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  Introduction
Clarion 5.5 finally came along with the long awaited RTF support. Until then, developers
used add-ons offered by several 3rd party vendors (such as Locus). However, every
solution lacked the ability to print RTF text in standard Clarion reports. What's
the use of RTF editing when you're not able to accurately print this text?
So, what can you do? Spend several hundred dollars for a complete word processor
and / or report designer add-on or save that money and get RichReport, the low-cost
alternative!
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What
RichReport is...
RichReport is a small class with surrounding templates that (finally!) allows printing
of RTF text on standard Clarion reports. In addition to that, ease of use has been
a priority during the development: You'll be able to really RTF-enable your applications
without writing a single line of code! Even a beginner can add RTF printing to an
application in seconds!
RichReport supports all formatting elements also supported by the CW RTF control
(and maybe some more!)
All you have to do is put the RichReport control template on your report and tell
it where to get the text from. The text source can either be:
- a database field of type STRING or MEMO
- a BLOB
- an RTF file (either on-disk or linked into your EXE/DLL)
Both RTF and plain (unformatted) text are supported. In beta 4, a so called "PrintMode"
was introduced:
- Line by line: The detail band you've put the control template on will be printed
repeatedly, once for each line of text. This allows clean page-breaking without
truncating text. You shouldn't add other controls to the detail band unless you
want them to also print for each line of text.
- Complete: The detail band will be printed once, so other controls can be put on
the same detail band as the RichReport control. The RTF text will be printed into
the rectangle defined by the control template; text that doesn't fit into that rectangle
won't be printed.
In short: RichReport is a light-weight and low-cost solution for printing simple
RTF text.
...
and what it is not:
It is NO full-blown word-processor which supports all of the myriads of features
of RTF. For example, images and tables are NOT supported. Instead, it was primarily
designed to cover all the formatting elements introduced with the CW RTF control
to give you the possibility to simply print RTF text. The best way for you to find
out whether or not RichReport fits your needs is by downloading the
demo and giving it a try!
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Package
Contents
Let me start by saying what you not get: The box shown above is a virtual
one - the software is only available for download via internet. Upon purchase, you'll
be provided with all data required to download and install the product. This will
give you:
- a state-of-the-art installer which automatically detects installed Clarion versions
and (optionally) registers the templates
- runtime libraries (lib and/or dll files) for all supported Clarion versions
- easy-to-use template files for both ABC and Clarion (legacy) template chains
- class and template documentation in compiled HTML format (.chm file)
- comprehensive example applications for both template chains
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Linkability
The table below lists the supported Clarion versions, template chains, target operating
systems and link modes.
RichReport
Version 1.5
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DLL version,
standalone
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LIB version,
standalone
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LIB version,
local runtime
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16bit
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32bit
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16bit
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32bit
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16bit
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32bit
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Clarion 5
Ver. 5.002
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Legacy
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-
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-
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-
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ABC
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-
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-
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Clarion 5.5
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Legacy
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-
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-
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-
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ABC
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-
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-
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-
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Clarion 6
6.0 Build 9015
6.1 Build 9034
6.2 Build 9049
6.3 Build 9050
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Legacy
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-
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-
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-
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ABC
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-
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-
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Clarion 7
7.0 Build 5349
7.1 Build 6695
7.2 Build 7232
7.3 Build 7900
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Legacy
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-
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-
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-
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ABC
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-
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-
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Clarion 8
8.0 Build 8421
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Legacy
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-
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-
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-
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ABC
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-
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Source included
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No, but available for purchase by request.
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3rd
Party compatibility
RichReport has been tested with the following 3rd party report add-ons:
In addition, the following products where reported to work with RichReport (but
I didn't actively test them because I don't have them)
Since RichReport only uses standard embeds it should work together with any report
add-on that doesn't modify the standard templates. If you're a 3rd party developer
and want to have your report product listed here feel free to contact
me.
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Pricing
and availability
RichReport is available exclusively at ClarionShop for just 99,- US$ (single user
license - please contact our sales office for discounted multi-user licenses!)
An upgrade to version 1.5 (which includes support for Clarion 8) is available
for just 29,- US$.
 
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Downloads
