"I want to build PDF output into my application"

By Rowan Hanna
PDF Store Support Team
Issue 10 for 2005

The "Buy or build?" dilemma is an established one. It's a question that a project head needs to ask every time they need to come up with new functionality for a tool or application. At the end of the day, it really boils down to this: are there developer components or libraries out there that do what you want, and will researching, licensing and integrating them be significantly cheaper and more convenient than brewing your own? For most, the answer is a combination of both approaches. For instance, core functionality could be built in-house, while specialized features were added using 3rd party components. This could free up internal development resources to concentrate on vital functionality.

Without doubt, the most popular PDF feature for this kind of integration is creation. As usual, the source formats and platforms (both development and operating system) will dictate which solution is the best fit, but the PDFlib library is useful in a wide variety of environments, and suitable for use with desktop or server-side implementations. On the server, TallPDF.NET and PDF4NET components work well under .NET, while activePDF DocConverter or AdLib eXpress Server can each be used programmatically or via a hot folder configuration.

Demonstrating the modularity of the development world, activePDF DocConverter is itself an add-on for activePDF Server, adding specialized conversion features for MS Office and WordPerfect files.

Watch this space! Until next time, please browse PDF Store's PDF Developer aisle for the complete range of PDF development tools, libraries and components.

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