[manzoor]

hey in my town, now a days there are a lot of xml to pdf sheets converting part time jobs are popping lol

So I thought of getting one If I could while developing my skills

so how do you convert xml to pdf ?

is there a need of xml ? is XML a difficult language ?

i'm sorry for asking this stupid/noobish/foolish question, i beg you pardon

and sorry too if this the wrong forum

[Nova Dragoon]

xml basically describes a syntax for markup. XML by itself is meaningless. It is the applications through a DTD (document data type) that gives XML meaning.

There is no straight XML to pdf converter. However if you have an application (I use this term loosely here) uses or is based off of XML, such as Docbook. Then there are docbook to pdf coverters, such as OpenJade and RenderX XEP. This is because docbook gives the XML meaning, form and shape, which can be translated to pdf.

So could you be a bit more specific about the XML to PDF jobs that are popping up?

[manzoor]

the jobs details are

Data Entry Agents
Knowledge of computer
Can easily achieve target
Knowledge of XML & PDF
Can convert 35 sheets daily

I cant believe these are only the details lol

I must contact them for giving more details

This post has been edited by manzoor: 02 June 2008 - 06:22 AM

[1lacca]

Isn't it converting PDF to XML?
That would make more sense - at least to me.

[manzoor]

alright it may be until i get reply from them

lets assume that it is PDF to XML, howz that done ?

[NickDMax]

Generally the process for XML to PDF is as follows:

XML via XSLT to a printable display format like HTML, RTF, SVG etc.

Use a program such as CutePDF to convert the display format to a PDF.

I work in the Java world and there are a number of opensource solutions for generating PDF files.

The other way (PDF to XML) I don't really know. I would imagine that you parse out the text that you want and format it as XML. I am sure that libraries exist for this too... else see the PDF API.

[akozlik]

You could use PHP as well if you get go through the XML and convert it with a free library like fpdf. There are plenty of ways to do it, it's just going to be dependant on how they want it set up. There's the potential to make some bucks if they all use the same form and you're just putting in the data. You could automate it pretty easily.

[ccrasherdeb]

Maybe a better way to understand XML is to think about it as the soon to be world standard. PDF is more of a print type document similar to a word .doc.

Many, if not most companies at this time have several departments to handle the various media types. For example, 1 dept for print advertising, 1 for web advertising which at present looks like a crude copy of the print ads for most companies, then we have mobile which is treated separately and then on top of all that we have television and HI def media.

If files are created based on a validated XML standard, all files and print media can be created from one or more data bases that can be accessed and used by all departments to create any possible media formats as needed. Think of it as create 1 file and use many times instead of each department creating their own files with numerous redundant versions of the same objective. I've been working with Adobe master collection for a short time now and this suite does a great job at converting files to XML just for this purpose.

As companies update systems using the XML standard, they will only need 1 department to handle all media and can create any file types needed with a few clicks of a mouse. Employees can easily generate any type of report needed in real time as well as create a web site or print out advertising or presentations.

Micro$$soft and Adobe have already created many universal fonts which can be read and used by all systems and platforms. Adobe created acrobat 3d as a standard to integrate ACAD files into a PDF or universal type document.

Camera Raw was created to standarize images into a DNG format so they can be used across all platforms since every company wants to use their own image file type and cannot be read without special software.

So converting files to XML will standardize all the old files that are for the most part non compatible with each other.

[1lacca]

Well, I'll put my assumptions into the mix as well.
PDF to XML:
Here I assume XML uses the schema of a document format, be it iText, ODF, or whatever you can think of. You would do it by extracting hte pictures and text from the PDF, and edit the document in a suitable word processor to look-like the original PDF, and finally save it in the given XML format. If such a word processor does not exist, then you are out of luck, and you'll either have to edit the XML by hand, or use some XSLT transformation to convert it from another XML format that does have an editor. Since this can not be done automatically, I'd assume this is the work that we are talking about.
XML to PDF:
if the XML uses a document descriptor schema, then it is a no brainer, and can be done automatically, there are virtual printers that output a PDF document, so simply printing the given XML from it's editor would be the task. Who would hire anyone for this, it takes a day to setup a system like this.
if the XML is in whatever other format, then the whole thing does not make sense, because how the hell would you visualize it?!
This is just my 2cents, take it with a grain of salt...

[NickDMax]

Oddly enough I do find that XML to PDF seems to be a common application. For example a web form is filled out and the data is passed about in an XML format and then finally the data is all combined into a PDF file.

The project that I am currently working on requires an XML to TIFF. This was a big issue and they were looking at hiring an outside firm and hoopla this and hoopla that... I explained that this was a quick 2 step process that can be set up by 1 developer in maybe a week. (XML to SVG or RTF via XSLT, and then to TIFF) So they decided to keep it in house... I probably cost some firm a nice little chunk of change.

This post has been edited by NickDMax: 03 June 2008 - 06:39 AM