I'm writing a program that will (among other things) print out labels with variable information. I want to be able to format these labels (preferably in a GUI) at design-time, then have them print out at runtime. What tools/languages/projects can I use to accomplish this?
The label needs to include text and also Code39 or Code128 barcodes.
Printing will be done on a normal default printer, or possibly a label printer, unknown at this time.
Preference is for open-source, free projects, but any suggestions are appreciated. I'd also like to be able to distribute the program through xcopy, meaning no separate installations needed on the client.
EDIT: I'm now trying to do this using Microsoft Reporting services in local mode, but I'm still having problems getting the barcode to be readable.
There is a simple walkthrough of using our programmable ActiveReports product to do this here. Once you design the labels you can get them in PDF or print them directly (among other things). Another example of using ActiveReports to create a label maker program is here. That one uses the ActiveX/COM edition of ActiveReports but the concepts are still the same in the C#/.NET version.
We also provide a product named Data Dynamics Reports that uses a page-based metaphore for designing reports rather than the banded metephore like ActiveReports. It includes a label wizard which you can find out more about at this link.
Scott Willeke
GrapeCity inc.
Using Microsoft Reporting Services I can use a local report. Its not xcopy, but it is free and relatively easy. I just have to install report viewer on the client (and the barcode font), then I can even run the .exe from a network share.
Related
I created web application using ASP.NET CORE 2 and used DinkToPdf to create and download the PDF to target directory. It is working really well to create and save PDFs. Now I want to use server side and print the PDF to target printer in the office. I couldn't find any solution to do this. Please help me.
Are you looking to integrate this functionality into your software? If so, there are several PDF libraries on the market with printing capabilities, some more reliable and full-featured than others.
If you're looking for a Windows command line utility to print PDFs to a target printer, you may be interested in PDF2PRINT, which allows you to do exactly that, as well as set optional parameters like duplex, collation, custom page ranges, number of copies, etc.
For future reference, questions like these should be posted in the Software Recommendations forum.
I am developing an application using C# which is simply the user inputs data, it is saved in a db (which is not SQL Server but MySql) and then prints it.
At this stage the user gave me a template which has the logo and some company information on top, in the middle the lines i need to fill and on the bottom some other information regarding this company.
Is it possible to open this document fill the required lines and print it using c#?
Sorry i cannot provide anything but i am stuck here and can't seem to figure out from where to start?
Thanks & Regards
Do you have access to any kind of reporting ie.Crystal Reports or SQL Server Reporting Services. You have one of 2 options, either you need to write a report that mimics his template using one of the technologies above, or you would need to use interops to access MSWord or MSExcel and do it that way. You may be able to use some third party PDF software.
If this was my project I would go the report route.
I am developing an application in C# that will generate a variety of reports. I would like to give the user the option either save the report as a PDF or print the report DIRECTLY FROM THE APPLICATION (i.e., not saving then printing).
I was under the impression that PdfSharp and MigraDocs would provide this functionality, so I have developed my report in PdfSharp. Now that I have a PDF report, but I cannot figure out how to print it without saving it first. I don't mind starting over and redeveloping my reports using a different tool, as the logic will be generally the same, but I don't want to have to develop and maintain 2 different sets of instructions depending on whether the user is saving or printing.
I have also investigated using a System.Drawing.Printing.PrintDocument and MirgraDocs, but I don't think it will be dynamic enough. I have also investigated Spire.Pdf, but the free version does not appear to be compatible with WPF.
Since this will be deployed on multiple machines, I would like to use DLLs as opposed a third party executable.
With C#, how can I print a PDF document (without any dialog boxes in the background) to an indicated printer?
I have used the following PDF library in the past to perform batch printing of PDF documents from a C# Windows Service.
http://www.quickpdflibrary.com/
It's a pretty decent library and if I remember correctly it only took a few lines of code to print the document. It worked very well and saved me a consider amount of time.
Also, the recommended link that discusses using DDE to launch a desktop application on a server to perform the printing is a bad idea. Adobe Reader probably doesn't support this and since it is a desktop application running in a windowless session you may run into problems with message boxes and dialog boxes. That solution just doesn't scale in my humble opinion.
here we go
Disclaimer: I work for Atalasoft
If you don't want to depend on Acrobat being on the server, you need to rasterize the PDF pages yourself and send them to the printer using the normal .NET printing API. We have a product that can rasterize PDF that uses the Foxit engine underneath. It deploys as a normal .NET assembly and doesn't require any other software to be installed.
Well, heres my scenario.
Client/Server winforms application with SQL Express as the DB. I need to be able to print invoice, packing slips etc..
i would like the customer to be able to modify the invoices. ie. be able to put their logo or change font sizes etc...basically format the display.
Things i have considered so far are.
1) Use a template engine (similar to codesmith or mygeneration) and use templates that output HTML. Then print the html page.
2) Use ReportViewer in local mode. I've heard that users can download a plugin for web dev express and edit the local report files. can anyone confirm this?
3) Use Reportviewer in remote mode.
I don't have much experience with ReportViewer so I'm not sure if i should use local or remote mode as well.
Those of you that have done this kind of thing before whats your recommendation?
After just completing a project with it, I would heartily recommend iTextSharp to create your invoices and other forms as PDFs. In addition to creating PDFs from scratch, you can also use it to fill in PDF forms and/or templates created with Acrobat (or even MS Office/OpenOffice). And it's free.
It's pretty easy to use in Windows apps or in ASP.Net applications. Most of the documentation and the books on it (iText in Action, for example) are about the original Java version, iText. However, there are tutorials and example code on the conversion process and, for the most part, all of the functions and libraries work the same in the .Net version, so adapting the book and reference code has been no problem.
I definitely learned the hard way that HTML and CSS are great for browsers (well, great except for the "every browser interprets it different" problem), but horrible for trying to generate consistent, attractive, and precise printed output and forms.
I'm personally using Aspose Words: they use word documents as templates, and I'm using Words bookmarks function to mark and retrieve the fields I need to fill.
Aspose works nicely with Tables (ie: you can add lines to a table, etc...) and sees Word documents as XML documents. You can then save the document as MSWord or PDF.
I wouldn't say it's the greatest library in the world, but it's definitely worth having a look :)
you can use Crystal Report for this. But first you need to scan the INVOICE and save it as an image,
Next is, on your crystal report, export the image on to it, and DRAG the fields to where they must print on the invoice (IMAGE SERVES AS YOUR GUIDE). Then after everything has been set-up, DELETE THE IMAGE and try it.
hope this helps.