Niall> Hi all, I'm looking for some advice on Dynamic PDF Document
   Niall> Generation from java/ j2ee web apps.

   Niall> What I'd like to do is take data from a form or database
   Niall> (perhaps in XML format) and include it in a PDF document
   Niall> which will be returned to the user.

   Niall> I've come accross a number of tools, but am having trouble
   Niall> deciding between them.  Eg.

   Niall> -iText

   Niall> -Apache FOP

   Niall> -AurigaDoc (uses FOP)

Can't comment on the above (although I am looking at iText to render
EAN13 barcodes into reports).

   Niall> -DocBook

Much as I like DocBook, I've found it unpleasant to configure the
output because I have little experience in hacking XSL or DSSSL
stylesheets. If you want to merge from a ResultSet then you may end up
rolling a lot of your own code. At least, I'm not aware of a package
which does this.

   Niall> -Some other XML - XSLT method ?

I've recently been playing with JasperReports
(http://jasperreports.sourceforge.net) and have been impressed so
far. The abstraction of input datasources is good, so you can merge
from a whole variety of sources, including JDBC. The XML report
definitions are pretty verbose, but there are free tools to help
(and Emacs + PSGML mode made it bearable for me).

Can't comment of efficiency/speed relative to others, but worth adding
to the list.

Niall

I used Apache FOP a couple of years ago.
It integrates well into java.
All the work is done by XSLT, so you need to be happy writing XSL

Dave Hart

Hi all,

I'm looking for some advice on Dynamic PDF Document Generation from
java/ j2ee web apps.

What I'd like to do is take data from a form or database (perhaps in
XML format) and include it in a PDF document which will be returned to
the user.

I've come accross a number of tools, but am having trouble deciding
between them.  Eg.

-iText

-Apache FOP

-AurigaDoc (uses FOP)

-DocBook

-Some other XML - XSLT method ?

Which are the easiest to integrate? allow the most flexibility in
generating PDF? offer best performance?

Thanks,
Niall

(It's for an academic project so I can't afford to buy any commercial
software)

Niall,

What you need is a Form Server Tool.
For a professional solution, check jPDF Template at http://www.crionics.com

Cordially,