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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
Plus
- lifetime free email support
- lifetime free minor upgrades (the ones after
the dot)
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Linkability
The table below lists the supported Clarion
versions, template chains, target operating systems and link modes.
RichReport
Version 1.4.1 |
DLL version,
standalone |
LIB version,
standalone |
LIB version,
local runtime |
| 16bit |
32bit |
16bit |
32bit |
16bit |
32bit |
Clarion 5
Ver. 5.002 |
Legacy |
- |
 |
- |
|
- |
|
| ABC |
- |
|
- |
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- |
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Clarion 5.5 |
Legacy |
- |
|
- |
|
- |
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| ABC |
- |
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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 |
Legacy |
- |
|
- |
|
- |
|
| ABC |
- |
|
- |
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- |
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Clarion 7
7.0 Build 5349
7.1 Build 6695 |
Legacy |
- |
|
- |
|
- |
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| ABC |
- |
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- |
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- |
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| Source
included |
No, but available for purchase by request. |
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!)
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Downloads
