I have an existing system that utilizes Word and vba to build a
customized document out of text snippets and then let users complete
the editing. What would be the recommended approach to take with
flex?
What the current Word/VBA system does:
- create a doc from a template (starting point)
- alter header info and logo to match the org creating the doc
- replace placeholder text with text from database
- insert values from db into bookmarks
- allow the user to select and then insert text snippets with
formatting into the doc. In word, a dialog box opens which presents a
list of text snippets (each snippet has a title, the title is
presented in the list) and when the user selects a list item it's
data (paragraph(s) or phrase) is inserted into the document.
- save completed doc as pdf
I would prefer to create and edit the document in a db table's rtf
field, and output to pdf if needed, than actually construct a file
system document dynamically. There is a workflow process with
different editors at different stages, I'm thinking keeping it all in
a db field might be cleaner than passing a physical document around.
Possibly all I'd need to do is to have a primary template with
placeholder text entries; and perform replace operations in the sql
backend. Manual editing would be done in whatever flex uses for rich
text editing. Export to pdf didn't look like a built in capability
with flex, but I'm sure I can dig more on that out of the list. Just
looking for anyone's input on a sensible approach to this problem.
