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pmac38CDS

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Converting iSeries text reports to PDF and KEEP formatting

We are trying to convert a bunch of iSeries reports to PDF.  Right now I'm working with a trial of Adobe Acrobat XI Pro.  When I open a text file in Acrobat I lose all of it's formatting.  None of the columns line up.  It's like it's missing the line feed or something.  Is there a setting I can change to make Adobe keep the same format my report has?
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Gary Patterson, CISSP
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How do you get the text file?
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Gary Patterson, CISSP
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pmac38CDS

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I talked with one of our iSeries programmers and he says it does in fact have the capability to create PDF's.  Right now these files go to an IBM OnDemand viewer that we've created a user interface for.  Clients can log in and view reports that way and save as text files.  We also have another 3rd party solution tied to the OnDemand called Monarch which can save as PDF and CSV.  Right now we can call Monarch in an automated process to create CSV files for the client and put them in their folder.  We can't seem to make that work with PDF files so we were exploring other alternatives for that piece.  We'd like to be able to automate the process so that user doesn't have to do this manually download.
When I open a text file in Acrobat...

What "text file"? Created how? What "formattng" characters physically exist in the file?

Tom
This is a common requirement - I've set up automated AS/400 spooled file delivery via PDF (and TIF, TXT, Excel, CSV, HTML, XML, RTF, DOC, and a few I've probably forgotten) for clients many times.  Generally, this isn't difficult to do, and can usually be done with only native tools or free software.  I've done very basic automated PDF printing  setups in less than a day.

I'm actually working on one now.

You have have many options with the tools you have.  Pretty easy to set up delivery to a web site, sharepoint site, email, dropped into a Windows share, etc.  

Don't hesitate to open another question if you need some specifics.

My EE profile: https://www.experts-exchange.com/members/Gary_The_IT_Pro.html