comp.lang.ruby

Austin Ziegler

12/19/2006 3:33:00 AM

On 12/18/06, bill walton <bill.walton@charter.net> wrote:
> 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
--
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