RBASE-L] - Re: Printing a bunch of PDF files Bob: An interesting thought... Yes, this could grow into thousands of individual PDFs very quickly. So there would have to be some maintenance to throw older ones out (luckily they run just once a month, so only 12 "batches" worth a year). I'd have to think about how I could save the data in a table so that it can be recreated at any time... That would be a boatload of programming. I like Sami's idea of one indexed PDF file, but if they wanted to email just one page they would have to have the full version of Acrobat to extract a page to another filename, or I'm assuming R:PDFMerge would let them extract a page to a file. Karen I use this method in the initial creation of all statements. Have an end of month job run and create all statements. Then the statements can be printed from this table along with a print and send status. You have a lot of print options. You can change order by or select by for different groupings. Such as some customers get emailed direct, others get hard copy and others both. As always, many ways to accomplish an end task. -Bob
