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Posted to fop-dev@xmlgraphics.apache.org by Craeg Strong <cs...@arielpartners.com> on 2005/12/08 17:32:34 UTC
more feedback on 0.90alpha
Hello:
Here is some more feedback from a long time FOP user.
I am ABSOLUTELY THRILLED by the new release.
I have used it to create a number of PDF documents from Docbook/XML sources
and the results are excellent! Thanks a million for this.
While I don't agree that lack of automated table layout is a deal breaker,
I do agree that it is probably the *most* *important* feature yet to be
implemented,
especially for new users.
Since the auto table layout handling is based on the rules for CSS (and
says so in the spec),
it seems a shame there isn't a reusable library somewhere for this.
Since lack of auto-table layout is a FAQ, (or FEC frequently expressed
complaint?)
it might be a good idea to post some XSLT workarounds. For example,
you might
simply divide the available space by the number of columns, or you might
somehow
grab the longest string, multiply times the m-width, and use that, or...
Obviously it gets very complicated, which is why it isn't implemented
yet :-) but I suspect
several people like myself have written various workarounds in XSLT
which could be
posted on a wiki page or in a FAQ somewhere. Just a thought...
Regards,
--Craeg
Re: more feedback on 0.90alpha
Posted by Jeremias Maerki <de...@jeremias-maerki.ch>.
As promised, I've done a braindump [1] to the Wiki on the topic. If
anyone wants to take it from here, please do. I'll help where I can but
as I said, I can't allocate a lot of time for that right now.
[1] http://wiki.apache.org/xmlgraphics-fop/AutoTableLayout
On 08.12.2005 17:50:54 Jeremias Maerki wrote:
> Thanks a lot, Craeg. Maybe I should take some time during the weekend
> and write down my ideas on auto table layout on the Wiki [1]. Maybe with
> such an initial spark someone might finally sit down and take it on. I
> can imagine the layout engine might look daunting at first. With a few
> notes this might not look so scary anymore.
>
> BTW, you can add and change pages in the Wiki, too. You just have to
> register. It's a great tool when users want to help users, i.e. if
> someone would write down his tricks on working around the missing auto
> table layout. When there's some good and stable content on the Wiki, we
> can even take that over into the main FOP website.
>
> [1] wiki.apache.org/xmlgraphics-fop/
>
> On 08.12.2005 17:32:34 Craeg Strong wrote:
> > Hello:
> >
> > Here is some more feedback from a long time FOP user.
> >
> > I am ABSOLUTELY THRILLED by the new release.
> > I have used it to create a number of PDF documents from Docbook/XML sources
> > and the results are excellent! Thanks a million for this.
> >
> > While I don't agree that lack of automated table layout is a deal breaker,
> > I do agree that it is probably the *most* *important* feature yet to be
> > implemented,
> > especially for new users.
> >
> > Since the auto table layout handling is based on the rules for CSS (and
> > says so in the spec),
> > it seems a shame there isn't a reusable library somewhere for this.
> >
> > Since lack of auto-table layout is a FAQ, (or FEC frequently expressed
> > complaint?)
> > it might be a good idea to post some XSLT workarounds. For example,
> > you might
> > simply divide the available space by the number of columns, or you might
> > somehow
> > grab the longest string, multiply times the m-width, and use that, or...
> >
> > Obviously it gets very complicated, which is why it isn't implemented
> > yet :-) but I suspect
> > several people like myself have written various workarounds in XSLT
> > which could be
> > posted on a wiki page or in a FAQ somewhere. Just a thought...
> >
> > Regards,
> >
> > --Craeg
>
>
>
> Jeremias Maerki
Jeremias Maerki
Re: more feedback on 0.90alpha
Posted by Jeremias Maerki <de...@jeremias-maerki.ch>.
Thanks a lot, Craeg. Maybe I should take some time during the weekend
and write down my ideas on auto table layout on the Wiki [1]. Maybe with
such an initial spark someone might finally sit down and take it on. I
can imagine the layout engine might look daunting at first. With a few
notes this might not look so scary anymore.
BTW, you can add and change pages in the Wiki, too. You just have to
register. It's a great tool when users want to help users, i.e. if
someone would write down his tricks on working around the missing auto
table layout. When there's some good and stable content on the Wiki, we
can even take that over into the main FOP website.
[1] wiki.apache.org/xmlgraphics-fop/
On 08.12.2005 17:32:34 Craeg Strong wrote:
> Hello:
>
> Here is some more feedback from a long time FOP user.
>
> I am ABSOLUTELY THRILLED by the new release.
> I have used it to create a number of PDF documents from Docbook/XML sources
> and the results are excellent! Thanks a million for this.
>
> While I don't agree that lack of automated table layout is a deal breaker,
> I do agree that it is probably the *most* *important* feature yet to be
> implemented,
> especially for new users.
>
> Since the auto table layout handling is based on the rules for CSS (and
> says so in the spec),
> it seems a shame there isn't a reusable library somewhere for this.
>
> Since lack of auto-table layout is a FAQ, (or FEC frequently expressed
> complaint?)
> it might be a good idea to post some XSLT workarounds. For example,
> you might
> simply divide the available space by the number of columns, or you might
> somehow
> grab the longest string, multiply times the m-width, and use that, or...
>
> Obviously it gets very complicated, which is why it isn't implemented
> yet :-) but I suspect
> several people like myself have written various workarounds in XSLT
> which could be
> posted on a wiki page or in a FAQ somewhere. Just a thought...
>
> Regards,
>
> --Craeg
Jeremias Maerki
Re: more feedback on 0.90alpha
Posted by Jeremias Maerki <de...@jeremias-maerki.ch>.
On 08.12.2005 17:49:49 Jess Holle wrote:
<snip/>
> Does FOP 0.90 do good text wrapping in table cells?
It should. The code is the same as everywhere else.
<snip/>
Jeremias Maerki
Re: more feedback on 0.90alpha
Posted by Jess Holle <je...@ptc.com>.
Craeg Strong wrote:
> Hello:
>
> Here is some more feedback from a long time FOP user.
>
> I am ABSOLUTELY THRILLED by the new release.
> I have used it to create a number of PDF documents from Docbook/XML
> sources
> and the results are excellent! Thanks a million for this.
>
> While I don't agree that lack of automated table layout is a deal
> breaker,
> I do agree that it is probably the *most* *important* feature yet to
> be implemented,
> especially for new users.
>
> Since the auto table layout handling is based on the rules for CSS
> (and says so in the spec),
> it seems a shame there isn't a reusable library somewhere for this.
> Since lack of auto-table layout is a FAQ, (or FEC frequently
> expressed complaint?)
> it might be a good idea to post some XSLT workarounds. For example,
> you might
> simply divide the available space by the number of columns, or you
> might somehow
> grab the longest string, multiply times the m-width, and use that, or...
I currently divide the available space by the number of columns.
Does FOP 0.90 do good text wrapping in table cells? I think that there
may have been issues with this in 0.20.5 as well that combined to make
this problematic. Either that or it was just the fact that when you
have 6 or 7 columns and one contains long textual strings (e.g. part
numbers) without spaces, you quickly run into layout issues without an
automatic table layout engine.
> Obviously it gets very complicated, which is why it isn't implemented
> yet :-) but I suspect
> several people like myself have written various workarounds in XSLT
> which could be
> posted on a wiki page or in a FAQ somewhere. Just a thought...
I haven't had the time or energy to do anything more elaborate than
generate equal table column widths.
--
Jess Holle