[Chameleon] pdflib version in ms4w install / upgrade?

[Sears, Jeremy]

Hi,

I breifly looked into the whole pdflib/ms4w thing a wile ago...

>>Does anyone have any hints on where to find out which functions are 
>>available for the version installed with ms4w?
I was having some trouble here as well. Ultimatly I ended up using the the
phppdflib from http://www.potentialtech.com/ppl.php
I found that it better suited my purposes. It does pretty much the same as
pdflib. Its a bit slower, however it has some functionality that pdflib
doesnt offer for free (like import pdf, which is sweet).

>>Also, I'm wondering about upgrading to the most recent version of 
>>pdflib.  Are there any issues I need to consider?  Are there any 
>>basic upgrade steps to follow?

Good Luck! I found that this was easier said than done. It seems to me that
the most recent version of pdflib requires the most recent version of php
(or at least php5), ms4w ships with php4.4.3. So I upgraded ms4w's php
install to 5x but then I found that chameleon didnt like php5. I ended up
putting php4.4.3 back on my system. I was having problems with the pdflib
simmilar to those you describe, mal-functions etc. The version that ships
with ms4w is obselete and I found little assistance on the pdflib mailing
list ,... perhaps you can purchase support?

pdflib distributes various flavours of their library compiled in .dll form
to work with php. All of their dll's produce a watermark on you pdf output
that is only disabled when you buy a licence. Only pdflib lite is 'given
away' and is included with the php language. However, I dont think that they
have this up for download, you only get it with the php package. If you want
to build a .dll yourself, pdflib lite's source code is available for
download. They mention on their website that they dont help with building
the lite dll yourself, and they're not kidding. I wasnt successful in
compiling the dll. Perhaps you will have success. As I mentioned, my route
was to use another library for pdf generation/manipulation. 

Hope that helps
Jeremy





-----Original Message-----
From: chameleon-bounces at lists.maptools.org
[mailto:chameleon-bounces at lists.maptools.org]On Behalf Of Jennifer
Shanks
Sent: March 21, 2006 2:35 PM
To: chameleon at lists.maptools.org
Subject: [Chameleon] pdflib version in ms4w install / upgrade?


Hello,

I've been learning how to use pdflib and I am having some trouble 
figuring out which version is installed with the ms4w package.  If I 
run phpinfo(), the display shows that I have version 5.0.3 
installed.  If I try to use some of the functions in the 5.0.3 pdflib 
manual, I get an error: "Call to undefined function: "  If I switch 
to the deprecated version 4 functions, then the script works.  For 
example, instead of using PDF_load_font, I have to use 
PDF_findfont.  PDF_fit_textline is another function I'd like to use 
but returns the undefined error.

Does anyone have any hints on where to find out which functions are 
available for the version installed with ms4w?

Also, I'm wondering about upgrading to the most recent version of 
pdflib.  Are there any issues I need to consider?  Are there any 
basic upgrade steps to follow?

Just to put this in context, here's what I'm attempting to perform:
I'm working on an application that allows users to search for parks 
by zip code, city or county.  The search results are displayed in an 
Iframe.  I've added a print list button that will print the list to a 
pdf document using pdflib.  What I'm trying to do now is format the 
pdf document.

Thanks very much for the help.

Regards,
Jennifer




****************************
Jennifer Shanks
GreenInfo Network
116 New Montgomery, Suite 738
San Francisco, CA 94105
(415) 979-0343 x 306
(415) 979-0371 FAX
**GreenInfo has completely re-done our web site
Go to: www.greeninfo.org



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