PLACING PDF File on Form

[Mortie]

Been a while since I asked for help so I will appreciate any you can give.

I'm still using A5V10 desktop and, it's still a hobby thing for me. And, pretty much everything I do is using script versus Basic.

I am assisting a Facebook Alumni Group. The work I am doing resides only on my desktop computer and there is no plan for distribution of my work other than for information for the group about former classmates. This is a favor for the Alumni Group and nothing more.

I created an Alpha5V10 database, which right now consists of two tables. I created a set, the school year is primary and, child is the student. Hence choose a year and all the members of one year are in a form and only students for that year.

One table is a list of 68 years (think graduating class year) and the information related to each year. The table is like a roadmap of work to do on a specific year and related completions activities.

The second table is a list of each graduating senior. Each class year includes senior year names and senior year pictures as well as links to their specific online obituary, Year deceased, and year born. So, there is two reports, Deceased List and Remaining List.

This table works fine for creating reports with pictures and links, at least the way I want it to work (which may not be the best but what I came up with).

The school year table I want to be able to place the complete printed pdf reports that are stored on my desktop and created through scripting on the school year table on the school year form. So, when I change from year to year in the school year table/form, the pdf for reports for that year show. I create the reports through A5 and Microsoft Print to PDF. They are stored in a specific class year folder on my desktop.

I have placed ActiveX placeholders on the school year form and they work but only for one form. I think I know why. That said, I am wondering how to get the reports to work like in a set, Change record in primary table and the reports change on a set form. So far, I have not been ablt to make that happen.

So, that is a long winded way of describing what I want. Reports shown on a form that change as a primary table record changes, so does the visibility of reports for the changed record.


THANKS

[Ted Giles]

Are you using Alpha 10.5 or 10?

[Mortie]

10.5/Build 4369

Attached is an image of the application related to my question.

My workaround is the addition of a manual step. I create a reduced from actual size jpg image of each report, store it on my computer, in the appropriate folder, and store the image linked table field. When the report changes, I create another jpg,

I was hoping to learn a away to use the reports themselves versus the extra step(s) of the workaround.

My ultimate goal is to not use a button to call the report itself, but just to view a stored copy of the report when I call a specific year. My thinking is this is not an out of the way activity, given there is a field t4ype just to link to a jpg. I was thinking an OLE table field was my answer but I can't figure out how to use it. I tried the PDF viewer, but I can add the pdf file but it is a constant to the same file regardless of the year highlighted for viewing.

FYI, the cover is always a jpg image and is stored in an image linking field in the table.

As always, I am pretty much an Action Script user versus xBasic.


Thanks for the response.

[Ted Giles]

Sorry to appear a bit thick here, but can you conform the simple bits for my aging brain?

1) There is a School Year table
2) There is a linked table with one PDF showing images of all of the alumni, deceased in one PDF, ectant in another PDF.
3) For each year, you want to display the PDF's and as the year is selected, the PDF's will also change.

I have had to do what your workaround does for a US Gvmnt agency, but they were only interested in JPG's for evidencial matters.

[Ted Giles]

Having fiddled with this, I now have a working pdf changing example based on the premise that a PDF recorded in the School Year-which is unique- is displayed.
The PDF has been constructed in Libreoffice and exported to the Alpha app root folder.
Display is through Supercontrol, Pdfviewer.
Sorry about the photo but I couldn't post without one. Wouldn't let me.

[Mortie]

1) There is a School Year table

Yes, it is the primary table and a "Students" table is a child. Linked together by the field "School_Year"

2) There is a linked table with one PDF showing images of all of the alumni, deceased in one PDF, ectant in another PDF.

The "Student's Table has an Imaging Linking Field for a student's senior year or obituary picture, if one.

There are two reports generated, which are based on the "Students" Table's logical field Deceased. One report is Deceased List Report (Deceased= T) and the other is Remaining List Report (Deceased=F). The reports run against the overall "Students" Table with a filter of the specific year determined by a variable dimmed at the beginning of a form's use through Action Scripting. Both reports are saved in a relative folder for the specific year along with the yearbook cover image, which is also a linked image field. You can tell in the image I provided for Deceased List there is also a clickable link for the Group members to click to read an obituary, if so inclined.

Once the cover image and two reports are in the proper folder, I use AShampoo for the creation of my combo report with all the information. Since I haven't been able to store the reports,as a PDF, in the table, I have to use the outside software rather than A5's PDF generation ability.

FYI, the combo reports are posted in the File Section of our private Alumni Group. Members of the group are the end users of the combo report. As a classmate passes, I would update the Reports by merely changing the deceased field in the Student File and redo the process.

There is no child table for either PDF. I tried that earlier but there was no way I COULD FIGURE OUT how to store the specific report a field.

3) For each year, you want to display the PDF's and as the year is selected, the PDF's will also change.

