Specifications

Evaluating Document Formats
The most important decision we need to make is what format to deliver the certificate in.
Options include paper, ASCII text, HTML, Microsoft Word, or another word processor’s for-
mat, Rich Text Format, PostScript, and Portable Document Format. Given the ten attributes
listed previously, we can consider and compare some of our options.
Paper
Delivering the certificate on paper has some obvious advantages. We retain complete control
over the process. We can see exactly what each certificate output looks like before sending it to
the recipient. We do not need to worry about software or bandwidth, and the certificate could
be printed with anti-counterfeiting measures.
It would meet all of our needs except for attributes 5 and 6. The certificate could not be created
and delivered quickly. Postal delivery could take days or weeks depending on our and the
recipient’s location.
Each certificate would also cost us a few cents to a few dollars in printing and postage costs
and probably more in handling. Automatic electronic delivery would be cheaper.
ASCII
Delivering documents as ASCII or plain text comes with some advantages. Compatibility will
be no problem. Bandwidth required would be small, so cost would be very low. The simplicity
of the end result will make it very easy to design and very quick for a script to generate.
If we present our visitors with an ASCII file, however, we have very little control over the
appearance of their certificate. We cannot control fonts or page breaks. We can only include
text and have very little control over formatting. We have no control over a recipient’s duplica-
tion or modification of the document. This is the method that makes it easiest for the recipient
to fraudulently alter her certificate.
HTML
An obvious choice for delivering a document on the Web is HTML. Hypertext Markup
Language is specifically designed for this purpose. As you are no doubt already aware, it
includes formatting control, syntax to include objects such as images, and is compatible (with
some variation) with a variety of operating systems and software. It is fairly simple, so it will
be both easy to design and quick for a script to generate and deliver.
Drawbacks to using HTML for this application include: limited support for print related
formatting such as page breaks; little consistency in the output on different platforms and
Generating Personalized Documents in Portable Document Format (PDF)
C
HAPTER 30
30
GENERATING
PERSONALIZED
DOCUMENTS IN
PDF
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