Example Application: Sales Report Generation

Sales managers and representatives need to be able to access up to date sales information at any time, anywhere. TX Text Control ActiveX Server is often used to generate such aesthetically pleasing sales reports on-the-fly, using data stored in XML files and/or databases.

In addition to allowing word processing documents to be formatted using templates, TX Text Control ActiveX Server offers developers an API to format documents directly from program code.

Developers, for example, can specify that when certain elements of an XML file or records from a database appear in a sales report, that they are made bold, italic or underlined. All character, document and page settings can be set from program code.

Once the sales data has been formed into a report, the document can be saved to a wide range of formats (amongst others, XML, DOC, RTF or PDF), sent to the printer or e-mailed to sales representatives who are on the road.

Using TX Text Control ActiveX Server to create documents does not only guarantee that document data is always up to date, but also does it save storage space on the server. As all documents are created on demand, they do not have to be saved locally - documents are generated and immediately served to the client.

Example Application: Document Management

Document management is the process of managing documents through their lifecycle. Modern document management systems allow documents to be created, reviewed, stored and published in a wide range of formats.

TX Text Control ActiveX Server can bind to most databases and read XML files and is thus the ideal component for the creation and publishing of documents.

Content is typically stored in a database, XML and image files on a server. TX Text Control ActiveX Server can access this information and mold it into word processing documents in the layout desired by the content consumer. The look and feel of documents can be defined either in a template or set from program code.

For example, a document management system that is designed to create newspapers, stores all the articles, complete with photographs, in one or more databases. Editors decide which articles with which photographs should appear on which page.

Once the composition of the newspaper is complete, the dissemination of the print-ready document may commence.

The requirements for the end format are very different: The printing house requires a high resolution PDF file, subscribers to the Internet edition of the newspaper need HTML, GIF and JPEG, while the subscribers of the download edition require a low resolution, encrypted PDF version.

Using TX Text Control ActiveX Server all these formats can be generated with minimum effort. From a programming point of view, saving to PDF is exactly the same effort as saving to any other supported format.