Print records to individual PDF files?

[John May]

I am hoping someone can confirm if this is possible, and steer me towards the best solution.

I have a DB with about 5,000 records. About 200 users at 8 sites input data into their subset of records three times a year through a web interface.

At a set time after input, I have to print one report from each record. The users then distribute these hard copies to their clients.

I would also like to run another print job and write each record to an individual PDF file, and name that file with values from one or two fields from that record. I would then distribute those files to their respective sites for storage and retrieval. I am convinced this is the solution I need but I don't know how to get there.

From reading posts, it looked like my best bet might be a Troi plug-in, but I can't see from their site anything that specifically addresses my needs.

[LiveOak]

If you are on a Mac (you used the Mac message logo), the method is to 1) make each record a separate print job to a fixed file name and 2) use AppleScript to rename the file based upon data from the current record. You can use a PDF print driver from Adobe or a shareware driver such as PrintToPDF (www.downloads.com) to create the PDF file. -bd

[djames]

quote:

---

Originally posted by LiveOak:

If you are on a Mac (you used the Mac message logo), the method is to 1) make each record a separate print job to a fixed file name and 2) use AppleScript to rename the file based upon data from the current record. You can use a PDF print driver from Adobe or a shareware driver such as PrintToPDF (www.downloads.com) to create the PDF file. -bd

---

Do you by any chance know what kind of plugin I can use for the PC to rename files, I've also looked at Troi and it is not clear what to use. I need to do the exact same thing. If you can help, please.

[ May 16, 2001: Message edited by: djames ]

[Paul Haskell]

I just this month successfully generated PDF's from FileMaker with unique names from field data and made them downloadable from the web.

The components:

- PrintToPDF driver (Not available for Windows but other drivers are.)

- Troi File Plug-in

- PC Change Printer plug-in (Optional - can change printer drivers and assure that PrintToPDF is selected.)

Sorry, I don't have time to go into all the details right now, but you can check the Troi File plug-in sample files. There is a specific sample for printing to PDF and naming the resultant file.