PDF plug-ins for FMP

9 messages

PDF plug-ins for FMP

Reply Threaded

Hi, all!

I need to be able to export PDF's from a script without any human
intervention. The intended office environment is Mac-only. Neither the
Save as PDF command within FMP10 nor the Print-to-PDF capability
within MacOS' Print... dialog offer the programmatic control I need.

I want to use a script variable to specify the path/filename, as well
as being able to set other PDF-related parameters, such as
compression, desampling and the like because these are letters and
some of the letterhead graphics are bitmapped.

What plug-ins exist to deal with this issue and which among them do
you recommend for its flexibility and robustness in an enterprise
environment?

Thanks!

Steve

--
Steve Willis
stevewillis at mac.com

An artist is not paid for his labor but for his vision.
James McNeill Whistler

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Michael Gilman

Re: PDF plug-ins for FMP

Reply Threaded

There is a plug in called PDF Manipulator. Although I must say that I was
not successful in getting their free trial to work. I know that you were
able to create a pdf and extract or place text or other data into or out of
a pdf document. I also think I remember that you were able to work with the
meta data of the pdf. I have not had a call to do this type of work but I
saw the plug in and wanted to at least give it a try. Maybe you will have
better luck with it. I do not believe it was very expensive but like I said
I have not had a call for that type of work. I have created the pdf's I
have needed via the native script engine. (nothing fancy)
Michael Gilman

-----Original Message-----
From: FileMaker Talk [mailto:[hidden email]] On Behalf Of Mark
Stevens (Steve) Willis
Sent: Thursday, October 15, 2009 8:27 PM
To: FileMaker Talk
Subject: PDF plug-ins for FMP

Hi, all!

I need to be able to export PDF's from a script without any human
intervention. The intended office environment is Mac-only. Neither the
Save as PDF command within FMP10 nor the Print-to-PDF capability
within MacOS' Print... dialog offer the programmatic control I need.

I want to use a script variable to specify the path/filename, as well
as being able to set other PDF-related parameters, such as
compression, desampling and the like because these are letters and
some of the letterhead graphics are bitmapped.

What plug-ins exist to deal with this issue and which among them do
you recommend for its flexibility and robustness in an enterprise
environment?

Thanks!

Steve

--
Steve Willis
stevewillis at mac.com

An artist is not paid for his labor but for his vision.
James McNeill Whistler

--
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Bruce Robertson

Re: PDF plug-ins for FMP

Reply Threaded

You can create an Automator or PDF Services item to do this.

On Oct 16, 2009, at 8:28 AM, Michael Gilman wrote:

> I need to be able to export PDF's from a script without any human
> intervention. The intended office environment is Mac-only. Neither the
> Save as PDF command within FMP10 nor the Print-to-PDF capability
> within MacOS' Print... dialog offer the programmatic control I need.

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Michael Gilman

Re: PDF plug-ins for FMP

Reply Threaded

In reply to this post by Mark Stevens (Steve) Willis

Bruce I never heard of the term automator. Can you enlighten me. Thanks Michael Gilman
------Original Message------
From: Bruce Robertson
Sender: FileMaker Talk
To: FileMaker Talk
ReplyTo: FileMaker Talk
Subject: Re: PDF plug-ins for FMP
Sent: Oct 16, 2009 12:05 PM

You can create an Automator or PDF Services item to do this.

On Oct 16, 2009, at 8:28 AM, Michael Gilman wrote:

> I need to be able to export PDF's from a script without any human
> intervention. The intended office environment is Mac-only. Neither the
> Save as PDF command within FMP10 nor the Print-to-PDF capability
> within MacOS' Print... dialog offer the programmatic control I need.

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Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

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Bruce Robertson

Re: PDF plug-ins for FMP

Reply Threaded

Look in your Applications folder.

Also see:

http://macosxautomation.com/

On Oct 16, 2009, at 11:52 AM, Michael Gilman wrote:

> Bruce I never heard of the term automator. Can you enlighten me.
> Thanks Michael Gilman

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Michael Gilman

Re: PDF plug-ins for FMP

Reply Threaded

That might be why I never heard of it... It's a MAC thing!! Is there any
equivalent for Windows?
Michael Gilman

-----Original Message-----
From: FileMaker Talk [mailto:[hidden email]] On Behalf Of Bruce
Robertson
Sent: Friday, October 16, 2009 3:13 PM
To: FileMaker Talk
Subject: Re: PDF plug-ins for FMP

Look in your Applications folder.

