A. Yes, Siberix Report Writer has 100% royalty free distribution rights. Pay once and use the product wherever you want including web servers or your distribution packages.

A. The Corporate License includes unlimited number of company's developer seats, unlimited number of company's web servers and unlimited number of distributions as a part of your application.

A. The Source Code License covers the standard Corporate License and includes full source code for the Siberix Report Writer. You may perform any modifications to the product or even compile it in one binary file with your application. Please read the software license agreement for more details.

A. No, it's fully functional and represents all original features and behavior. It allows you to perform any tests in your production environment until you get the commercial version of the product.

A. Adobe PDF is an open standard and we haven't seen anything that prevents to develop a product for the PDF document generation. Siberix Report Writer doesn't use Acrobat Reader's interfaces to produce PDF documents and is not a plug-in to the Acrobat Reader in any way. From that point of view the product is a standalone third party component. Thus, we believe that you have to follow the Acrobat Reader's license agreement in the matter of distributing the Acrobat Reader itself and the Siberix Report Writer's license agreement in the matter of distributing the product.

You may need to get a license from Adobe to bundle the Acrobat Reader with your project distribution package. However, this has nothing to do with the product's API used to generate PDF files.

A. To the best of our knowledge, Microsoft doesn't forbid third party companies to develop a product for the XPS document generation. However, according to the XML Paper Specification Patent License we have to provide the following notice for your information:

This product may incorporate intellectual property owned by Microsoft Corporation. The terms and conditions upon which Microsoft is licensing such intellectual property may be found at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=52369.

A. Siberix Report Writer doesn't require any installation. All you need to do is to copy Siberix.ReportWriter.dll into your project folder (desktop applications) or to the "bin" folder (ASPX applications) and reference it from the project. You may read regarding the "bin" folder and other deployment options in ASP.NET at the following link.

Notes

1. It's required to register the Siberix.ReportWriter.dll in the Global Assembly Cache (GAC) to work properly in the Medium Trust environment. You can use:

• gacutil -i Siberix.ReportWriter.dll
• Control Panel / Administrative Tools / Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0 Configuration / Manage the Assembly Cache / Add an Assembly to the Assembly Cache

You may read more regarding working in the Medium Trust environment at the following link.

2. In some rare cases you may find out that the evaluation watermark is still in place or get unexpected errors while installing or upgrading the product. To eliminate them please follow to the instructions below. It is preferred to perform all the steps together:

• Check you have the latest Siberix.ReportWriter.dll
• Remove all inclusions of Siberix.ReportWriter.dll at the temporary ASP.NET directory (%WINDOWS%\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.50727\Temporary ASP.NET Files\root)
• Open your project and remove all references to Siberix.ReportWriter.dll in your project including the main reference path (Right click on the project name in the Solution Explorer / Properties / References Path)
• Save the project
• Add references to Siberix.ReportWriter.dll in your project
• Save and recompile the project
• Clear your browser's cache
• Restart the Internet Informational Server (IIS)
• Run the project

A. We recommend that you start with a brief review of the User's Guide and continue with a detailed analysis of supplied examples.

A. There are several ways to stream out PDF or XPS documents from an ASPX page. See the code samples below.

Content types:

PDF - application/pdf
XPS - application/vnd.ms-xpsdocument

1. Streaming into the context's response

[c#]

System.Web.HttpContext context = System.Web.HttpContext.Current;
System.Web.HttpResponse response = context.Response;
response.Clear();
response.ContentType = "application/pdf";
report.Publish(response.OutputStream, Siberix.Report.FileFormat.PDF);
response.End();

[vb]

Dim context As System.Web.HttpContext = System.Web.HttpContext.Current
Dim response As System.Web.HttpResponse = context.Response
response.Clear()
response.ContentType = "application/pdf"
report.Publish(response.OutputStream, Siberix.Report.FileFormat.PDF)
response.End()

Note: To stream out a PDF document over the https response please use the following lines:

[c#]

