XFRX - Visual Foxpro report convertor

• Convert reports output to various output formats (Currently supported output formats are: PDF, DOC, RTF, XLS, HTML, MHT, ZIP, TXT, XML, XFF (DBF), BMP, PNG, JPEG, GIF and multipage TIFF). The DOC and RTF formats can be generated in absolute or flow output layout, which allows you to choose the best layout option depending on the actual report.
• Store generated reports in an internal input-output file format with an option to modify the generated content – add graphics, shapes, new pages, generate custom graphics objects (e.g. graphs, watermarks) and many more. The internal file format can be converted to any of the output formats without need to reprocess the report.
• You can alternatively bypass the reporting engine altogether and create any of the output formats supported by XFRX from scratch – directly from your Visual FoxPro code.
• Preview reports in an advanced localizable report previewing tool with hyperlink, drilldown and search capabilities. The previewer is either working as a standalone form or can be easily embedded into your forms:
  
  

XFRX is available for Visual FoxPro 5.0, 6.0, 7.0, 8.0 and 9.0. It contains its own report engine which is used in VFP 8.0 and earlier. In VFP 9.0, XFRX plugs into the new reporting architecture of the native report engine.
The individual output formats as well as the differences between XFRX for VFP 5.0, 6.0, 7.0 and 8.0 and XFRX for VFP 9.0 are described in detail in the Developer's Guide, which can be downloaded from the Documentation page.

To generate DOC and XLS documents, Word and Excel applications are required to be installed, other output formats (including PDF and RTF) do not require other third-party software.

Why choose XFRX

• Verified solution. The first version of XFRX was released in July 2001. Since then, XFRX has become popular among VFP developers and now it’s running on tens of thousands of computers every day.
• Satisfied users. Our customers express satisfaction both with the product and the support. Please have a look at our testimonial page where we collect some of the feedback we receive.
• Frequent releases. New versions of XFRX are released approximately every 2 months. However, if our customers come across a bug, we very often release a special build for them so they received the fix as soon as possible.
• Constant development. The new versions not only contain bug fixes, but also significant feature additions. We’ve recently added the TXT option, Flow layout Word option and many new features are currently under development.
• Free upgrade to VFP 9. The new version of Visual FoxPro brings significant improvements to the report engine. It introduces an open architecture allowing XFRX to plug into the native report engine and provide faster and better output. XFRX for VFP 9 is, however, not sold as a separate product – all XFRX customers with an active subscription receive the VFP 9 option as a free upgrade.
• Free upgrades. After purchasing XFRX, our customers receive all new XFRX versions released within one year from the purchase date.
• Stonefield chooses XFRX. The award winning report writer Stonefield Query implements XFRX to generate PDF, DOC, HTML and other output formats.
• West Wind recommends XFRX. Rick Strahl has added support for XFRX to Web Connection - an award winning web development tool.

The basic architecture is described in the schema on the right-hand side.

• FoxPro report – The FoxPro report definition, stored in .FRX, .FRT files
• Report engine – The reporting engine that processes the report definition. XFRX for VFP 8.0 and earlier contains its own report engine. In VFP 9.0, XFRX plugs into the new reporting architecture and the native report engine is used.
• Scripts – Methods or code snippets written in VFP. The scripts call methods of XFRX#DRAW class to “draw” to the generated document.
  • Custom object scripts – scripts linked to a rectangle object on a report. When the rectangle is being processed, the script is invoked instead of rendering the actual rectangle. The custom object scripts can alternatively be converted to pictures. When these scripts are processed, the controlling table of the report is available, so these scripts are ideal for generating graphs or other data based graphics objects.
  • Page bound scripts – scripts invoked on each page, drawing either “above” of “below” the page content. These scripts are suited for watermarks.
  • Custom scripts – you can modify the generated reports, too. You can add text, graphics, new pages, hyperlinks, bookmarks, etc. You can even create new documents from scratch, bypassing the report engine altogether.
• XFF File – an internal file that stores the generated reports. These files can be modified, stored to disk, previewed on screen, printed or converted to any of the target formats. You can find more information about XFF files in Using XFF files chapter on page 36.
• XFRX#DRAW class – the class that wraps XFF files.
• XFRX previewer – The XFF files can be previewed in an advanced report previewer that comes with XFRX. The previewer can be localized and allows for search the document and supports hyperlinks and bookmarks.
• Printer – XFRX is also able to print the XFF files.

The free evaluation version is for personal use only. If you'd like to distribute XFRX with your applications, you need to order a commercial license. The commercial license is royalty free - you can distribute it with your applications to end-users (please see license section for more details). Also, your purchase entitles you to receive all new versions of XFRX for free within one year from the purchase date.

Your feedback is very important for us. Please let us know if you like it or not, what features you miss, etc. Let us also know, if you'd like to be informed about new versions.