[Info-vax] OpenVMS printing to PDF

[Dirk Munk]

Jan-Erik Soderholm wrote:
> Dirk Munk skrev den 2015-05-20 01:23:
>
>
>>
>> Indeed a PDF tool can do that. But think of a billing program that
>> produces
>> PDF output files. Similar to FMS, you first produce a PDF form with named
>> fields, and then you fill those named fields in your application. When
>> the
>> form has been completed you write the pdf form, as an individual form, or
>> all of them as one big file, just as you choose.
>>
>
>
> That is mostly what the JetForm siute of applications did.
> Used JetForm Design to design a form (Windows based).
> Applications created a flat text file with the "data".
> Jetform Merge (we used the VMS version) then inserts
> the data into the form and (in that case) produced a
> PCL5 file to be printed. With logos and barcodes.
>
> A "PDF form" is usualy something that should be filled in
> interactively using the Adobe Reader and is something quite
> different.
>
> Jan-Erik.

A PDF form (or FDF) can be filled in interactively of course, but also 
by an application. Just Google a bit and you will find many applications 
that can do this.

There are also quite a number of applications that can read the filled 
in data from FDF files. Contrary to a web page, a FDF form is rigid, it 
can not change it's appearance. It usually has letter (US) or A4 (EU) 
size, easy to print.