extending PDF::Writer

[bill walton]

I need to extend PDF::Writer to allow it to include an external XML
file into the PDF file. It looks pretty straight forward from the PDF
spec in that it will be seperate component of the file, distinct from
the PDF document itself. I've pulled down the PDF::Writer source and
am looking through it to see what I need to do on that front. I
thought I'd ask if anybody 1) has any experience with mods to
PDF::Writer or 2) has experience with extending other GEMS they'd be
willing to share to help me avoid problems.

TIA,
Bill

 

[Austin Ziegler]

I need to extend PDF::Writer to allow it to include an external XML
file into the PDF file. It looks pretty straight forward from the PDF
spec in that it will be seperate component of the file, distinct from
the PDF document itself. I've pulled down the PDF::Writer source and
am looking through it to see what I need to do on that front. I
thought I'd ask if anybody 1) has any experience with mods to
PDF::Writer or 2) has experience with extending other GEMS they'd be
willing to share to help me avoid problems.

(1) Didn't you ask me this directly a couple of weeks ago, and I asked
you what you for clarification? I don't recall seeing such
clarification, but I will admit to being many hundreds of messages
behind (I'm about 800 "conversations" behind on ruby-talk).

(2) I strongly recommend against trying to *extend* (e.g.,
monkeypatch) PDF::Writer. The internals are pretty much guaranteed to
change in 2007. If you need a new PDF "object", then you will either
need to (a) work with me or (b) monkeypatch. (b) has already been
pointed out as a bad idea.

(3) The best way to extend PDF::Writer is to make a "consumer" of PDF::Writer.

-austin