[reportlab-users] Acrobat version compatibility and installation proceedure

[Rasjid Wilcox]

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Here are the results of my testing, and what I had to do to get reportlab=20
working.

=46irst, on Linux 2.4.18-5 (RH7.3) with Python 2.2.2.

My full install instructions for Linux follow:

=46irst, make sure you have gcc installed, and also the python development=
=20
headers.  If you are using an rpm or deb based system, you will probably ne=
ed=20
to install the 'python-dev' or 'python-devel' rpm or deb.

Download ReportLab (current.tgz).
# tar -zxvf current.tgz
# mv reportlab /usr/lib/python2.2/site-packages/
# cd /usr/lib/python2.2/site-packages/
# chown -R root.root reportlab
# cd reportlab
# python setup.py install

(Actually I ran the last command with 'python2 setup.py install', but that =
is=20
only for RH7.3 and earlier.  Thank goodness that RH no longer do this on=20
their newer releases!)

=46or my test, I actually ran 'test_pdfgen_general.py' both before and afte=
r the=20
'setup.py install'.

=3D=3D=3D Results of 'test_pdfgen_general.py' before running 'python setup.=
py=20
install': =3D=3D=3D
=2E
=2D ----------------------------------------------------------------------
Ran 1 tests in 1.402s

OK

The resulting pdf was 66k.  See=20
http://www.openminddev.net/files/reportlab/test_pdfgen_general-before_setup=
=2Epdf

This pdf cannot be opened in either Acrobat Reader 5.05 or xpdf 2.01 on Lin=
ux.

Acrobat 5.05 on Linux gives the error message "There was an error opening t=
his=20
document.  The root object is missing or invalid".
Acrobat 5.05 on Windows also gives the same error message.

The xpdf 2.01 on Linux gives a slightly more useful error message, as follo=
ws:
Error (0): PDF file is damaged - attempting to reconstruct xref table...
Error: Page count in top-level pages object is wrong type (real)
Error: Couldn't read page catalog
Warning:
    Name: scroll
    Class: XmScrolledWindow
    DeAssocNavigator requires a navigator trait

HOWEVER, the pdf opens fine in Acrobat Reader 6.0 on Windows NT.


=3D=3D=3D Results of test after running 'python setup.py install'. =3D=3D=3D
=2E
=2D ----------------------------------------------------------------------
Ran 1 tests in 0.471s

OK

The resulting pdf is 54k.  See=20
http://www.openminddev.net/files/reportlab/test_pdfgen_general-after-setup.=
pdf

The second pdf opens just fine in both Acrobat Reader 5.05 and xpdf 2.01 on=
=20
Linux.  As an aside, this pdf cannot be processed by ESP Ghostscript 7.05.6=
=20
(the default version of ghostscript on SuSE 8.2), but at this point I assum=
e=20
this is a limilation of Ghostscript.  If someone wants the error messages=20
created by Ghostscript, let me know.

This second pdf can, of course, also be opened with Acrobat Reader 5.05 and=
=20
6.0 on Windows.

So, my basic analysis is as follows:

Without running 'python setup.py install' on Linux (or - I suspect -=20
installing the dll's on Windows) the pdfs created by ReportLab will open fi=
ne=20
in Acrobat 6, but not in Acrobat 5.05.

So this is a compatibilty issue between ReportLab and Acrobat 5 vs Acrobat =
6. =20
Given that the latest release of Acrobat for Linux is 5.08, the real issue=
=20
here is cross-platform compatibility.  If you don't install the dll's /=20
extension modules, the pdf's you create may only be accessible with Acrobat=
=20
6.

This is a problem for uses of Acrobat 5, who simply maybe have not got arou=
nd=20
to upgrading if they are on Windows (many of our machines at work still use=
=20
Acrobat 5) or have no choice since Acrobat 5 is the latest version availabl=
e=20
on Linux.

Anyway, I hope all this is of use.

Cheers,

Rasjid.

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Rasjid Wilcox
Canberra, Australia (UTC +10 hrs)
http://www.openminddev.net
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