PHL Print
Design your documents, the IBM i produces them as PDFs
PHL Print is for creating documents, not just retrieving existing spool files. You lay out the invoice, label or letter in a graphical editor, your RPG program supplies the data, and the result is a PDF that you convert, print, split, merge or send by e-mail with four CL commands.
On video
PHL Print in two minutes
A demonstration with commentary by an IBM i developer, on a real application.
72 dpi
precision, with positioning to 1/10,000th of a point
4 CL commands
convert, send, split, merge
produced directly by the IBM i, with no intermediate server
Key features
What PHL Print can do
Pixel-perfect graphical layout
PHL Studio positions text, lines, rectangles, multi-line text areas and images. A printer file holds several formats, like a PRTF, with header, detail and footer.
Barcodes and HTML areas
A barcode component fed by a program field, several symbologies including a vertical one, and an HTML area whose formatting tags are converted into the PDF.
Dynamic images
Images are read from the IFS or from a URL, and the path can be built at run time from a field — a different image for each item or customer.
System elements and layout
Date, time, user, system name and page number are placed in one click. Fixed or relative vertical position, five fonts, colours and line thicknesses set at format level.
Print events
Four events — before and after write, before and after overflow — trigger a page break, a vertical repositioning or the writing of a format. You are no longer bound by the linear logic of a printer.
Splitting by index
An index set on an output field lets you split a large spool file into as many documents as there are customers or products, using the commands provided.
Distribution and merging
Send the document as an e-mail attachment, and merge several PHL Print documents and PDFs into a single file — handy for sending just one mailing per customer.
Integration with PHL Web
A user requests an invoice from a web screen and sees it displayed. Rich text fields can even be filled in by the user at run time.
Technical requirements
What your system needs
Everything your IT team needs to check before getting started.
IBM i version
V7R4 TR7 minimum
Client workstation
Nothing to install
User browsers
Chrome, Firefox, Edge
Design
PHL Studio graphical editor
Server-side processing
RPG program written by your developers
Skills
RPG and IBM i concepts
Installation
Complete kit and activation keys per solution