Also see:

http://macosxautomation.com/

On Oct 16, 2009, at 11:52 AM, Michael Gilman wrote:

> Bruce I never heard of the term automator. Can you enlighten me.
> Thanks Michael Gilman

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Mark Stevens (Steve) Willis

Re: PDF plug-ins for FMP

Reply Threaded

In reply to this post by Michael Gilman

Do you have any examples of how this would work? I know how to use
Automator, but do not know how to pass the filename created by a
calculation in a FMP variable to the service and have never created a
service before, either.

I was thinking that a simple PDF rename might work, but I've got
multiple users and there is a possibility of one user overwriting
another users file before the rename could take place. I could use
individual directories for each user to prevent such occurrences, but
am unsure whether the rename would allow me to change directories as
part of the rename.

Bruce, I know you get irritated with me because you think I'm an
idiot, but I'm desperate enough to swallow my pride, humble myself,
and not care.

Please help me.

Thanks!

Steve
--
Steve Willis
stevewillis at mac.com

An artist is not paid for his labor but for his vision.
James McNeill Whistler

On Oct 16, 2009, at 11:52 AM, Michael Gilman wrote:

> ------Original Message------
> From: Bruce Robertson
> Sender: FileMaker Talk
> To: FileMaker Talk
> ReplyTo: FileMaker Talk
> Subject: Re: PDF plug-ins for FMP
> Sent: Oct 16, 2009 12:05 PM
>
> You can create an Automator or PDF Services item to do this.
>
> On Oct 16, 2009, at 8:28 AM, Michael Gilman wrote:
>
>> I need to be able to export PDF's from a script without any human
>> intervention. The intended office environment is Mac-only. Neither
>> the
>> Save as PDF command within FMP10 nor the Print-to-PDF capability
>> within MacOS' Print... dialog offer the programmatic control I need.
>
>
> --
> This list is a free service of LassoSoft: http://www.LassoSoft.com/
> Search the list archives: http://www.ListSearch.com/FileMaker/Browse/
> Manage your subscription: http://www.ListSearch.com/FileMaker/
>
>
>
>
> Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
>
> --
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> Search the list archives: http://www.ListSearch.com/FileMaker/Browse/
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>

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Mark Stevens (Steve) Willis

Re: PDF plug-ins for FMP

Reply Threaded

After some research, I've found that there is an "action pack" on
FMI's site that supposedly equips Automator with the hooks to deal
with FMP. You can download it here:

http://www.filemaker.com/support/downloads/tech_preview/preview_form

Unfortunately, after following the install instructions (simply place
it in the same folder as FMP), I still do not see the the requisite
actions within Automator, so I cannot proceed. I have shutdown both
apps and restarted them, FMP first: no joy. Tried rebuilding caches
and repairing disk permissions and rebooting MacOS: still no joy.

MacOS 10.6.1
FMPAdv 10.0v3

Any insights anyone?

Steve
--
Steve Willis
stevewillis at mac.com

An artist is not paid for his labor but for his vision.
James McNeill Whistler

On Oct 16, 2009, at 12:08 PM, Mark Stevens (Steve) Willis wrote:

> Do you have any examples of how this would work? I know how to use
> Automator, but do not know how to pass the filename created by a
> calculation in a FMP variable to the service and have never created
> a service before, either.
>
> I was thinking that a simple PDF rename might work, but I've got
> multiple users and there is a possibility of one user overwriting
> another users file before the rename could take place. I could use
> individual directories for each user to prevent such occurrences,
> but am unsure whether the rename would allow me to change
> directories as part of the rename.
>
> Bruce, I know you get irritated with me because you think I'm an
> idiot, but I'm desperate enough to swallow my pride, humble myself,
> and not care.
>
> Please help me.
>
> Thanks!
>
> Steve
> --
> Steve Willis
> stevewillis at mac.com
>
> An artist is not paid for his labor but for his vision.
> James McNeill Whistler
>
> On Oct 16, 2009, at 11:52 AM, Michael Gilman wrote:
>
>> ------Original Message------
>> From: Bruce Robertson
>> Sender: FileMaker Talk
>> To: FileMaker Talk
>> ReplyTo: FileMaker Talk
>> Subject: Re: PDF plug-ins for FMP
>> Sent: Oct 16, 2009 12:05 PM
>>
>> You can create an Automator or PDF Services item to do this.
>>
>> On Oct 16, 2009, at 8:28 AM, Michael Gilman wrote:
>>
>>> I need to be able to export PDF's from a script without any human
>>> intervention. The intended office environment is Mac-only. Neither
>>> the
>>> Save as PDF command within FMP10 nor the Print-to-PDF capability
>>> within MacOS' Print... dialog offer the programmatic control I need.
>>
>>
>> --
>> This list is a free service of LassoSoft: http://www.LassoSoft.com/
>> Search the list archives: http://www.ListSearch.com/FileMaker/Browse/
>> Manage your subscription: http://www.ListSearch.com/FileMaker/
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
>>
>> --
>> This list is a free service of LassoSoft: http://www.LassoSoft.com/
>> Search the list archives: http://www.ListSearch.com/FileMaker/Browse/
>> Manage your subscription: http://www.ListSearch.com/FileMaker/
>>
>>
>
>
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Mark Stevens (Steve) Willis

