Posted by strawberry on 04/22/07 11:19

On Apr 22, 9:18 am, Aerik <asyl...@gmail.com> wrote:
> > > Perhaps absolutely positioned divs? If you get the sizes and
> > > proportions right, then it's just a matter of setting the margins
> > > properly in the browser.
>
> > Doesn't work. You don't know the characteristics of the printer (i.e.
> > margins, etc.).
>
> > A 1/2 inch top or bottom margin makes a big difference on a 2"x3"
> > mailing label.
>
> > > Simpler still (maybe even simpler than your Word / mail merge
> > > solution): Find or create a template in Excel for your labels. In
> > > all the cells, put in formulas pointing to the second sheet. On the
> > > second sheet create an external data source that pulls from an html
> > > table. The html table is dynamicly generated by php and holds your
> > > data. It doesn't matter what the formatting of the table is, all the
> > > formatting is done in excel. To get a new list of labels, in Excel
> > > right click in the external data source and click "refresh". Easy.
>
> > > Aerik
>
> > Same problem.
>
> > HTML is a recommendation only. It is not suited for exact positioning
> > like the op requires.
>
> Wait a minute - having done several implementations of exactly what I
> described above (web data into excel for printing) - what do you mean,
> "same problem"? Certainly in html there are a bunch of variables
> besides the absolutely positioned divs to deal with, but I think it's
> reasonable to assume the user can manage the margins in their print
> setup - if not, then they're probably not equiped to load label stock
> into their printer. I think the PDF is a fine suggestion, but the
> level of complexity is not insignivficant (at least with the few pdf
> libraries I've looked at). You've gotta learn the pdf class, get your
> data into it into whatever font you choose, and get it positioned
> right. Dumping it into any old html table and importing it into excel
> is a piece of cake. Maybe not the *best* solution, but probably the
> *simplest*.
>
> Aerik

In that case I'd be interested to see a sample application

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