I've been following this thread with some interest as it flirts with some ideas I've been rolling around.
What I'm wondering is what is the benefit of PDFs as opposed to the database approach someone else suggested? I'm thinking that a DB of duplicate/archival (AR) data is more secure and equally available as individual PDFs, assuming non-data things like signatures aren't being stored? Ben On Mon, Mar 22, 2010 at 3:13 PM, Emmitt Dove <[email protected]> wrote: > 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 > > --- RBASE-L =======================3D=======================3 D= TO POST A MESSAGE TO ALL MEMBERS: Send a plain text email to [email protected] (Don't use any of these words as your Subject: INTRO, SUBSCRIBE, UNSUBSCRIBE, SEARCH, REMOVE, SUSPEND, RESUME, DIGEST, RESEND, HELP) =======================3D=======================3 D= TO SEE MESSAGE POSTING GUIDELINES: Send a plain text email to [email protected] In the message SUBJECT, put just one word: INTRO =======================3D=======================3 D= TO UNSUBSCRIBE: Send a plain text email to [email protected] In the message SUBJECT, put just one word: UNSUBSCRIBE =======================3D=======================3 D= TO SEARCH ARCHIVES: Send a plain text email to [email protected] In the message SUBJECT, put just one word: SEARCH-n (where n is the number of days). In the message body, place any text to search for. =======================3D=======================3 D=
