Re: 4gl reports

In article <3551F409.6878@administaff.com>, amy_cotter@administaff.com wrote: > > I'm working on a project that requires reports that are generated using > Informix 4gl (AIX) to print using user selectable fonts, point sizes, > compression, orientation, etc ... > Is there an easier way of doing this? We are currently working with > printer specific PCL embedded in 4gl code. > Amy: I had the same need and this is how I solved it. I use an older version of Microsoft word (version 2) to paint a report page the way I need it using tables, fonts, orientation etc. After the form is is the way I like it I print to a file. This gives me the raw PCL needed to print the page the way I need it. I use a hex editor that I wrote to strip off the printer reset and form feeds from the PCL file. I then write Informix reports that dump out to a flat file. This is the report data that I fill in on the PCL pages. I have a C program that will read the 4gl report file and merge it with the PCL file created by Word and dump it to a printer. Although it sounds complicated, the tools I have developed allow me to crank out a report with not much more effort than a regular report. This is what we have to do with out the old VB Crystal Report front end to Informix. This is a high level overview of how I solved my problem. Maybe it can give you some hints for your situation. -----== Posted via Deja News, The Leader in Internet Discussion ==----- http://www.dejanews.com/ Now offering spam-free web-based newsreading