Not sure if this is the right platform for this, but here goes :) Throughout my career I have been generating reports for users, and most of the times it always started from a Word template (.dot/.dotm) handed to us by a user, containing all the required/wanted layout/logos/texts, which we then edited to insert correct bookmarks in the right places, and filled up using a combination of XML and VBA :)
Once this work was done, the user could then edit the .dot-files herself (e.g. replace the logo, edit the fixed address).
Now I am yet again facing this same problem, and I am wondering what the current state or alternatives are. I generally do not like to work with Word/VBA (yet another dependancy -- I create websites using ruby on rails).
Generally/currently it is pretty easy to convert html to pdf/word or create pdf/word documents directly, but I am wondering if there is a way for a layman to describe "templates"/layouts and to use that template to generate reports (programmatically) (preferably without the use of Word Automation).
So, the requirement is to generate printable reports, where a user can specify/supply her own template, without having to program, and can manipulate text/content/images.
Things I can think of (but not sure if they exist)
- if such a thing exists: define PDF Templates and then programmatically fill them with data?
- a way to edit HTML pages/snippets, so a user could interactively edit a report in HTML (e.g. add logos/footer/header) and then save the HTML as a "template" for the report
Any ideas/suggestions?