System.IO.MemoryStream ms = new System.IO.MemoryStream();

report.Publish(ms, Siberix.Report.FileFormat.PDF);

byte[] buffer = ms.ToArray();
int length = buffer.Length;

System.Web.HttpContext context = System.Web.HttpContext.Current;
System.Web.HttpResponse response = context.Response;
response.Clear();
response.ContentType = "application/pdf";
response.AddHeader("Content-Length", length.ToString());
response.AddHeader("Accept-Ranges", "bytes");
response.AddHeader("Accept-Header", length.ToString());
response.OutputStream.Write(buffer, 0, length);
response.End();

[vb]

Dim ms As System.IO.MemoryStream = New System.IO.MemoryStream()

report.Publish(ms, Siberix.Report.FileFormat.PDF)

Dim buffer As Byte() = ms.ToArray()
Dim length As Integer = buffer.Length

Dim context As System.Web.HttpContext = System.Web.HttpContext.Current
Dim response As System.Web.HttpResponse = context.Response
response.Clear()
response.ContentType = "application/pdf"
response.AddHeader("Content-Length", length.ToString())
response.AddHeader("Accept-Ranges", "bytes")
response.AddHeader("Accept-Header", length.ToString())
response.OutputStream.Write(buffer, 0, length)
response.End()

2. Streaming into the "Response" with the "inline" attribute

[c#]

Response.Clear();
Response.ContentType = "application/pdf";
Response.AddHeader("content-disposition", "inline; filename=Document.pdf");
report.Publish(Response.OutputStream, Siberix.Report.FileFormat.PDF);
Response.End();

[vb]

Response.Clear()
Response.ContentType = "application/pdf"
Response.AddHeader("content-disposition", "inline; filename=Document.pdf")
report.Publish(Response.OutputStream, Siberix.Report.FileFormat.PDF)
Response.End()

3. Streaming into the "Response" with the "attachment" attribute

[c#]

Response.Clear();
Response.ContentType = "application/pdf";
Response.AddHeader("content-disposition", "attachment; filename=Document.pdf");
report.Publish(Response.OutputStream, Siberix.Report.FileFormat.PDF);
Response.End();

[vb]

Response.Clear()
Response.ContentType = "application/pdf"
Response.AddHeader("content-disposition", "attachment; filename=Document.pdf")
report.Publish(Response.OutputStream, Siberix.Report.FileFormat.PDF)
Response.End()

4. Saving to the server and redirecting to some HTML page with the link to the generated PDF document

[c#]

System.IO.FileStream stream = new System.IO.FileStream(Server.MapPath("Document.pdf"), System.IO.FileMode.Create, System.IO.FileAccess.Write);
report.Publish(stream, Siberix.Report.FileFormat.PDF);
stream.Close();

Response.Redirect("link.html");
or
Response.Clear();
Response.Output.Write("<a href=\"Document.pdf\">PDF</a>");
Response.End();

[vb]

Dim stream As System.IO.FileStream = New System.IO.FileStream(Server.MapPath("Document.pdf"), System.IO.FileMode.Create, System.IO.FileAccess.Write)
report.Publish(stream, Siberix.Report.FileFormat.PDF)
stream.Close()

Response.Redirect("link.html")
or
Response.Clear()
Response.Output.Write("<a href=""Document.pdf"">PDF</a>")
Response.End()

A. Siberix Report Writer doesn't provide any methods to:

1. Open, modify, merge, split, fill forms or print existing PDF documents.
2. Convert Word, Excel or PowerPoint files into PDF documents.
3. Save reports in Word, Excel or PowerPoint formats.
4. Process EMF, EMF+, SVG or DXF images.

A. No, Siberix Report Writer doesn't support XSL-FO. There are a lot of similarities between these two standards in fields of object design and layout composition. In spite of the fact that XSL-FO is extremely powerful standard it is at the same time very complicated and hard to understand. On the other hand, Siberix Report Writer provides a very convenient way to build reports with API calls or from XML files and allows to get started with the development immediately.

