Re: FO, FOP and PDF

[<robert dot wills at sts dot co dot uk>]

Dave,

Yes, FOP can do the things you ask - we've been using it for a year or so 
for technical manuals but wrote our own Java-based tools to drive it rather 
than using XSLT. Some of our source material is DocBook, but other parts 
are data models, interface API definitions, etc., and our Java developers 
are happier using OO inheritance to 'subclass' document types and styling 
handlers than they would be trying to customize the docbook DTD and 
stylesheets. This approach also enables us to put more intelligence into 
the transformation process to make up for FOP's weaknesses in certain 
areas, e.g. table column sizing.

The small subset of XSL:FO features which FOP claims to implement seems 
pretty accurate, and we've not found any show-stopping bugs we can't work 
around. One restriction we did find is size - FOP is designed around an 
'in-memory' architecture which is fine for small to medium sized docs. If 
you're hoping to create complex output PDFs of, say, 300+ pages, you might 
be advised to look elsewhere for now.

Rob Wills.



______________________________ Reply Separator _________________________________
Subject: FO, FOP and PDF
Author:  "Olson, Dave -Systems" <Dave dot Olson at itt dot com> at STS
Date:    18/03/03 00:37


     
     
     
       I'm embarking on a project to generate documentation in PDF, 
       among other
       formats, and I'm hoping to use FOP.  Docbook seems to cover all 
       our needed
       features, but after Norm Walsh's comment that "FOP isn't very 
       robust or
       complete yet," I'm wondering what level of effort I'm getting 
       into.
     
       We need to do the following:
       -TOCs (page numbers)
       -index (links or page numbers)
       -lists of figures (links or page numbers) 
       -tables
       -embedded images (PNG & GIF)
       -bulleted and numbered lists
       -nested sections, preferably auto numbered.
     
       I assume I'll need to learn a moderate amount about XML-FO and 
       stylesheet
       transformations, and probably modify the DocBook XSL to some 
       degree to get
       around FOP quirks, but is it realistic to expect to achieve the 
       above
       features with the current version of FOP?  I've read the 
       limitations, and
       they seem bearable, but I don't know all the FO features I may 
       need.  Is
       this a month project, a six-month effort, or a "FOP just can't 
       do that"?  (I
       have 10 years programming experience, but XML is mostly new.)
     
       If FOP is still too immature, can anyone recommend another 
       Docbook->something->PDF generator that is redistributable? 
       (We're hoping to
       avoid TeX and C++.)
     
       Thanks,
       David Olson
     
     
     
     
     
     
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