Re: General questions about ReportLab

Qt has support for cross platform printing.
http://qt-project.org/doc/qt-5/qtprintsupport-index.html


On Wed, Aug 27, 2014 at 8:42 AM, Frank Millman <[email protected]> wrote:

> Hi all
>
> I am writing a business/accounting application for general use. Reporting
> plays a very important role in such an application. Having looked at
> various options, I decided quite a while ago that when I was ready I would
> use ReportLab. I am now at that point and I am starting to play with it.
>
> This post is not about what RL *can* do, but rather about what it cannot
> do. I had assumed that when I got down to it, RL would enable me to satisfy
> all my reporting requirements. I now think that this was naive. I would
> like to spell out what I am looking for, and hopefully get some pointers to
> solutions where RL is not the answer.
>
> 1. As I understand it, RL allows a user to generate a report in PDF format
> and save it to a file. If they want to print it they must call up Acrobat
> Reader and print it from there.
>
> There are times when a user wants to run a report and send it to a printer
> straight away. I have read a bit about installing GhostScript, using it to
> convert PDF to PostScript, and sending it to a PostScript printer. Is this
> the recommended solution? Are there any examples?
>
> What if the printer does not accept PostScript? I use an HP1150 LaserJet,
> which uses PCL5. Acrobat Reader can print to it with no problem. Would I be
> able to do the same from RL?
>
> 2. In order for me to print directly to a printer, I need to know which
> printers are available. Is there a cross-platform way of enquiring from the
> system which printers are installed? If not I can create a database table
> to store printer information which the user must fill in manually. At a
> minimum I would need printer name and page size. Has anyone done this?
>
> 3. Is there a cross-platform way of actually sending a stream of bytes to
> the print spooler. Is 'lpr' the answer? Does it work on Windows?
>
> 4. Some users still want to print invoices on multi-part paper on a
> dot-matrix printer. Can PDF be used for this at all, or must I come up with
> some other solution?
>
> 5. Print previews - I have written the client side of my application in
> Javascript, so that it will run in any browser. Is there a way of
> generating a PDF file from RL and displaying it in the browser, without
> writing it to a file?
>
> I have plenty more questions, but this is enough for now. Any input will
> be much appreciated.
>
> Frank Millman
>
> P.S. I see that ReportLab's offices are in Thornton Road, Wimbledon. I was
> brought up in Worple Road, and I went to school in Edge Hill. Small world
> ...
>
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