java-to-PDF with jdk1.4 (or java 5)

[Mika Tapanainen]

Hello,

Is it easy to produce the simple PDF documents without third party libraries only using jdk1.4? Maybe in the future java 5 is also available.

Which packages and classes to use in the task?

Thanks,

Mika

[Ulf Dittmer]

The class libraries that come with the JRE have no provisions for creating PDFs. Check out iText, which is the premier open source library to create PDFs. Its 2.x versions run under Java 1.4, while the 5.x versions requires Java 5.

[Rob Spoor]

Mika Tapanainen wrote:Is it easy to produce the simple PDF documents without third party libraries only using jdk1.4?

No. PDF documents have a complex structure and there are no classes for that in the Java core library.

Maybe in the future java 5 is also available.

Java 6 is even available and Java 7 is on its way, but there is still no PDF support.

Frankly, if you want to create PDF documents, there is one obvious choice: iText. See also AccessingFileFormats for a link and alternatives.

[Gopi Chella]

I am not sure whether we have API in Jdk 1.4 or 1.5. However with help of iText.jar(Third Party Library) we can create or Modify pdf files.

You will get enough information about PDF file creation in the below site

http://www.ehow.com/how_5980444_generate-pdf-using-java.html

[Mika Tapanainen]

Thanks for the answers.

The problem is that any third party libraries are strictly not allowed in the environment I'm working with. And we are using currently Java 1.4.

I know many ways to implement the PDF functionality if the third party libraries are allowed.

[Rob Spoor]

Why are third party libraries not allowed? Is it because of licensing? Because yes, iText's licensing (AGPL) can be a reason to not use it.

Nothing prevents you from rewriting something similar from scratch, but you should tell your project manager that that will require several months of extra work. Perhaps purchasing a commercial library is cheaper.

[Mika Tapanainen]

The licensing is the problem. At worst case the both open source and commercial products are not allowed.

I know the producing of the PDF is not simple, I have been involved in several projects where one task has been PDF producing. But now the situation is a lot more challenging