Generating .pdf files from .txt files for all CPs

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   Hello all!I first asked this question at adobe's forum two weeks ago but no answer. 
My
 problem in one sentence: how to generate .pdf files with Windows batch 
(.bat) (or any other programming language) with support for CP1250 (and 
others).
Some background:
Over at dostips.com forum (dedicated to Windows batch scripts (.bat)) I asked a question (https://www.dostips.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=8289) if anybody had already generated .pdf files from .txt files with Windows batch (.bat).
One expert found very old program (together with C source) made by Phil Smith (written in 1996) http://www.eprg.org/pdfcorner/text2pdf/. According to the author it supports only 7-bit characters. Looks like it can support 8-bit characters if 
/Encoding /WinAnsiEncoding
is
 added. According to the PDF reference CP1252 is supported with 
/WinAnsiEncoding (this was only tested with one 8-bit character (umlaut 
character Ü) and it seems to be OK.
This
 dostips.com expert (Steffen) managed to 'port' it to batch. Looks like 
it can only support CP1252. I would like to have a support for CP1250 
(or maybe other Code Pages, too). Only single byte characters are used 
(0x00 - 0xff).
CP1252 is lacking 'ccaron' character for example (čČ). ŠŽ are supported.
We tried to embed 'Lucida Console' font without success.
I
 don't want to use print to .pdf or something. When I generate a 
'report' with my .bat  (result is a classic .txt file) I want to be able
 to generate .pdf file from it.
And here are my questions:
1.
 why are there some 'binary' bytes after the '%PDF-version'? Usually 
start with % (for a comment) and some additional bytes (0xe2e3cfd3))? 
What is their purpose? (this has nothing to do with this C source or 
.bat port (they don't have it) - just noticed this when some .pdf files 
were generated with Word or other software)
2.
 how can 'lucida console' (or Courier new or any other monospaced fonts 
that are allowed to be embedded) be embedded in full? This would be the 
easiest way and not to make selections which characters are used in a 
document. What objects would be required in a .pdf file to have this 
supported? Of course I prefer /AsciiHexDecode (or maybe /Ascii85Decode) 
because it is easier to write these characters with .bat.
3. What else is also required if 2.) (font is embedded) in a .pdf file to make it 'legal'?
Thank you for any info.
Saso

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miskox Members Profile Find Members Posts New Member Joined: 10 Jan 2018 Points: 2	Post Options Post Reply Quote miskox Report Post Quote Reply Topic: Generating .pdf files from .txt files for all CPs Posted: 10 Jan 2018 at 7:57am
	Hello all! I first asked this question at adobe's forum two weeks ago but no answer. My problem in one sentence: how to generate .pdf files with Windows batch (.bat) (or any other programming language) with support for CP1250 (and others). Some background: Over at dostips.com forum (dedicated to Windows batch scripts (.bat)) I asked a question (https://www.dostips.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=8289) if anybody had already generated .pdf files from .txt files with Windows batch (.bat). One expert found very old program (together with C source) made by Phil Smith (written in 1996) http://www.eprg.org/pdfcorner/text2pdf/. According to the author it supports only 7-bit characters. Looks like it can support 8-bit characters if /Encoding /WinAnsiEncoding is added. According to the PDF reference CP1252 is supported with /WinAnsiEncoding (this was only tested with one 8-bit character (umlaut character Ü) and it seems to be OK. This dostips.com expert (Steffen) managed to 'port' it to batch. Looks like it can only support CP1252. I would like to have a support for CP1250 (or maybe other Code Pages, too). Only single byte characters are used (0x00 - 0xff). CP1252 is lacking 'ccaron' character for example (čČ). ŠŽ are supported. We tried to embed 'Lucida Console' font without success. I don't want to use print to .pdf or something. When I generate a 'report' with my .bat (result is a classic .txt file) I want to be able to generate .pdf file from it. And here are my questions: 1. why are there some 'binary' bytes after the '%PDF-version'? Usually start with % (for a comment) and some additional bytes (0xe2e3cfd3))? What is their purpose? (this has nothing to do with this C source or .bat port (they don't have it) - just noticed this when some .pdf files were generated with Word or other software) 2. how can 'lucida console' (or Courier new or any other monospaced fonts that are allowed to be embedded) be embedded in full? This would be the easiest way and not to make selections which characters are used in a document. What objects would be required in a .pdf file to have this supported? Of course I prefer /AsciiHexDecode (or maybe /Ascii85Decode) because it is easier to write these characters with .bat. 3. What else is also required if 2.) (font is embedded) in a .pdf file to make it 'legal'? Thank you for any info. Saso

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karyncorrigan Members Profile Find Members Posts Moderator Group Joined: 25 Oct 2017 Points: 7	Post Options Post Reply Quote karyncorrigan Report Post Quote Reply Posted: 29 Jan 2018 at 2:13pm
	Hi Saso, This a very technical question as fonts can be quite difficult to get right with PDF. It would be better to use a proper PDF library. You should refer to the PDF specification that all PDF software is developed on: http://wwwimages.adobe.com/content/dam/acom/en/devnet/pdf/PDF32000_2008.pdf Some quick answers: 0. Changing to CP1250 could be done using /WinAnsiEncoding in conjunction with a /Differences array (see section 9.6.6.1 in the spec) 1. The binary characters are not necessary, they are recommended. They help IT systems know this is a binary file (see section 7.5.2 in the spec) 2. Using TrueType fonts is possible but it will be very difficult because a lot of information must be read from the .ttf font file and placed into the PDF by the batch file. 3. The PDF specification has all the information but it is very technical (sections 9.1-9.5 and 9.6.3) I would recommend to create PDFs using established products in the marketplace; there are many of them. Generating a PDF using a free script might produce a working PDF in certain cases but the file will not be guaranteed to work with other PDF systems and could cause unforeseen problems. Thanks, Karyn Content Marketing Foxit Software

miskox Members Profile Find Members Posts New Member Joined: 10 Jan 2018 Points: 2	Post Options Post Reply Quote miskox Report Post Quote Reply Posted: 30 Jan 2018 at 7:01am
	Hello! Thank you very much for your answer. I will take a look and see what can be done. If I made any progress I will post my findings here. Saso