ASPDF – PDF Creation with Classic ASP

ASPDF appears to be a solution for generating PDF documents from Classic ASP (Active Server Pages) applications. Here’s what I can tell you about it:

Overview

ASPDF is typically a COM component or library that enables PDF generation capabilities within Classic ASP environments. Since Classic ASP (VBScript) doesn’t have native PDF creation capabilities, third-party components like ASPDF.IN fill this gap.

Common Features

1. Text and formatting: Add styled text to PDF documents

2. Image support: Insert images into generated PDFs

3. Tables: Create tabular data layouts

4. Headers/Footers: Add repeating page elements

5. Page numbering: Automatic page numbering

6. Security options: Password protection and encryption

Implementation Example

A typical usage in Classic ASP might look like:

<%
Set pdf = Server.CreateObject("Persits.PDF")
Set Doc = pdf.CreateDocument
Set Page = Doc.Pages.Add
Page.Canvas.DrawText "Hello World", 100, 100
Doc.Save "C:\inetpub\wwwroot\example.pdf", False
%>

Alternatives to ASPDF

1. PDFCreator: Free open-source option

2. iTextSharp: .NET library (would require ASP.NET)

3. wkhtmltopdf: Converts HTML to PDF

4. PrinceXML: Commercial HTML-to-PDF converter

Considerations

• Most ASPDF solutions are commercial products requiring licensing

• Performance can be an issue with large PDF generations

• Modern alternatives (like ASPDF.IN with iTextSharp) may be more maintainable

• Cloud-based PDF generation APIs are another modern alternative