PDFreactor 1.1.936.7 review
DownloadRealObjects PDFreactor is a powerful formatting processor for converting XML and XHTML/HTML documents into PDF
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RealObjects PDFreactor is a powerful formatting processor for converting XML and XHTML/HTML documents into PDF. PDFreactor uses Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) to define page layout and styles. The brand new server-side tool enables a great variety of applications in the fields of ERP, eCommerce and Electronic Publishing, such as:
Dynamic creation of documents and reports
Integration into business- and publishing-workflows
Multi-channel publishing of content through Web and Print
Invoices, delivery notes and shipping documents on-the-fly
Automatic generation of technical manuals, data sheets, reports and product information
PDFreactor is a practical choice for publishers, software architects and developers looking for a cross-platform, easy to deploy, cost-effective XML and XHTML/HTML printing solution that does not require any XSL-FO skills to quickly achieve great looking results.
It enables multi-channel publishing using CSS for styling XML and XHTML/HTML documents to be published in print or on the Web. It does not require two different style sheets in two different style languages. You do not have to master the complexities of XSL/XSL-FO syntax and programming. However, PDFreactor comes with built-in support for XSLT processing that offers further flexibility and interoperability for those who need to include a XSLT style sheet on top.
Here are some key features of "PDFreactor":
Remarkable What-You-See-Is-What-You-Print functionality
Compared to other formatter or printing over the Web using a browser, PDFreactor provides real What-You-See-Is-What-You-Print functionality to your application. So, users won't be disappointed by unsatisfactory print results while you can offer unmatched print capabilities.
Strong support for CSS
PDFreactor offers strong support for Cascading Style Sheets (CSS), including CSS 2.1. CSS is a powerful formatting language for XML, is widely used and has become very popular on the Web. It is efficient to use, easy to learn and offers the flexibility to style the most common document layouts.
Multi-channel publishing with CSS
RealObjects PDFreactor enables multi-channel publishing using CSS for styling XML and XHTML/HTML documents to be published in print or on the Web. You have to deal with one style sheet and consequently one style language only. Streaming the output either to print media or over the Web just requires the definition of two media types within the CSS.
To achieve the same result with the transformation-based processing model of XSL/XSL-FO, you need two different style sheets in two different style languages. CSS for publishing on the Web, XSL/XSL-FO for publishing in print.
For more information about the differences between the styling-based processing model of CSS and the transformation-based processing model of XSL/XSL-FO, please review the section CSS vs XSL.
Print any XML document
Unlike many other formatters PDFreactor can print almost any XML document. Authors and publishers are able to typeset and print documents written in XHTML/HTML or one of the many XML-based document formats. PDFreactor supports DTDs and XML-Schema, allowing the print of documents with extensive illustrations and layouts. Automatic DOCTYPE and encoding detection is also supported.
Strong support for legacy HTML Web content
Fully integrated clean-up processes also allow legacy HTML Web content as input. PDFreactor then parses, formats and renders the input according to the style definitions and clean-up processes used. The output can be returned to a Web client, used in mailings or streamed to printers and other devices.
Print XHTML Web content
PDFreactor comes with a default XHTML style sheet. XHTML is the successor of HTML and the XML language of the World Wide Web. Using PDFreactor you are able to easily print Web content written in XHTML.
Built-in support for XSLT processing
PDFreactor allows you to style the most common document layouts by using CSS only. You do not have to master the complexities of XSL/XSL-FO syntax and programming. However, PDFreator comes with built-in support for XSLT processing that offers further flexibility and interoperability for those who need to include a XSLT style sheet on top. For example, a XSLT style sheet would be necessary to calculate the total from values of a XML-based invoice. For more information about XSLT support please see the section How it works?.
Cross-platform, modular and open architecture in 100% Java
PDFreactor offers a modular and open architecture and is written in 100% Java. For example, it comes with built-in formatters for SVG and Barcode as well as built-in support for XSLT processing.
W3C standard compliance
PDFreactor is based on the latest W3C standards, providing the highest flexibility and interoperability with your system.
