Categories
ASP.NET Programming

iTextSharp

I was looking for a shortcut to avoid having to rebuild an entire document again that is currently being displayed in an ASP.net Panel  and instead just export it to PDF. This lead me to iTextSharp library which is used in Java, .NET, and Android.

First problem is that there is zero documentation for this library. Free tool but apparently they want to sell a book about it.

The concept was relatively simple to parse the panel as html and then write to the PDF, but it just starts to choke quickly. Using a grid inside the panel requires an override of the VerifyRenderingInServerForm function to avoid an exception.

Using my test environment it breaks on path access issues to images in the panel.

Then you have to remove all of the css styles that control fonts – larger, smaller, etc. You have to specify the exact point size for the parser to handle it.

Then when you see the final result it is just horribly manged by the formatting it does to the document.

This might be a decent tool in other circumstances, but today it is just not worth the effort to figure out what they want to get it to work properly without any proper documentation.

 

 

 

Categories
Gaming

Rain

A small indie game from Playstation Plus free games.

Very artistic with some gorgeous environments and fun gameplay. Feels like a cross between Ico and Never Alone in description, but gameplay never felt like the level changes dragged it down. It found the right balance to avoid being stale in the levels, but still fresh as they moved to the next.

A few fun surprises and highly recommended.

Completed: July 19th, 2015

 

Categories
Gaming

Strider

This game was sitting on my playstation since I downloaded it as a free PlayStation Plus game. Finally put some time into it and it was a fun adventure. Very much like the metroid of old or the more recent Shadow Complex.

I cannot claim to be good at this game, but it was a fun day to play it through even on easy.

Memories came back as a child I was playing with friends trying to find the mysterious double jump, or was it triple jump to progress in the game.

Completed: July 18th, 2015

Categories
Gaming

Never Alone

A short and sweet adventure of a lost girl in the blizzard and her new companion. Delves into the story of Alaska Native Storytellers, their culture, and their lore. Plenty of vignettes and cultural points.

The first half was more fun to me then the second, but this was for story reasons.

Reminiscent of Two Brothers and Limbo at times.

Completed: July 17th, 2015