What does it look like?

Three equivalent APIs

PDF In-The-Box is available in 3 different editions, each of them corresponding to a specific programming interface:

• PDF In-The-Box ActiveX: to be used with Visual Basic, Visual C++, and all development tools supporting the ActiveX standard.

• PDF In-The-Box for Delphi: offers a VCL programming interface, supporting the following Delphi versions: 5, 6, 7, 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2009 (in Win 32 mode). Using Delphi 2009, you can choose to encode PDF documents either in ANSI or in Unicode.

• PDF In-The-Box DLL: based on a plain dynamic link library (not an ActiveX library). Can be used with all Win32 development tools.

How to generate a PDF file?

Using the ActiveX or Delphi editions, the whole programming interface is supplied in a unique, non visual, component, to be placed on a form of your application. Using the DLL edition is hardly more complicated. Internal objects are identified by handles.

In all cases, the process of PDF generation is similar to programming a printer output:

1. Start the document using the BeginDoc method.

2. Build up the document contents by drawing graphics and putting visual objects on the paper sheet.

3. Complete the document using the EndDoc method..

Can PDF In-The-Box be operated on a Web server?

Yes, it can, using the ActiveX edition. In an ASP page of your website, insert a VBScript section creating an instance of the PDF In-The-Box ActiveX object: you can then generate a specific PDF document, to be automatically sent to the remote client.

See the Live Demo: it's based on this principle.

Basic Example Programming Language: Visual Basic With PdfBox1     .FileName = "c:\MyFile.pdf"     .BeginDoc     .Put "Hello world !", 200, 300     .EndDoc End With Basic Example with PdfBox1 do begin     FileName := 'c:\MyFile.pdf';     BeginDoc;     Canvas. Put ('Hello, world!', 200, 300);     EndDoc; end; Basic Example Programming Language: Visual Basic Dim hPdfBox As Long   hPdfBox = CreateBox(0, 0)   SetStrProp hPdfBox, Box_FileName, "c:\MyFile.pdf" BeginDoc hPdfBox Put hPdfBox, "Hello world !", 200, 300   EndDoc hPdfBox FreeBox hPdfBox

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Below is the PDF file generated by this example:

Naturally, PDF In-The-Box can do much more! The programming interface contains about 360 symbols (classes, methods, properties and events).