Experimental PDF Sketchpad A97 software available

[CDMAPoster]

I'm putting out some more experimental software. When creating PDF
files from A97 I often have a static layout consisting of PDF commands
along with PDF commands that are dependent on the data that are added
dynamically. I created PDFLayoutViewer.mdb for the purpose of editing
the invariant portions of the output. It is important that the PDF
commands be placed in the proper order so I have to have a way to do
that. The problem that develops is that it becomes inconvenient to add
or move records around once they're in an Access table. To assist with
that problem I have import and export forms that allow me to do major
editing within a text file before importing the results into a layout
table in Access. I am capable of getting image content and placing it
on the page but need to streamline that process before making it
generally available. One nice thing about images in PDF is that once
you have the image data saved as a PDF object, you can place many
copies of that image in different orientations and sizes with a
negligible increase in file size. There are a few sample layouts in
the mdb. Samples: Layouts for BillOfLading, MyRTF, PackingList,
InvoluteGraph, PurchaseRequisition, QuoteLetter.

Among the usual caveats:

1) It's a work in progress. I.e., I haven't polished the UI much and
much needs to be done with the technique in general.
2) It works with Adobe Reader, but I have not tested it with any other
pdf readers.
3) 'Rebuild' message still exists (IMO, harmless).
4) It is supplied "as is" and "use at your own risk," but it seems
pretty safe to me.
5) No error handling included, so remember to close that Adobe Reader
file or textfile before trying to create it or do some programming
checks.
6) I provide no guarantee of support.
7) It was written in a hurry so it may still have a few bugs.
8) My function for finding the Adobe Acrobat Reader assumes the default
directory location was used during the install.

I didn't even put in an AutoExec macro so start with frmViewPDFLayout.
After converting to your version, if you have the free Adobe Acrobat
Reader you're ready to explore. Please let me know if anyone has
trouble converting to a later version of Access. Enjoy.

Here is the location of the zipped A97 .mdb file:
http://www.oakland.edu/~fortune/PDFLayoutViewer.zip

Note: The PDF text and graphic commands used for these samples are from
the PDF Reference Manual by Adobe:
http://partners.adobe.com/public/dev...reference.html

James A. Fortune
CD********@FortuneJames.com

[Stephen Lebans]

Very impressive James!
I'm going to spend a couple of days this summer going through your solution.

Thanks!

--

HTH
Stephen Lebans
http://www.lebans.com
Access Code, Tips and Tricks
Please respond only to the newsgroups so everyone can benefit.
<CD********@FortuneJames.comwrote in message
news:11*********************@b68g2000cwa.googlegro ups.com...

I'm putting out some more experimental software. When creating PDF
files from A97 I often have a static layout consisting of PDF commands
along with PDF commands that are dependent on the data that are added
dynamically. I created PDFLayoutViewer.mdb for the purpose of editing
the invariant portions of the output. It is important that the PDF
commands be placed in the proper order so I have to have a way to do
that. The problem that develops is that it becomes inconvenient to add
or move records around once they're in an Access table. To assist with
that problem I have import and export forms that allow me to do major
editing within a text file before importing the results into a layout
table in Access. I am capable of getting image content and placing it
on the page but need to streamline that process before making it
generally available. One nice thing about images in PDF is that once
you have the image data saved as a PDF object, you can place many
copies of that image in different orientations and sizes with a
negligible increase in file size. There are a few sample layouts in
the mdb. Samples: Layouts for BillOfLading, MyRTF, PackingList,
InvoluteGraph, PurchaseRequisition, QuoteLetter.

Among the usual caveats:

1) It's a work in progress. I.e., I haven't polished the UI much and
much needs to be done with the technique in general.
2) It works with Adobe Reader, but I have not tested it with any other
pdf readers.
3) 'Rebuild' message still exists (IMO, harmless).
4) It is supplied "as is" and "use at your own risk," but it seems
pretty safe to me.
5) No error handling included, so remember to close that Adobe Reader
file or textfile before trying to create it or do some programming
checks.
6) I provide no guarantee of support.
7) It was written in a hurry so it may still have a few bugs.
8) My function for finding the Adobe Acrobat Reader assumes the default
directory location was used during the install.

I didn't even put in an AutoExec macro so start with frmViewPDFLayout.
After converting to your version, if you have the free Adobe Acrobat
Reader you're ready to explore. Please let me know if anyone has
trouble converting to a later version of Access. Enjoy.

Here is the location of the zipped A97 .mdb file:
http://www.oakland.edu/~fortune/PDFLayoutViewer.zip

Note: The PDF text and graphic commands used for these samples are from
the PDF Reference Manual by Adobe:
http://partners.adobe.com/public/dev...reference.html

James A. Fortune
CD********@FortuneJames.com

[CDMAPoster]

Stephen Lebans wrote:

Very impressive James!
I'm going to spend a couple of days this summer going through your solution.

Thanks!

--

HTH
Stephen Lebans
http://www.lebans.com
Access Code, Tips and Tricks
Please respond only to the newsgroups so everyone can benefit.

Thanks Stephen,

I appreciate the encouragement. I think you'll like the multipage
PDF's, inclusion of images and compression of images and command
streams even more. I look forward to addressing any questions or
suggestions you might have.

James A. Fortune
CD********@FortuneJames.com