Can you show PDF as you create it in a form? (1 Viewer)

[silentwolf]

Hi guys,

I am just wondering if a PDF can be shown in the Form as you create an Order for example?

Below I have attached a file for preview.

Cheers

 

[Pat Hartman]

Are you creating the PDF as you type each line in the order? Normally, you don't create the pdf until the order is complete. What EXACTLY are you trying to accomplish? If you are trying to show the calculated tax and shipping and order total, there are other ways to do this on the order form without having to try to automate a pdf this way.

 

[silentwolf]

Hi,

Basically what it bought Programm does is to update the PDF as you go through each Tab Control or Buttons on the header.

First ist "Allgemein" where you are just entering some Order Header Details.
After you done you go to the Kunde button again on the Header Section.

Once you in the Customer Tab so to speak the PDF is updated to what has been entered in the "Allgemein" Tab.

And then you go to the Artikels to select what type of Article could be used to create the Order Details and the PDF gets updated again
from the "Kunden" Tab


Allgemein = Standart
Kunde=Customer
Artikel well Articles

 

[The_Doc_Man]

"Standard" Access doesn't create the PDF dynamically. It creates the report first, then exports the report to the PDF convertor that is part of Access. The PDF you get this way would be static.

To do what you ask, you would have to create a report that is incomplete, trigger creation of the report with incomplete data, convert that incomplete report to a PDF, and then somehow display it. Using the simplest way, when you add another element of the report, you would have to delete the previous PDF to make a new one with a little more data than before. I won't say you can't do this but it DOES seem like it would be a real pain in the patootie and would involve a lot of file handling. When you do display it, I don't recall that you get the PDF opened in your Access window unless perhaps you created and followed a hyperlink.

If you DON'T do it that way, the PDF display becomes a separate Windows process and you might have a hard time getting rid of it. You would have to use some sort of API to do that because ordinary VBA isn't set up for external task control.

If you have the Adobe .DLL you might be able to do that kind of display control. However, from my understanding of what Adobe does, you could not do that incremental update you are describing unless you built a template of your report external to Access and use the Adobe .DLL file to manipulate it.

 

[silentwolf]

Hi Doc,
thanks for the explaination!
Yes that what I thought that this is not that easy to achieve.

In the Program they create first a type of word document in the background like a blank doc and display this document then in PDF format.

So I guess I leave it for the time beeing.


Cheers

 

[Pat Hartman]

What EXACTLY is the purpose of trying to create this PDF at the same time you are entering the order? Why don't you make the order entry form "pretty" instead of trying to mimic some other application? As I said, the only thing seeing the order this way does for you is it shows the totals as they develop and you can do that on the header or footer of the order entry form easily.

 

[silentwolf]

It was just an idea to create it in a similar way but as I said I will leave that again...
And yes I will stick to the easy way and hope it will still be pretty

 

[CJ_London]

You could show a report as a sub report on the form, requerying as necessary to show progress- then create the pdf from the report when done

 

[silentwolf]

Thanks CJ,

I will look into it see if I go that bath...

Cheers