Re: Browser Printing

Rich,
 
There's no question in my mind about PDF being a robust specification for 
precision layout.  But it seems to me that HTML and CSS also provide a good 
specification for precision layout, using syntax that's more readable, and is 
supported by a number of exceptional WYSIWYG editors.  It seems to me that 
stylized HTML reports can be generated more efficiently and easily than PDF 
reports.
 
There's no need for intermediate XML syntax, which is typically used to define 
report layout, or need for separate WYSIWYG editors designed to generate XML  
report templates.  There's no need to generate intermediate XML files, and no 
need to process them through a converter to generate PDF files.  When delivered 
from a Web site, there's no need to load an extra "reader" to display and print 
the files.
 
My problem isn't with HTML or CSS, which are good for page layout and 
page-breaks.  My problem is with the notion of instructing browser users to 
access the File=>Page Setup dialog, and possibly the File->Print Preview 
dialog, in order to configure browser print settings to be compatible with the 
intended report, before the report can be printed.
 
It seems to me that there should be some way in HTML/CSS/JavaScript to tell the 
browser to NOT add extra  headers, footers, and margins, for printing, for 
example.
 
Nathan Andelin
 

                
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