views:

105

answers:

2

Is it possible to create (set formatting, add text by form etc) a PDF document in VB.NET without using any third party libraries? This would be done in a website.

+2  A: 

You can do this with iTextSharp, which is technically third-party (but it's free):

http://beta.codeproject.com/KB/aspnet/Creating_PDF_documents_in.aspx

Here are some more options:

http://www.aspnetworld.com/articles/2004011801.aspx

MusiGenesis
I have used iTextSharp as well, it's not too difficult to use and is very full-featured for PDF generation
Guy Starbuck
+3  A: 

I know you said w/o a third party control, but maybe free will work ... but I'll just throw this out there just in case in proves to be informational.

We have to do the same thing in our environment ... and we opted to just use Crystal Reports (which you have a license to with Visual Studio) and leverage the export to PDF functionality. Allows us to deliver pretty forms and lists to the customer.

I'm not a big fan of Crystal Reports, for a variety of reasons ... but it was easy to implement and at no additional cost to our end customer.

mattruma
Microsoft Reporting Services also has a functionality to export to PDF.
Meta-Knight
Crystal Reports and Microsoft Reporting Services are not only free but also supported (a possible objection to other third-party components)
MarkJ