[Cialug] pdf thing (again)
Dave J. Hala Jr.
dave at 58ghz.net
Fri Nov 3 09:45:56 CST 2006
Its RHEL webserver. Generally speaking, data will be entered and
retrieved from a database using a dynamically generated HTML form
written in PHP 4.3.x. The forms will be used over and over, but may have
minor revisions once or twice a year.
On Fri, 2006-11-03 at 09:31, Nathan C. Smith wrote:
> I'm going to come out and ask - what platform will the work ultimately be
> done on? On a Windows computer or on a server using a web interface?
>
> Are the forms consistent? - the same forms over and over, or will they
> frequently change?
>
> The PDF system nuance sells is supposed to be very good at this kind of
> stuff - for end users on Windows. I don't know if the free and tiny
> foxreader can fill forms.
>
> BTW - I have had experience with the PDF-tools stuff and it *is* excellent.
>
> -Nate
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Dave J. Hala Jr. [mailto:dave at 58ghz.net]
> > Sent: Friday, November 03, 2006 8:03 AM
> > To: Central Iowa Linux Users Group
> > Subject: Re: [Cialug] pdf thing (again)
> >
> >
> > Basically what I did when trying out pdf-tools' form filling
> > tool was to load the pdf form into acrobat professional. Then
> > I defined the data fields and saved the form.
> >
> > To fill the form, I read the data from the database, and
> > passed the information to the form filling tool on the
> > command line. Their tool took the original pdf and the data
> > and created a new, filled out pdf. It was slick and it worked
> > well. Smoking fast, with almost no overhead.
> >
> > I'm not against forking out $2k for pdf-tools's software.
> > However, I have all dual cpu machines and possibly a quad
> > coming in the future. That will raise my licensing fees
> > considerably. Don't get me wrong, pdf-tools is well worth the
> > money and they have excellant support. However, if I can find
> > a lower cost alternative, I could be more competitive.
> >
> > :) Dave
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > On Fri, 2006-11-03 at 07:42, carl-olsen at mchsi.com wrote:
> > > From what I see, it looks like it would be possible to
> > build the FDF
> > > file using PHP and data from a database. I'm not too familiar with
> > > running command line instructions using PHP, but I'm sure
> > that its not
> > > difficult. I'm wondering if I can create the form using
> > Acrobat and
> > > then use this tool to fill in the form fields, or whether
> > the PDF has
> > > to be created using this tool. I know how to create a form
> > with fill
> > > in fields using Acrobat, but I'd be lost if I had to create
> > one from a
> > > command line.
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > I know how to capture form fields from a PDF and put the
> > data into a
> > > database, but I never could figure out how to populate the
> > fields from
> > > the database later when I wanted to print out a copy of a form that
> > > someone filled out using a web browser. The options I
> > found at that
> > > time were very expensive. I looked at the IRS website and
> > found the
> > > tool they were using was about half the price of the Adobe
> > tools, but
> > > it was still several thousand dollars.
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > Carl Olsen
> > >
> > > Web Developer
> > >
> > > Drake University
> > >
> > >
> > > -------------- Original message from "Dave J. Hala Jr."
> > > <dave at 58ghz.net>: --------------
> > >
> > >
> > > > I've been experimenting with a trial version of PDF Tools
> > > form filling
> > > > tool. (www.pdf-tools.com) It takes an existing pdf, and
> > > allows you to
> > > > insert data into the form fields in the pdf.
> > > >
> > > > It works awesome. However, its priced by CPU.
> > This makes it
> > > a little
> > > > pricey on a dual cpu server or a dual core server. I'm
> > > looking for a
> > > > lower cost alternative.
> > > >
> > > > I found something called pdftk or PDF Toolkit
> > > >
> > >
> > http://applications.linux.com/article.pl?sid=06/04/17/1943230&tid=47
> > > >
> > > > It seems to be the solution I'm looking for. Has
> > anyone had
> > > any
> > > > experience with it before?
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > :) Dave
> > > >
> > > > --
> > > >
> > > > Open Source Information Systems, Inc. (OSIS)
> > > > Da ve J. Hala Jr., President
> > > > 641.485.1606 www.osis.us
> > > > Save a life: Adopt a shelter animal!
> > > >
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> >
> > Open Source Information Systems, Inc. (OSIS)
> > Dave J. Hala Jr., President <dave at osis.us>
> > 641.485.1606 www.osis.us
> > Save a life: Adopt a shelter animal!
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--
Open Source Information Systems, Inc. (OSIS)
Dave J. Hala Jr., President <dave at osis.us>
641.485.1606 www.osis.us
Save a life: Adopt a shelter animal!
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