Paul McNett wrote:
> Carl Karsten wrote:
>
>> One of the simplest VFP apps I have is nothing more than a front end
>> to a wasp barcode control that creates a pdf-417 2d barcode.
>
>
> What is a wasp barcode control? An ActiveX control? Is this a particular
> barcode font?
wasp barcode control: Either active-x or some win dll thing. "the guy" that
originally wrote it gave me a "try this" version that fixed a bug, then he quit
and I bet he didn't check in the change (assuming there was such a thing) and I
ended up with a forked version that isn't supported - so screw that mess.
pdf-417 2d barcode: 2D is key - it has data in both X and Y dimensions, not just X
like your basic zebra stripe. Here are some samples:
http://www.barcodeman.com/faq/2d.php
2-D Font based is a pain. Well, it was when I tried to do it with fox. The main
problem I had was controlling the leading and wrapping and scaling of a memo. An
image was also a pain, but at least it was the "right tool for the job" something
a font just isn't.
Think of trying to use a font to print a pie chart based on the string "2,5,5"
mkPie("2,5,5") = " .--.\n / | \\\n|---+ |\n \\ \\/\n `--'\n"
which when printed (translating \\ into \ and \n into cr/lf)
you get:
.--.
/ | \
|---+ |
\ \/
`--'
- you could but it would be way easier to pass it to a function that returned an
image.
>> User enters name/address, hits the Save-n-Print button, name tag with
>> barcode prints and they are on to the next person. There is a report
>> or two. amazing. There is also an option to run MODI REPO NAMETAG so
>> that they can dink with the layout.
>>
>> So I am thinking of making a Dabo version of this. I am not sure
>> where to start as far as the barcode and the MODI REPO go. So what's
>> the scoop?
>
>
> The report designer is in the works, but doesn't work yet beyond a
> simple prototype. But you *will* be able to do what you want. If you
> have a barcode font it will be slam-dunk (actually, there may be
> problems - I seem to remember only a small number of fonts being
> supported in reportlab). Output is PDF, which you can print and/or save
> to disk.
>
Has anyone considered the similarities of a GUI report designer to a GUI form
designer? I have a feeling life will be easier if the 2 had a common base, not
like VFP land where 2 different camps dreamed up 2 starting points, and the two
evolved with 0.0 overlap.
^Carl
©2005 Carl Karsten |
