Hi Howard, How are your XSL skills? Both of these suggestions take XML and render to graphics/PDF. This would mean you would create an XML file of the data, then apply a XSL to transform it to the requested graphic.
SVG - XML language for scalable vectors. I've used it for minimal gantt chart type PNG creation from your iCalendar data in the JiCal project (http://www.sf.net/projects/jical). Could easily use it for more complex projects. The Apache Batik project has an example of a page from the Book of Kells from memory, all rendered using SVG. Bruce Badger pointed me at sodipodi which was a great help understanding SVG. (It's a drawing tool for SVG - nice). or Apache FOP Again uses XML to specify a page format for creation of PDF. There are lots of nice bits that you would only use for creating manuals/reports etc. I've used it to render day at a glance views in the JiCal project from your evolution Calendar data so you could use that code to create you own. (its all done with a stylesheet not java) HTH Stu On Thu, 2003-03-27 at 04:01, Howard Lowndes wrote: > I want to develop an application that uses a background database but > delivers the displayed data in a web browser. OK, no big deal so far. > > The problem is that I also want to be able to deliver printable material > which will need a degree of formatting to suit a preprinted form. This > printable material could comprise any number of formatted output sheets to > be printed as overlays on the preprinted forms. > > Given that I want to use a web browser as the main user interface, what > would be the best language in which to write the app? I'm guessing PHP > rather than Perl; I see that that has a set of PDF functions that might > give me what I want. > > Are there any good pointers out there? > > -- > Howard. > LANNet Computing Associates - Your Linux people <http://www.lannetlinux.com> > ------------------------------------------ > Flatter government, not fatter government - Get rid of the Australian states. > ------------------------------------------ > There are 10 types of people in the world, those who understand binary, > and those who don't. > > -- > SLUG - Sydney Linux User's Group - http://slug.org.au/ > More Info: http://lists.slug.org.au/listinfo/slug > -- SLUG - Sydney Linux User's Group - http://slug.org.au/ More Info: http://lists.slug.org.au/listinfo/slug
