Print button from eForm that has Tab Group

pettitk
pettitk Member
edited December 8, 2012 in Documentum #1

We have a requirement to use Tab Groups and Tab controls in an eForm. The user serves up the eForm in Taskspace, in a folder view. The eForm is fairly complex, with a number of Tabs.

If I put the Print button on a simple eForm w no Tab Group/Tabs, then it seems to reformat ok and allows me to print. There is a requirement that the user shall be allowed to print in a user friendly manner an eForm. I can understand how the print engine doesn't know how to deal w the tab group in the presentation layer. That makes sense. (i would really expect clear documentation on the fact the Print button doesn't work well with Tab Groups - oh well). Anyway, now I have to come up w a workaround. I thought i would throw it out to everyone to help me brainstorm. we fully understand we need to have 2 presentations. 1 with tabs where the user interacts and 1 without tabs for printing. How to get to the latter is what I am not sure of yet.

thinking of:

1. Custom button, which copies the eform (its based upon a doc type, and so has all the data in it, and its XML), and somehow renders it to a another stylesheet to re-present the data in a printer friendly manner. Maybe keep the printed copy as a rendition, and just update it each time they select print. THen they could open the rendition and print.

2. Custom button which pretty much sends the eForm to an out-of-body popup, somehow using JSP/XSL/XML etc and sends  the XML eForm in raw format to reformatting to a presentable GUI output in html, where they could then print.

any other ideas or snippets would be appreciated...

Thanks in advance

KP

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Comments

  • DCTM_Guru
    DCTM_Guru Member
    edited December 8, 2012 #2

    Does your eForm include tables?  If not, have you thought about using high-fidelity forms?  They are designed to be "printable".

  • pettitk
    pettitk Member
    edited December 8, 2012 #3

    Yes, has tables… and using the OOTB Print button which is there for eForms. However, when you add in a Tab Group, it doesn’t work. Without a Tab Group it works. Hi Fi forms don’t have Tab Groups… This client insist on Tab Groups, unfortunately for the read/write display. For the print rendition, they fully understand Tabs don’t make sense. We already tried to negotiate out the usage of Tabs so the printing would work ok OOTB.. No Go man. Government client w a very large/complex eForm (10 tabs –which we also tried to negotiate out)… -KP

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