Reports 6i, PDF, TrueType, and UNIX (Solaris)

Hi all,

I'm trying to migrate a report which used to be generated under Win NT to Solaris. The report uses TrueType fonts (Arial as well as a special barcode font). No matter what I try, I can't get Reports 6 (or 6i) to generate the report properly, i.e. using Arial and the barcode font.

The Solaris (SunOS 5.8) font server seems to support TrueType, but I didn't manage to install the barcode font properly. So I converted it to BDF (in the required point size) using ttf2bdf based on the FreeType library, but still the report doesn't use the barcode font (although the font server correctly provides it). Instead, it is replaced by some Serif, or the barcode is left out entirely. I tried manipulating uifonts.ali in every way I could think of, but no success.

I called Oracle support, but they didn't really help me. They said it's not sufficient if the font server knows the required fonts. They pointed me to PPD, HPD, AFM, and TFM directories in .../tk60/admin/, and they said that the standard printer which is installed under the OS is relevant. Now I wonder why the standard printer has got any influence on the produced PDF, which after all should be a "Portable Document Format"? In our application, the report is generated on a server, and printed on one of some hundred attached clients with various printers! Besides, how can I obtain HP-specific TFM files from the TTF barcode font?

I'd be very grateful for any hint.

Stefan Rave Received on Wed Jun 27 2001 - 17:23:20 CEST