LiveCode Forums.

Hi, I am quite the newbie... I have been able to print a stack to a PDF. Coming from the Filemaker world, it is sooo much faster!
How do I specify a filename programatically bypassing the save dialog box?

Thanks!

Hello arkstar,

Sorry to address you like arkstar, but I have no clue about your real name.

There are several ways to get a PDF without a dialog. You could select a PDF printer driver by script and print directly without using the open printing command or the answer printer command.

On Mac OS X, you can export snapshots as PNG and convert them to PDF. You could do the same with RTF, if your print doesn't include pictures.

You might even export snapshots and use an on-line service to convert the pictures to PDF.

I believe that a native solution is being worked on. If you have the Enterprise edition, you should be aware of that.

All the best,

Mark

HI Mark,

firstly, my name is Rob. Thanks for your reply. I thought that the PDF printing was native in 4.5. I guess there are still bugs....

Thanks again!

Rob,

"I believe that a native solution is being worked on. If you have the Enterprise edition, you should be aware of that."

Please, note that information about new features are only discussed on the Enterprise list and are non-public.

Best,

Mark

PDF printing is part of the upcoming revEnterprise 4.5 (so not revStudio or revMedia) and there you can specify a filename without user intervention.
If you have rev 2.9 or higher, on MacOSX, you can also set the printerOutput property to print to a PDF file of your choice.

<shameless plug>
And there's also Quartam PDF Library, if you prefer to create PDF files from script, placing each item exactly where you want it to go at far higher resolution.
</shameless plug>

Cheers,

Jan Schenkel.