Re: PDF plug-ins for FMP

Reply Threaded

After trying in vain to get this POS to work, I finally talked to one
of the tools at FMP support.

He informed me that:
1. The free Automator Action Pack is not supported by FMI.
2. The free Automator Action Pack has not been tested on any version
of MacOS higher than 10.4 (Tiger).
3. There is no estimated timeframe for an upgrade or replacement
product.

Any other suggestions?

Steve
--
Steve Willis
stevewillis at mac.com

An artist is not paid for his labor but for his vision.
James McNeill Whistler

On Oct 16, 2009, at 2:41 PM, Mark Stevens (Steve) Willis wrote:

> After some research, I've found that there is an "action pack" on
> FMI's site that supposedly equips Automator with the hooks to deal
> with FMP. You can download it here:
>
> http://www.filemaker.com/support/downloads/tech_preview/preview_form
>
> Unfortunately, after following the install instructions (simply
> place it in the same folder as FMP), I still do not see the the
> requisite actions within Automator, so I cannot proceed. I have
> shutdown both apps and restarted them, FMP first: no joy. Tried
> rebuilding caches and repairing disk permissions and rebooting
> MacOS: still no joy.
>
> MacOS 10.6.1
> FMPAdv 10.0v3
>
> Any insights anyone?
>
> Steve
> --
> Steve Willis
> stevewillis at mac.com
>
> An artist is not paid for his labor but for his vision.
> James McNeill Whistler
>
> On Oct 16, 2009, at 12:08 PM, Mark Stevens (Steve) Willis wrote:
>
>> Do you have any examples of how this would work? I know how to use
>> Automator, but do not know how to pass the filename created by a
>> calculation in a FMP variable to the service and have never created
>> a service before, either.
>>
>> I was thinking that a simple PDF rename might work, but I've got
>> multiple users and there is a possibility of one user overwriting
>> another users file before the rename could take place. I could use
>> individual directories for each user to prevent such occurrences,
>> but am unsure whether the rename would allow me to change
>> directories as part of the rename.
>>
>> Bruce, I know you get irritated with me because you think I'm an
>> idiot, but I'm desperate enough to swallow my pride, humble myself,
>> and not care.
>>
>> Please help me.
>>
>> Thanks!
>>
>> Steve
>> --
>> Steve Willis
>> stevewillis at mac.com
>>
>> An artist is not paid for his labor but for his vision.
>> James McNeill Whistler
>>
>> On Oct 16, 2009, at 11:52 AM, Michael Gilman wrote:
>>
>>> ------Original Message------
>>> From: Bruce Robertson
>>> Sender: FileMaker Talk
>>> To: FileMaker Talk
>>> ReplyTo: FileMaker Talk
>>> Subject: Re: PDF plug-ins for FMP
>>> Sent: Oct 16, 2009 12:05 PM
>>>
>>> You can create an Automator or PDF Services item to do this.
>>>
>>> On Oct 16, 2009, at 8:28 AM, Michael Gilman wrote:
>>>
>>>> I need to be able to export PDF's from a script without any human
>>>> intervention. The intended office environment is Mac-only.
>>>> Neither the
>>>> Save as PDF command within FMP10 nor the Print-to-PDF capability
>>>> within MacOS' Print... dialog offer the programmatic control I
>>>> need.
>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>> This list is a free service of LassoSoft: http://www.LassoSoft.com/
>>> Search the list archives: http://www.ListSearch.com/FileMaker/
>>> Browse/
>>> Manage your subscription: http://www.ListSearch.com/FileMaker/
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
>>>
>>> --
>>> This list is a free service of LassoSoft: http://www.LassoSoft.com/
>>> Search the list archives: http://www.ListSearch.com/FileMaker/
>>> Browse/
>>> Manage your subscription: http://www.ListSearch.com/FileMaker/
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
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>>
>
>
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>