A. You can use the <EMBED> tag to embed PDF files within your HTML pages:

<EMBED src="Document.pdf" width="500" height="500"></EMBED>

For Netscape Navigator users also add the "href" attribute:

<EMBED src="Document.pdf" href="Document.pdf" width="500" height="500"></EMBED>

A. You may use the "attachment" attribute. This will open the PDF document in a separate window:

Response.AddHeader("content-disposition", "attachment; filename=Document.pdf");

Another way is to use the last part of the URL as a name for the document:

http://www.myServer.com/pdf.aspx?filename=/Document.pdf

A. Yes, you may pass a page number in the "page" parameter. See the line below:

http://www.myServer.com/myFolder/myDocument.pdf#page=5

A. Usually, it is just enough to use the "ASPNET" account. However, you may set the permissions using the following steps:

1. Select the folder
2. Select "Properties" (Right click)
3. Select "Security" tab
4. Select "Add"
5. Select "Advanced"
6. Click "Find Now"
7. Select "ASPNET" account and add it to the list
8. Set the required permissions for that account

A. Siberix Report Writer is written in 100% pure C# without any "tricks" and "hooks". There are only a few native calls to retrieve font data and one unsafe part to speedup image processing. The rest of the product is 100% managed C#.

[DllImport("user32.dll")]
private static extern Int32 GetDC(Int32 hWnd);
[DllImport("user32.dll")]
private static extern Int32 ReleaseDC(Int32 hWnd, Int32 hDC);
[DllImport("gdi32.dll")]
private static extern Int32 SelectObject(Int32 hDC, Int32 hGDIObj);
[DllImport("gdi32.dll")]
private static extern Int32 DeleteObject(Int32 hGDIObj);
[DllImport("gdi32.dll")]
private static extern Int32 GetFontData(Int32 hDC, int table, int offset, [In, Out] byte[] buffer, int length);

BitmapData bmd = bmp.LockBits(new Rectangle(0, 0, bmp.Width, bmp.Height), ImageLockMode.ReadOnly, PixelFormat.Format24bppRgb);
bmp.UnlockBits(bmd);

A. We believe that you have to explicitly register Siberix.ReportWriter.dll (gacutil -i Siberix.ReportWriter.dll) to store it in the Global Assembly Cache (GAC).

A. You may simply run the Acrobat Reader and open some PDF document in it with the following lines:

using System.Diagnostics;

Process process = new Process();
ProcessStartInfo info = new ProcessStartInfo("Document.pdf");
process.StartInfo = info;
process.Start();

A. You may use the following command line:

cscript C:\Inetpub\AdminScripts\adsutil.vbs set W3SVC/{siteID}/Root/{subfolder}{page.asp}/DoDynamicCompression False

A. You may use the following lines:

[c#]

System.Drawing.Image tiff = System.Drawing.Image.FromFile("../../image.tiff");
System.Drawing.Imaging.FrameDimension dimension = new System.Drawing.Imaging.FrameDimension(tiff.FrameDimensionsList[0]);

int i = 0;
int cnt = tiff.GetFrameCount(dimension);

while (i < cnt)
{
     tiff.SelectActiveFrame(dimension, i);

     Siberix.Graphics.Image img = new Siberix.Graphics.Image(tiff);
     img.Preferences.Converter = Siberix.Graphics.Image.Converters.BW;
     img.Preferences.Compressor = Siberix.Graphics.Image.Compressors.CCITT;

     Siberix.Report.IImage image = section.AddImage(img);
     image.Width = new Siberix.Report.RelativeWidth(100);

     i++;
}

[vb]

Dim tiff As System.Drawing.Image = System.Drawing.Image.FromFile("../../image.tiff")
Dim dimension As System.Drawing.Imaging.FrameDimension = New System.Drawing.Imaging.FrameDimension(tiff.FrameDimensionsList(0))

Dim i As Integer = 0
Dim cnt As Integer = tiff.GetFrameCount(dimension)

While i < cnt

     tiff.SelectActiveFrame(dimension, i)

