xslfo processors for .net (64 bit machines)

Question

Any recommendations for .net xslfo processors (takes an xslfo file and converts to pdf) that can either be compiled into 64 bit assemblies or are sold that way? (Our preference is free open source, but we are also considering paying as well).

Answer 1

Actually I don't know any XSL-FO Converter for .NET. Where I work (and we use .NET) we simply take Apache FOP to convert our files to PDF - this works like a charm. Of course the side effect is that you need to run the JVM..

Best wishes, Fabian

Answer 2

Ibex PDF Creator Professional is a 64 bit XSL-FO engine.

I have used the Java version of Ibex in the past and found their level of support for the FO standard, performance, and the quality of the output to be great.

It is commercial software, not open source. They have an interesting licensing model where you pay per developer, not per instance (which can be a big cost savings if you were building client apps that need an FO processor).

Answer 3

Daniel,

We are using the Antenna House XSL Formatter software, which is really good (fast, reliable) but also really expensive. Basically we just include there assembly in our small .NET webservice, which does all the transformation for us (input Language, Region, name of the template to be used and the XML document; Output binary stream).

Their version 5.1 supports both linux and windows 64bit:

http://www.antennahouse.com/product/ahf50/ahf5top.htm

Our experience with there deliveries and updates is that they are good quality and in time. But again, it will only make sense if you have large volumes of documents to process and are willing to invest the not-so-cheap price.

Good Luck! martijn

Answer 4

You probably need some sort of the OEM deployment scheme; you could also try the Ecrion formatter; the XSL-FO server is cheaper than Antenna, but I know nothing about their desktop version.