Reply To: Creating Reports

[Nathan Martin]

Some Crystal program is probably just as good a way to generate and print a report as any.

I’ve been looking around for solutions to the printing problem as well.  Here are some options I’ve thought about implementing, but I’d be glad to hear of a “good” method that someone is using in practice.

* Simple fixed-font text reports from any scripting or programming tool, maybe even an HRL format.

* Generate HTML files, print with browser automation or HTML converter.

* Postscript templates, filled in by your own program.

* See: troff or TeX

* XML-FO (take a look at apache.org’s FOP)

* MS Word mail-merge template and COM automation.

* OpenOffice.Org (or StarOffice) scripted mail merge and print.

* Scripted spreadsheet applications (similar to scripted word processor)

* Scripted database report (once the data is in the database you could use any reporting tool)

* Make PDF’s with API of your choosing.  Print with ghostscript???

* Buy (or find an open source) package that is designed for generating and printing reports programatically.  (See any trade magazine or search on sourceforge.)

* Hire a company who’s sole purpose is to reformat data into nicely printed output, labels, forms, wristbands, etc.

Hope this gives somebody some good ideas.