     Dim img As Siberix.Graphics.Image = New Siberix.Graphics.Image(tiff)
     img.Preferences.Converter = Siberix.Graphics.Image.Converters.BW
     img.Preferences.Compressor = Siberix.Graphics.Image.Compressors.CCITT

     Dim image As Siberix.Report.IImage = section.AddImage(img)
     image.Width = New Siberix.Report.RelativeWidth(100)

     i += 1

End While

A. You may use the following lines:

[c#]

Siberix.Report.Projection.IPageCollection pages = report.Generate();

int i = 1;

foreach (Siberix.Report.Projection.IPage page in pages)
{
     Siberix.PDF.Document pdfDocument = new Siberix.PDF.Document();
     Siberix.PDF.IPage pdfPage = pdfDocument.AddPage(page.Width, page.Height);
     page.Draw(pdfPage.Graphics);
     pdfPage.Graphics.Flush();
     pdfDocument.Generate("Document" + i.ToString() + ".pdf");
     i++;
}

[vb]

Dim pages As Siberix.Report.Projection.IPageCollection = report.Generate()

Dim i As Integer = 1

For Each page As Siberix.Report.Projection.IPage In pages

     Dim pdfDocument As Siberix.PDF.Document = New Siberix.PDF.Document()
     Dim pdfPage As Siberix.PDF.IPage = pdfDocument.AddPage(page.Width, page.Height)
     page.Draw(pdfPage.Graphics)
     pdfPage.Graphics.Flush()
     pdfDocument.Generate("Document" + i.ToString() + ".pdf")
     i += 1

Next

A. You may use the following lines:

[c#]

static void Main(string[] args)
{
     if (args.Length == 2)
     {
         string src = args[0];
         string dst = args[1];
         string format = dst.Substring(dst.LastIndexOf(".") + 1, 3).ToUpper();

         Siberix.Report.Report report = new Siberix.Report.Report();

         report.Load(src);

         if (format == "PDF")
             report.Publish(dst, Siberix.Report.FileFormat.PDF);
         else
             report.Publish(dst, Siberix.Report.FileFormat.XPS);

         System.Console.Out.WriteLine();
         System.Console.Out.WriteLine("Siberix Report Writer. Version 8.0");
         System.Console.Out.WriteLine("Generation succeeded.");
         System.Console.Out.WriteLine();
     }
     else
     {
         System.Console.Out.WriteLine();
         System.Console.Out.WriteLine("Siberix Report Writer. Version 8.0");
         System.Console.Out.WriteLine();
         System.Console.Out.WriteLine("Example.exe input output");
         System.Console.Out.WriteLine();
         System.Console.Out.WriteLine(" input - specifies the name of the input XML file.");
         System.Console.Out.WriteLine(" output - specifies the name of the output file.");
         System.Console.Out.WriteLine();
     }
}

[vb]

Sub Main(ByVal args As String())

     If args.Length = 2 Then

         Dim src As String = args(0)
         Dim dst As String = args(1)
         Dim format As String = dst.Substring(dst.LastIndexOf(".") + 1, 3).ToUpper()

         Dim report As Siberix.Report.Report = New Siberix.Report.Report()

         report.Load(src)

         If format = "PDF" Then
             report.Publish(dst, Siberix.Report.FileFormat.PDF)
         Else
             report.Publish(dst, Siberix.Report.FileFormat.XPS)
         End If

         System.Console.Out.WriteLine()
         System.Console.Out.WriteLine("Siberix Report Writer. Version 8.0")
         System.Console.Out.WriteLine("Generation succeeded.")
         System.Console.Out.WriteLine()

     Else

         System.Console.Out.WriteLine()
         System.Console.Out.WriteLine("Siberix Report Writer. Version 8.0")
         System.Console.Out.WriteLine()
         System.Console.Out.WriteLine("Example.exe input output")
         System.Console.Out.WriteLine()
         System.Console.Out.WriteLine(" input - specifies the name of the input XML file.")
         System.Console.Out.WriteLine(" output - specifies the name of the output file.")
         System.Console.Out.WriteLine()

     End If

End Sub