Is there a tool/product available within the Aspose PDF products where a PDF can be designed via graphic interface as opposed to code?
We are afraid that we do not provide any tool to design a PDF via graphical interface. In case you need further information, please let us know.
Yes I do have another question maybe you could help with. I have an existing project in which we are moving to the cloud an existing application. As part of the legacy application, there are several PDF’s which must be duplicated, but they are from a very old designer, and we have no graphical UI in which to create something similar. Within these PDF’s are data which need to be updated each time the app is run (for example, an invoice application which updates existing values in the PDF to produce a new invoice).
Our thought was that if there was a way that the Aspose component could somehow export the existing PDF to some sort of XML schema (or similar), we could then use a template in order to find the data points which need to be updated and replace, then generate a new PDF using the updated XML.
Does that sound possible with Aspose.PDF? Or would you recommend another option? Trying to replicate the entire PDF in code seems very meticulous and time consuming and not an option. Please advise, and thank you in advance for any suggestions or guidance you can provide.
Thanks for your further inquiry.
As per your requirements, it seems that you can achieve them using Aspose.PDF. The API offers a feature to export Acroform Data to XML. This way you will have an XML template which you can edit for new values.
After updating the XML with new values, you can then import data into PDF form like following:
var doc = new Document(dataDir + "MIR_form_v7.2.1b.pdf");
var form = new Facades.Form();
form.BindPdf(doc);
form.ImportXml(new FileStream(dataDir + "sample.xml", FileMode.Open));
form.Save(dataDir + "output.pdf");
form.Dispose();
We hope the above shared information helps you with achieving your purpose. Please let us know in case you need further assistance.
Thank you for the response and referral! I’ve tried all of those samples, and specifically the XML sample but the output is an empty XML file. I’m assuming this means there are no AcroForm fields in use in the document and we would be out of options, but if there is an alternative you can think of please let me know. Thanks again for your help.
Yes, your understandings are correct. However, could you please share a sample PDF document for our reference? We will further check it and share our feedback with you.
As an alternative, what if we were to design the report using the SSRS designer in Visual Studio, and then deploy the RDL file as part of the application. If we use Aspose.PDF can that RDL file be leveraged to produce the PDF? And if so, would the only change needed be to verify that the RDL has the correct connection string? Could you by chance point me to a quick code snippet that loads an RDL and exports a PDF? Thanks so much for all of your help.
If you want to go with RDLC option, you need to use Aspose.PDF for Reporting Services so that you could be able to export the report as PDF. Furthermore, you can also try find/replace functionality offered by Aspose.PDF. You can prepare a sample/master template with text markers which can be replaced in order to generate PDF files with new values.
Thanks for the info.
What I was meaning though is that if I have an RDL which was designed in Visual Studio. In this scenario we’d just use the designer, we wouldn’t deploy it to SSRS. If this is the case, can Aspose.PDF (or Aspose.PDF for Reporting Services) simply load that RDL and export it to a PDF, assuming that the connection string is valid? If so, is there a code sample for that? Thanks again.
Regretfully, Aspose.PDF does not offer this feature to export a RDL file to PDF with connection string or database involvement.