Looking for PDF generator

[pendell]

I am building a web application which generates reports. I want those reports output in .PDF format. This app uses apache tomcat and java/servlets/JSP. Any suggestions?

ETA: Examples of what I am looking for include pdfbox (http://pdfbox.apache.org/downloads.html) and itext (http://itextpdf.com/). Anyone have experience with these libraries? Any other recommendations?

ETA: Ruby (https://www.ruby-toolbox.com/categories/pdf_generation) has a lot of neat stuff, but I'm not using Ruby. I'm using Java/J2EE/JSP.

Respectfully,

Brian P.

[valadil]

I've used PyPDF, but nothing in java.

Would you consider using an intermediate language? I've found producing latex and then rendering that wasn't too taxing.

[pendell]

I'd consider it. Although I actually find myself drawn to a javascript pdf generator such as jsPDF (https://github.com/MrRio/jsPDF). Pull the raw data from the application, then turn it into a PDF document on the client side. I prefer to keep the presentation stuff out of the server side if at all possible.

Respectfully,

Brian P.

[valadil]

That's certainly a more modern approach than latex ;-)

[youimage]

i only use vb or c# programming language, not an expert on jave. if you are want this kind of pdf generator (http://www.rasteredge.com/how-to/vb-net-imaging/pdf-creating/), i can manage get something for you.

[KacyCrawford]

There are huge number of 3rd party stuffs which are available. Probably you can have a look at that

[TSGames]

Unfortunately, I can't really help you with doing the rendering on the client side of things. I will, however, second LaTeXbecause it is beautiful (http://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/1319/showcase-of-beautiful-typography-done-in-tex-friends) and it is easy (http://www.inf.ethz.ch/personal/markusp/teaching/guides/guide-tables.pdf).

Though having a mini-fridge generate pdfs could be quite a challenge =P

[Brother Oni]

Though having a mini-fridge generate pdfs could be quite a challenge =P

You could market it as the 'Thinking man's mini-fridge'. :smallbiggrin:

[pendell]

You could market it as the 'Thinking man's mini-fridge'. :smallbiggrin:

The minifridge: Refreshing adult beverages and small novels to your taste.

Thing is, given our clientele's taste I suspect they would hold out for images :smalleek: .

Respectfully,

Brian P.

[Brother Oni]

Thing is, given our clientele's taste I suspect they would hold out for images :smalleek: .

I wonder if you could wrangle a LCD screen in the front of the minifridge whereupon they get a certain amount of view time per beverage consumed? :smalltongue:

The alternative would be an image download, where the download rate would be capped to a 56k modem and you get x minutes of download per beverage... actually scratch that. I remember being on dialup and I'm fairly sure it breaks the Geneva Convention on cruel and unusual punishments.

[arronlee]

Hi, pendell.
I want to offer you some help very much. But i am not using the tool you mentioned above. As for myself, I used to process PDF generating (http://www.yiigo.com/net-document-image-plugin/pdf-plugin/pdf-write.shtml) work with the help of another PDF SDK. It is just one of many but I do appreciate its simple way of processing. Even though I only tried its free trial package to generate and read PDFs (http://www.yiigo.com/net-document-image-plugin/pdf-plugin/) and didn′t check the cost and licensing conditions, it worked great for me. Share with you. And I hope you success. Good luck.



Best regards,
Arron

[TSGames]

It's a bit of an old topic, but I find myself curious. What did you decide to do for generating pdfs?

[pendell]

I'm in conversation with a guy and I think we're going to use jspdf (https://code.google.com/p/jspdf/). I want it done client side with a cheap library and without having to program more than necessary. *If* that works. If it doesn't, we'll probably use an open source java library and do it server side.

Respectfully,

Brian P.

[ouku]

Hi, pendell.
I want to offer you some help very much. But i am not using the tool you mentioned above. As for myself, I used to process PDF generating (http://www.yiigo.com/net-document-image-plugin/pdf-plugin/pdf-write.shtml) work with the help of another PDF SDK. It is just one of many but I do appreciate its simple way of processing. Even though I only tried its free trial package to generate and read PDFs (http://www.yiigo.com/net-document-image-plugin/pdf-plugin/) and didn′t check the cost and licensing conditions, it worked great for me. Share with you. And I hope you success. Good luck.
Best regards,
Arron

I think code editing pdf is not easier than pdf editor creators, I use PDF creator from OX PDF which I searched from my mate's computer.. That is very simple to use.

[Max™]

Hmmm, am I missing something here?

I have a lot of assignments which need to be submitted in .pdf so I just use libreoffice > file > export as pdf, though I recall having a plugin which let me edit them directly, haven't tried recently but I was using GIMP to do it before and then saw the libreoffice method and went with that. Oh, I do recall doing some quick and dirty editing with a couple of images using libre draw on an already generated pdf, I just had to make sure I let the internal bookmarks and external reference links keep their format and everything worked great.

Apparently there is a TexMaths extension to insert/edit latex as well.