PDF Direct™ is a 4th Dimension plug-in that provides the ability to print a PDF document directly from within a 4th Dimension 2004 and v11 database. Using PDF Direct, 4D Developers can now programmatically name and deliver any 4D Print job, with appropriate specifications, into an Adobe Acrobat "PDF" format file. The new version 3 provides OS X compatibility.
Portable Document Format (PDF) is the most commonly used document format in the world and the most widely used format for viewing on-line documentation.
The PDF format has great appeal when paper or a "hardcopy" is not required for the intended readers. With the predominance of email and Adobe’s free Acrobat Reader, attaching a PDF document within an email transmission is universally appealing because of it’s speed and thrift. Similarly, in comparison to a faxed document, PDF has no loss of resolution as it delivers your documents with the exact same definition in which they were created.
PDF supports color, grayscale and, in general, preserves the creator’s document with no loss of definition regardless of the reader’s computer platform.
Adobe Corporation, the creator of the PDF format, provides "Acrobat PDFWriter", a PDF Printer Driver for both the Windows and MacOS operating systems. Like any print driver, PDFWriter can be manually chosen through the operating system tools available (Windows Printer Directory and MacOS Chooser). Once chosen, any user can directly print to a PDF output format. Through PDF Direct, programmers and end-users can enjoy full PDF creation capabilities seamlessly integrated within any 4D database.
While PDF Direct gives 4D Developers access to PDF document printing capabilities directly from within 4D, these print capabilities should not be confused with the direct construction of a PDF document using PDF language and commands. This type of ground-up, piecemeal building and construction of a PDF document is not presently a feature of PDF Direct. |
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