Good PDF generation library for C/C++?
I am looking to integrate PDF generated reports into an application that is written in c++. I want them native to the application, not generated through a print driver or such. I also need the application to be platform independent (Linux/AIX/Windows). Is there a good library out there that does this? I am trying to avoid the expense of Adobe's PDF API. I have looked a little at the HaruPDF Library but want to explore all options before investing my time and $$$ in one solution over another. Any help/advice/experience with this kind of tool/lib would be appreciated.
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Hugh McCurdy
Or their new page -- http://libharu.org/wiki/Main_Page
Take a look at "enscript". This may or may not be installed on your AIX system, but if not it is free and can be downloaded at:
http://www-03.ibm.com/systems/power/software/aix/linux/toolbox/rpmgroups.html
This converts ascii to postscript, such that you could create ascii reports then convert.
http://www-03.ibm.com/systems/power/software/aix/linux/toolbox/rpmgroups.html
This converts ascii to postscript, such that you could create ascii reports then convert.
If you can live with generating reports onto fixed size templates, here is the approach I took recently when required to print PDF certificates from a GUI E-learning application.
1) Use Adobe Acrobat to create a PDF form, fields added as placeholders for the data from the application. This is the template for all certificates in my app.
2) Use the FDF toolkit from Adobe (free and cross-platform) to generate FDF files with the data to be inserted e.g. course name, user name, date passed etc.
3) Use pdftk (open source and cross-platform) to merge data from FDF files onto the form template, outputting a flattened PDF for printing or storage.
I actually stripped out a lot of the pdftk source code, leaving just the FDF merge functionality, and compiled it into a DLL for use in my Windows app. The downside to this approach is you are putting data into fixed size fields on a page so layout is restricted, but this was not an issue in my situation.
PDF is a royal pain - maybe one of the open XML document formats would be more suitable?
Cheers,
Chris
1) Use Adobe Acrobat to create a PDF form, fields added as placeholders for the data from the application. This is the template for all certificates in my app.
2) Use the FDF toolkit from Adobe (free and cross-platform) to generate FDF files with the data to be inserted e.g. course name, user name, date passed etc.
3) Use pdftk (open source and cross-platform) to merge data from FDF files onto the form template, outputting a flattened PDF for printing or storage.
I actually stripped out a lot of the pdftk source code, leaving just the FDF merge functionality, and compiled it into a DLL for use in my Windows app. The downside to this approach is you are putting data into fixed size fields on a page so layout is restricted, but this was not an issue in my situation.
PDF is a royal pain - maybe one of the open XML document formats would be more suitable?
Cheers,
Chris
ASKER
Thanks what I figured all along. Thanks for confirming.