Re: FO, FOP and PDF

[Aaron <aaron at ximian dot com>]

I'm using the DSSSL stylesheets and the transformation tools from 
docbook-tools, openjade, and so forth.  My impression is that, 
basically, all the Docbook SGML tools (db2html, db2pdf, etc.) will 
still work with XML. In my personal and rather limited experience, FOP 
is already good for HTML but hasn't yet reached a great level of 
quality for PDF output.

The only issue is finding someone to customize your DSSSL stylesheets-- 
it may require an actual programmer, who may prefer C++ and TeX to 
something a little less familiar.

a.


On Monday, March 17, 2003, at 07:37  PM, Olson, Dave -Systems wrote:

> I'm embarking on a project to generate documentation in PDF, among 
> other
> formats, and I'm hoping to use FOP.  Docbook seems to cover all our 
> needed
> features, but after Norm Walsh's comment that "FOP isn't very robust or
> complete yet," I'm wondering what level of effort I'm getting into.
>
> We need to do the following:
> -TOCs (page numbers)
> -index (links or page numbers)
> -lists of figures (links or page numbers)
> -tables
> -embedded images (PNG & GIF)
> -bulleted and numbered lists
> -nested sections, preferably auto numbered.
>
> I assume I'll need to learn a moderate amount about XML-FO and 
> stylesheet
> transformations, and probably modify the DocBook XSL to some degree to 
> get
> around FOP quirks, but is it realistic to expect to achieve the above
> features with the current version of FOP?  I've read the limitations, 
> and
> they seem bearable, but I don't know all the FO features I may need.  
> Is
> this a month project, a six-month effort, or a "FOP just can't do 
> that"?  (I
> have 10 years programming experience, but XML is mostly new.)
>
> If FOP is still too immature, can anyone recommend another
> Docbook->something->PDF generator that is redistributable?  (We're 
> hoping to
> avoid TeX and C++.)