Hi,

Just started using paradox/opal recently and I've been wondering...is the
publish (rtf) method just completely broken in ver9? When I have anything
but a very simple report, for instance one which includes line objects
everything is just one big mess in the published rtf file. So far the
solution has been to create one by hand, creating each line/tabs etc on the
fly. Since that rules out any neat formating it's not really an option in
the long run. So I guess my question is, am I doing something wrong and/or
is it fixed in a newer version? The other publishing formats are not really
interesting since it must work within the runtime.

Another thing, is there a log somewhere with the changes/fixes/adds from
ver9 and onwards?

TIA
Jon

Jon,

See if this helps:
http://www.ars-florida.com/PDOXboard/messages/75.html


--
....
`·.¸¸.·´¯`·.¸¸.·´¯`·-> rodney

Jon,

Also... what a lot of people have done is this... they print the Report to a
PDF creator (printer). This way, Images, Lines, etc... that you have
designed into your Paradox Report will be shown in the final PDF document.

Paradox RTF file format is limited and does not include Images, lines,
boxes, etc.

I designed the RTF to HTML code because Paradox Runtime does not support
"Publish to HTML" but does support "Publish to RTF".

The limitations of the Paradox RTF file format does not allow Images, lines,
etc... for the finished HTML page.. So I wrote the RTF To HTML Library code
to be able to produce HTML code containing only a "Table" containing the
Report (as an option).... This allows one to write code which would Wrap
around the Table Code... This means that the final HTML output could include
Images, Lines etc... just like you would have for any other HTML document.

The PDF choice is the simplest and most predictable way to go... but the
RTF to HTML code is another option and is highly customizable



--
....
`·.¸¸.·´¯`·.¸¸.·´¯`·-> rodney

Thanks for you replies Rodney, comments below...

"Rodney Wise" <NSpamPlease_rodney1 (AT) bellsouth (DOT) net> wrote


Tested this and as you say it works great. Unfortunatly I can't be sure that
all users will have access to Acrobat

Was not aware of this but that explains all my troubles hehe.

After removing all the line stuff etc there's still have a few problems with
text running wild so I
decided to go ahead and create a proc which feeds a simple report my own
formated strings which can then be published. Only downside to this is I
have to use a font where all letters have same width on screen like courier
to keep the "accounting" right (dunno what this is called).

Again thanks for your pointers, I'm sure I'll get to use your rtf->html
library in the future. It really is a bit of a strange world getting into
opal (2 weeks in) when you're used to C#.

Jon J wrote:
It's much more likely that they'll have an Acrobat Reader than it is that
they'll have something that understands RTF.

As for "being used to C#," give ObjectPAL a little time. It's actually a
very strong language that's based heavily on Pascal. It makes Visual
Basic, for example, look sick (as, of course, most things do...).

----
ChimneySweep(R): Fast(!) table repair at a click of the mouse!
http://www.sundialservices.com

"Jon J" wrote:


You could test the registry to see if the Acrobat Reader is installed... if
not, through up a screen that will direct the user to the Adobe Web site for
the "Free Acrobat Reader download".

If your users don't have access to the Web... include the Reader
installation on your program installation disc.

Just some ideas....


--
....
`·.¸¸.·´¯`·.¸¸.·´¯`·-> rodney

"Sundial Services" <info (AT) sundialservices (DOT) com> wrote

hi,

Well it's the users that will be creating the documents not me, so what they
need is not Reader but the pdf writer/print driver which is distributed with
Acrobat prof or std. (or some free version which may or may not work)

As for not having something that understands rtf - Windows does so out of
the box (wordpad), same cannot be said about .pdf.

I will - gonna be maintaining an app that wont be switching platform anytime
soon. Must say I'm impressed at the speed you get something done in paradox.
However what bugs me is the way code is structured. Even though the event
model is very similar to both delphi and .net it feels like there are simply
too many places where you can put code. This is probably because it's hidden
by the form making it cumbersome to move between and causing lost focus.
(Yes I have been following the guidelines from the faq on thedbcommunity
site

Oh well maybe I'll have a new opinion next week hehe. Surely I'll be back
with more questions...

Thanks guys

Jon

Jon,

There are Free PDF writers available which can be freely distributed with
your applications. I believe these are used by many people here to create
PDF files on the fly.

Acrobat Reader is all the user needs... and it is usually installed on most
all PC's today.


--
....
`·.¸¸.·´¯`·.¸¸.·´¯`·-> rodney

there are plenty of free or cheap pdf creators out there. Acrobat is not needed.
Search the groups for pdf or the web for pdf creators to find out more.

Denn Santoro
President
Resource Development Associates
http://www.RDAWorldWide.Com
Offices in the United States and Germany
Providing solutions to health care, business, governments and non-profits since
1982

Not true in my experience.

Wordpad can open RTF documents and that is included in Windows.

Also, all word processors I have seen knows how to open RTF.

So, I would say it's almost certain that they will be able to read a
RTF-document and it's likely they will be able to open a PDF.


Anders