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c#.netsqlpdfdocument

what's a good enterprise level pdf generation solution?

I'd like to find a replacement for Crystal Reports. Oh how I dislike CR.

Ideally I'd like to find a PDF generation tool that has the following:

  • Solid API in .NET
  • Speed: we'd like to generate 1000-2500 pdfs per day
  • WYSIWYG editor
  • hotlinking of image files (logos)
  • good widow/orphan control
  • reasonably good typography control (kerning)
  • repeatable fields (like you'd see in a bank statement)
  • easy to push data in from xml data, datasets or direct sql queries
  • size: final size of the pdf files matters because these will go in a database eventually
  • price: free is not always a good price; paying for the right solution is far better than paying developers to build the right solution from an almost-right solution

The WYSIWYG editor is especially important. I'd prefer to be able to hand a tool to my designer-ish person, have them build the document and place the database fields where they are supposed to be, then hand it back to me so I can link it up to the database.

Similar to this question, but I felt that question was too vague

Solution

  • DevExpress XtraReports do fantastic report generation, savable in pdf obviously. I use it to generate Medical reports in one of the programs that I work on. You can build the reports programmatically or via their design time GUI (They also have an end user GUI that lets reports be created/edited).

    http://devexpress.com/Products/NET/Reporting/