Flexible and quick deployment
PDFreactor is easy to integrate into Servlets, EJB, Java Web Services and can also be used from PHP, ASP.NET and other scripting languages. A PDFreactor Enterprise Edition for straightforward integration into common Java Application Server (e.g. Sun Java Application Server, BEA WebLogic, IBM WebSphere) will be available soon.
You can either use the Command Line Interface or easily integrate PDFreactor into your Servlets, EJB or Web Service by using the comprehensive Java API. PDFreactor can be directly called from Java and Apache Ant, which e.g. allows the automatic generation of documents (manuals, user guidelines etc.) during an automated software built process.
In the simplest case you only have to specify and input and output file to generate a PDF document. It is also possible to use the operating system's standard input (stdin) and output (stdout) streams to read and write content. This is especially useful when using PDFreactor with server-side scripting languages such as PHP.
PDFreactor is provided as a single Java library including all necessary dependencies. Thus it can conveniently be used on the Command Line using its powerful Command Line API or can directly be integrated into Java server applications using the Java API. The installation package also includes a comprehensive integration manual in PDF and HTML format.
You do not have to master the complexities of XSL syntax and programming. CSS is widely used and has become very popular on the Web. It is easy to learn, simple to use and offers the flexibility to style the most common document layouts.
Powerful W3C standards-oriented layout capabilities
By implementing the W3C specification for Paged Media and print, PDFreactor provides great control over the paged output, enabling a real What-You-See-Is-What-You-Print approach. It is very easy to set page sizes, margins and pagination for specific elements, page headers and footers. Using proprietary CSS properties, it is possible to set PDF specific information, to generate outlines and links for your documents and even to add meta information about the author or keywords. PDFreactor's main layout capabilities include:
Pagination
Page size, orientation, style and page breaks
Dynamic headers/footers, page numbering and duplex printing via CSS
Tables with automatic layout and running headers/footers
Floats and absolute positioned blocks
Lists with customizable bullets or numbers
CSS counters
Extensive PDF output
Hyperlinks and bookmarks
Document security, e.g. disable printing, modifications or extracting of content, lock PDF with a password
40-bit/128-bit encryption
True Type and Open Type fonts embedding
Compression
Built-in SVG support
PDFreactor comes with a built-in formatter for Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG), which enables CSS-based multi-channel publishing of high-quality graphics on the Web and in print. Please review also the mortgage calculation sample document, which is included in the PDFreactor GUI Demo application and part of every PDFreactor installation/trial package.
Built-in Barcode support
PDFreactor comes with a built-in formatter for Barcode, which enables comprehensive documents to be displayed on the Web or to be streamed to printers and other devices. Please review also the Barcode sample document, which is included in the PDFreactor GUI Demo application and part of every PDFreactor installation/trial package.
Comprehensive sample documents and live demonstrations
RealObjects provides a collection of comprehensive sample documents and interactive live demonstrations to help in evaluations and assist in development. These demos show how a simple declarative Cascading Style Sheet (CSS) with selected styles and layout options can be used to easily convert XML, XHTML/HTML or even legacy HTML Web content into superb PDF. Some demos also include a XSLT style sheet, which is supported through PDFreactor's built-in support for XSLT processing.
Apart from the interactive live demonstrations, all sample documents are included in the PDFreactor GUI Demo application, which is part of every PDFreactor installation/trial package.
User-friendly PDFreactor GUI Demo application
The PDFreactor installation/trial package comes with a user-friendly GUI Demo application, which is for testing purposes only. It allows you to easily and quickly experience PDFreactor's XML and XHTML/HTML printing capabilities.
Apart from the interactive live demonstrations, the PDFreactor GUI Demo application includes various sample documents. It offers a browser like WYSIWYG view as well as a single and double page PDF preview. You can directly create a PDF document and save it to your computer.
The document's source code and inline style sheets (used in some documents) can be modified in order to experience the styling-based processing model of CSS. Style sheets and advanced properties of all documents are exposed in separate views as well.
What's New in This Release:
This maintenance release fixes a fatal exception that happened when trying to run PDFreactor in IBM JVMs.
Now it is possible to use PDFreactor with a IBM JVM, e.g. within Websphere.
Another problem that was fixed was that the toolbar looked of the GUI demo looked strange in Sun JRE 1.5.0_08.
PDFreactor 1.1.936.7 keywords