Re: [Gnue-dev] Re: GNUe Reports and xmlns, oh my!

[Derek Neighbors]

> The solution I've been thinking about is to get the GNUe Reports output
> into a format appropriate for one of the word processors that use XML as
> their native format.  These include AbiWord and OpenOffice.  I think
> AbiWord is GPL, so we could actually link directly to the appropriate
> AbiWord code for processing and printing without needing to leave GNUe and
> separately start AbiWord.  I haven't checked the GPL compatibility status
> of the OpenOffice license, but there would be no licensing difficulties in
> generating a file that it could separately process and print.

This locks into that.  The idea is that you simply export to xml and use 
xslt to transform into the xml of choice.

>  For the labels, StarOffice has built-in formats for various types of Avery
> label stock, so I would expect OpenOffice to have the formats also.  There
> is every reason to expect AbiWord to eventually also have the formats.
> What would be needed is the capability for including the label formatting
> data with the GNUe Reports output.  
> 
> An invoice with letterhead would involve preparing the letterhead in
> AbiWord and having GNUe Reports output the AbiWord XML together with the
> invoice data and printing the resulting file from AbiWord.
> 
> Similar considerations are involved in doing the mail-merge.
> 

The engine as it sits today does mail merges with all products you 
mentioned.

> I haven't studied Jason's proposed approach to see how it would affect my
> suggested solution to these three applications, but I think examples such
> as these should be taken into account in formulating an overall approach to
> formatting under GNUe Reports.

Yes.  I am bummed to not have more time as i think the merge thing is much 
larger for document solutions like loan documents, medical forms and legal 
forms, but I think that should be a different tool perhaps.

Derek