How to create an ms word file from MySQL data using PHP

[Eric Linders]

Hi,

I have customer contact information in a MySQL DB. The standard stuff:
first name, last name, city, state, zip, etc.

I'd like to write a PHP script that will take a customer ID range
(e.g., customer 10000 - 11000) and stick those into an MS Word
document, plain text document, or a PDF (any of the three will work).

The key is that each record has to have a page break after it so that
each customer prints on a separate piece of paper.

Anyone know how to do this?

Thanks in advance for any suggestions, links to tutorials, etc. :)
-- Eric

[Pedro Graca]

Eric Linders wrote:

I have customer contact information in a MySQL DB. The standard stuff:
first name, last name, city, state, zip, etc.

I'd like to write a PHP script that will take a customer ID range
(e.g., customer 10000 - 11000) and stick those into an MS Word
document, plain text document, or a PDF (any of the three will work).

The key is that each record has to have a page break after it so that
each customer prints on a separate piece of paper.

Anyone know how to do this?

I'd go with the plain text document:

<?php
$txt_file = fopen('textfile.txt', 'wb') or die('Cannot open.');
foreach($dbrecord as $customer) {
$string = 'Name: ' . $customer['name'] . "\r\n";
$string .= 'Address: ' . $customer['address'] . "\r\n";
// ...
$string .= "\x0C\r\n"; ## \x0C is the "form-feed" character
if (!fwrite($txt_file, $string)) die("Unable to write to textfile.txt");
}
fclose($txt_file);
?>

But I have no idea how ms word will interpret the form-feed character.

HTH
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[Garp]

"Eric Linders" <el********@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:49**************************@posting.google.c om...

Hi,

I have customer contact information in a MySQL DB. The standard stuff:
first name, last name, city, state, zip, etc.

I'd like to write a PHP script that will take a customer ID range
(e.g., customer 10000 - 11000) and stick those into an MS Word
document, plain text document, or a PDF (any of the three will work).

The key is that each record has to have a page break after it so that
each customer prints on a separate piece of paper.

Anyone know how to do this?

Thanks in advance for any suggestions, links to tutorials, etc. :)
-- Eric

Mmm, go here: http://www.programmershelp.co.uk/phpcreateword.php

HTH
Garp

[Eric Linders]

Pedro Graca <he****@hotpop.com> wrote in message news:<2h************@uni-berlin.de>...

Eric Linders wrote:

<SNIP>

Anyone know how to do this?

I'd go with the plain text document:

<?php
$txt_file = fopen('textfile.txt', 'wb') or die('Cannot open.');
foreach($dbrecord as $customer) {
$string = 'Name: ' . $customer['name'] . "\r\n";
$string .= 'Address: ' . $customer['address'] . "\r\n";
// ...
$string .= "\x0C\r\n"; ## \x0C is the "form-feed" character
if (!fwrite($txt_file, $string)) die("Unable to write to textfile.txt");
}
fclose($txt_file);
?>

But I have no idea how ms word will interpret the form-feed character.

HTH

Thanks Pedro, I'll try it today! :-) I will let you know how it works out for me.

- Eric

[Alvaro G Vicario]

*** Garp wrote/escribió (Thu, 20 May 2004 19:32:58 GMT):

Mmm, go here: http://www.programmershelp.co.uk/phpcreateword.php

Please note that you must be running PHP in a Windows server with MS Office
installed for this to work.

As for the PDF option, you have a number of libraries. A free one is:

http://www.fpdf.org/
--
--
-- Álvaro G. Vicario - Burgos, Spain
--