That is correct. When I move from one year to the other, the report displayed would change to the report that of the specific year.

[Mortie]

Having fiddled with this, I now have a working pdf changing example based on the premise that a PDF recorded in the School Year-which is unique- is displayed.
The PDF has been constructed in Libreoffice and exported to the Alpha app root folder.
Display is through Supercontrol Pdfviewer.
Sorry about the photo but I couldn't post without one. Wouldn't let me.

The uniqueness of a report is in the naming of the report- "schoolyear-nameofreport" format.

I tried the PDF viewer super control earlier. I'm going to bet that I wasn't doing it right. I was only able to place a pdf link in the properties (method of locating file) and therefore the result was the same PDF for every record. I think what you are telling me in your example is what I want to do. I just haven't been able to find a way (figure out) using Action Scripting and field creation how to store the pdf in a child table so that it relates to a school year record. I presume I would need three fields in a child table, Schoolyear, Deceased_List, and Remaining_ List. I have tried that using the two report as OLE fields but that didn't work any more than the pdf viewer did.

Thanks again for taking the time.

[Mortie]

I snapped the table and set structure.

[Ted Giles]

OK.
I didn't use the Image File Reference as I was using native PDF's (Libre Office Export as PDF, set ISO credentials if you wish)
I used a 50 byte field and set it to File Select on the Form so I could capture the PDF location and not an image.
The image is embedded in the PDF.

My linking key is a unique one between the two tables in the set. Call it a Primary Key.
I did this as I presume that there will be many year books per school and multiple students in each.

Record 1
Key
.. 1998 ---------------------PDF for that year
.....Students 1:100

Record 2
Key
..1970 ---------------------PDF for that year
.....Students 1: 30

So the Key is tied to the School, Year and Students for that year (Key)

Try a stripped down version of the process with 2 tables linked by a common key (not the Year) and embed the images in PDF's, and select them in the File Select field for that linked year.

Trouble is, when half way down the rabbit hole, it is difficult to turn around.

Lemme know how you get on.

[Ted Giles]

While I think of it, you can automate the find file process and make it a calculated field IF you are confident about the pdf location and name.

[Mortie]

I am somewhat confused now. Are you placing am image inside a PDF then saving PDF in a directory, then embedding the PDF in a field placed on a form?

[Ted Giles]

Yes Mortie.
The Supercontrol PDFviewer is on the form.
The Supercontrol to display a PDF can be linked to a Calculated field on the School table using a known folder, school name and year.
When the record changes, so does the PDF.

You don't have to use PDF, you could use any document type where you could save multiple images on one page.

I will upload a very basic example later this evening so you can fiddle.
It may not be what you want, but i was working on the assumption that you needed to use PDF.
If you wanted to get fancy, you could also focus in on individual people as Jpg by clicking on the person's name.

[Mortie]

Where I am struggling Ted, and I appreciate you taking the time, is how to apply the Supercontrol and link to a different PDF for each record. The assumption of PDF being my need is correct. If I can link to a PDF I don't really need an image of the PDF, which I do now as a workaround. Individual student pictures would be part of the PDF itself, pulled from the "Student Table".

You mentioned a 50 byte field, is that created through the table structure? And what type? Field Select, as you mentioned, I don't find that choice either in the table structure field type option, or in the settings when I place a type in field on the form and review the field's properties.

FYI, my folder that contains the individual yearly PDF file is individual folders for each individual year, rather than placing the entire lot of PDF files in one folder. Should I change the nomenclature name of my reports and store all of one kind in Folder A and the second type in Folder B and just name them specifically, XXXX with the "X" being the specific year of said report?

Also FYI, there are not multiple schools in this application. One school with individual years since 1954. Hence, right now, one school only and 68 years to be included in the "Year Table".

Thanks for the patience.

[Mortie]

AHHH,

just found a help topic in the book A5MadeEZ, which I purchased years ago, before V11 of A5. The topic is "Viewing Reports On Forms". There is a Supercontrol on my Supercontrol Toolkit called "Report Preview", which, on the surface seems to be similar to my need. I shall review these pages and try that Supercontrol to see if it works. The imaging in the topic appears to display reports from the author's demonstration database on a form. I'm going to guess, without doing anything just yet, the Supercontrol actually presents a named report on a form and without creating a stored PDF, that exists within an application.

Shall let you know.

Thanks

[Ted Giles]

Mortie.jpgmortie1.jpg

You mentioned a 50 byte field, THIS IS A CHARACTER FIELD IN THE TABLE is that created through the table structure? And what type? Field Select, as you mentioned, I don't find that choice either in the table structure field type option,NO, IT IS IN THE PROPERTIES SETTING ON THE FORM

Here is an example, but the settings in the PDF field will not exist on your machine.
Click on the field and select a suitable PDF from your PC, then add another in a different record/year.
Alumni.zip