[Zope] Re: [Zope-dev] Re: Transaction support on MySQL

[Evan Simpson]

Ping Lau wrote:

> I like to first thank all of you for your suggestions.  But I still can't
> quite figure out how PDF can solve my problem.  The first problem I am
> facing is printing reports to pre printed forms loaded in dot matrix
> printers.  The program has to drive the printer to print the info at the
> right spot on the form.  The second problem is how to print barcode(Code39
> symbology) on some documents.  The barcode encodes the document number.  I
> have found a barcode class written in Java.  Is there a way to use Java
> class within Zope?

The reason we've been talking about PDF is that PDF files are explicitly
designed to reproduce pages exactly as you specify, with everything positioned
just so.  Unless you use Acrobat Reader or some similar technology, you are
going to find it very difficult to get your data to line up right on your
pre-printed forms. HTML (the format your browser understands, and which Zope
usually supplies) was never meant for precise positioning of page elements --
quite the opposite, in fact.  This is a much larger problem than generating the
barcodes, which will depend on the document format you choose for printing.

Is there some reason why Zope is an especially good fit for your application?
From what you've mentioned so far, I'd suggest sticking to Delphi (or learning
Python, but that's another story :-)