Re: [xsl] Survey - XSL-FO Processors

[B Tommie Usdin <btusdin@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Selecting an FO processor is a challenging task; there are many on 
the market and each has a target use/market/environment in which it 
shines. I think asking for recommendations and capabilities on this 
list makes a lot of sense; I hope it helps you find a short list of 
products to investigate further.

It will be easier for people (or vendors) to provide meaningful 
answers if you clarify some of your requirements. For example, you 
write:

> 1. High performance, large file size processing.

What do you mean by this? 100 pages per minute? 100,000 pages per minute.
Some people think 10 MB files are large. Others think 10 GB files are 
large. Or do you mean 100 page documents? Or 1,000 or 10,000 page 
documents?


> 2. Complex layouts with intensive graphics (inserted jpgs and generated
> svg code)

Some people think two column pages with headers, footers, and tables 
that span the two columns are complex. Others have pages with 
hundreds of separately defined areas and dozens of page designs in a 
publication.


> 4. Commercial print quality required

I recently received an advertisement for a printer who guaranteed 
"professional quality 300 dpi two-color pages". Is this what you 
want? If not, what do you mean?

At 2:51 PM -0500 8/30/07, Angela Williams wrote:
> Requirements in a processor:
> 1. High performance, large file size processing.
> 2. Complex layouts with intensive graphics (inserted jpgs and generated
> svg code)
> 3. Custom font support
> 4. Commercial print quality required
> 5. open source or commercial app - doesn't matter
> 6. 3 of 9 barcode support
> 7. May be launched from Java application or standalone
> 8. Not needed to generate FO - just to process
> 9. Must be able to output to PDF or Post Script
> 10. Supporting text-align=$string is a plus!
>
> Are there any processors that support the entire xsl-fo spec?  I'm
> thinking not, but is there one that does a better job than others?

I would be surprised if there were any processors that support the 
entire XSL-FO spec. I would be more surprised if you needed/wanted 
all of the XSL-FO spec. For example, do you need a tool that supports 
Aural Stylesheets? That is, a tool that supports rendering as audio? 
Not if you are talking about PDF or Post Script.

-- Tommie
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B. Tommie Usdin                        mailto:btusdin@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Mulberry Technologies, Inc.                http://www.mulberrytech.com
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Suite 207                                    Direct Line: 301/315-9634
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