Overview

Antenna House Formatter V7.4 is a PDF publishing software that formats XSL Formatting Objects (XSL-FO), XML/HTML with CSS. (XSL-FO and CSS cannot be used together). It is compatible with XSL 1.1 (Extensible Stylesheet Language (XSL) Version 1.1), that is an XSL-FO specification for displaying and printing XML documents beautifully. It also supports the page formatting with the layout specified by CSS (Cascading Style Sheets Level 2) and formatting with the layout specified by the page media specifications defined in CSS3 (Cascading Style Sheets Level 3) that are being formulated by W3C. This makes it possible to use HTML/XML with CSS to output various documents, forms, high-quality page formatting such as books, and page media such as printing and PDF.

The following six products are prepared according to the formatting capability of Antenna House Formatter V7.4

• Antenna House Formatter V7.4

  XSL-FO formatting, HTML formatting using CSS are available. As long as there is no notice especially in this document, when it is called Antenna House Formatter V7.4, it is a generic term of six types of all products in many cases, but it may point an individual product guessing from the context.

• Antenna House XSL Formatter V7.4

  XSL-FO formatting is available. HTML formatting using CSS is not available.

• Antenna House CSS Formatter V7.4

  HTML formatting using CSS is available. XSL-FO formatting is not available.

• Antenna House Formatter V7.4 Lite

  This is a function limited version of Antenna House Formatter V7.4. See About Antenna House Formatter V7.4 Lite. As long as there is no notice especially in this document, when it is called Antenna House Formatter V7.4 Lite, it is a generic term including Antenna House XSL Formatter V7.4 Lite and Antenna House CSS Formatter V7.4 Lite.

• Antenna House XSL Formatter V7.4 Lite

  This is a function limited version of Antenna House XSL Formatter V7.4. See About Antenna House Formatter V7.4 Lite.

• Antenna House CSS Formatter V7.4 Lite

  This is a function limited version of Antenna House CSS Formatter V7.4. See About Antenna House Formatter V7.4 Lite.

Antenna House Formatter V7.4 provides the following features:

• Compliant with XSL 1.1

  Compliant with XSL 1.1 (Extensible Stylesheet Language (XSL) Version 1.1), which is an XSL-FO specification. Antenna House Formatter V7.4 faithfully implements quite almost elements of the XSL specification and properties. See “XSL-FO Conformance”.

• Compliant with CSS

  Antenna House Formatter V7.4 supports CSS 2.1 and CSS3, some of CSS4. Page models of CSS3 is also supported, now that high-quality page formatting will be available. For details about the conformance, see “CSS Conformance”. HTML/XHTML formatting is also available except for frames, etc., in HTML. See “Formatting HTML”.

• Passes Acid2

  Antenna House Formatter V7.4 has passed the Acid2 test published by “The Web Standard Project (WaSP)” that measures the conforming level to CSS.

• Format virtually any size document

  Antenna House Formatter V7.4 can now format a document of virtually any size whether it is a publication, tens of thousands of invoices, reports, technical manuals, or personalized one to one documents. See “Formatting Large Document”.

• High speed formatting

  Antenna House Formatter V7.4 processes the formatting at high speed, and generates PDF. It is the best suited for applying to the Web application such as the PDF delivery on Web etc.

• Multilingual language

  Antenna House Formatter V7.4 supports over 80 different languages, almost any language that is supported by Unicode and also supports surrogate pairs. It offers the abilities to write in vertical mode, to run the text from right to left as in Arabic and Hebrew and also to create multilingual documents with language mixtures on the same page and even on the same line. It also offers the hyphenation processing, and the adjustment of white space before and behind the punctuation which differs according to the language and defining a custom counter style, etc. Moreover, Antenna House Formatter V7.4 makes it possible to hyphenate more than 40 languages.

• Outputs to the various file format

  PDF Output can be done for an unlimited number of users on a server by utilizing the Antenna House developed PDF direct creation engine. The license of Acrobat is unnecessary. PostScript^® Output, XPS Output and SVG Output are also available by purchasing each option. If you subscribe, Word(docx) Output is available.

• Supports PDF/X and PDF/A

  Antenna House Formatter V7.4 supports PDF/X. PDF/X is a specification that places much value on exchanging data and defined by ISO for printing purpose. PDF/A is also supported. PDF/A is a format for long-term preservation of an electronic document and it is also defined by ISO.

• Accessible PDF

  Antenna House Formatter V7.4 can generate Tagged PDF and PDF/UA for enhancing the accessibility of the PDF to people with disabilities. Generating Tagged PDF or PDF/UA is required for complying with Section 508, the law of the United States that became enforceable on June 21, 2001.

• Direct Printer output

  Windows versions also support the ability to send the converted results directly to any Windows-based printer without the need to first create a PDF document. It's also possible to get the formatted result and print it immediately by using Graphical User Interface.

• Native rendering of vector Graphics

  With Antenna House Formatter V7.4 SVG, MathML, EMF, WMF and CGM image is rendered into PDF as vector thus retaining the quality of output images. Antenna House Formatter CGM Option is required for rendering CGM graphic.

• Supports the embedding of PDF into PDF

  An arbitrary page of other PDF can be embedded into PDF. It is possible to convert EPS into PDF and embed into PDF using this function. In the environment where Adobe Distiller and Ghostscript are installed, it can be performed automatically.

• Barcode Embedding

  Barcodes can be embedded in the document as images by using Antenna House Formatter Barcode Generator Option.

• Supports PANTONE^® color

  The color name of PANTONE^® can be directly specified by using Antenna House Formatter PANTONE^® Option.

• Wide array of Integration Interface

  As integration interface Antenna House Formatter V7.4 provides Command-line Interface, .NET Interface, COM Interface, Java Interface and C/C++ Interface. (COM interfaces are available only for Windows.) All interfaces support streaming input/output which makes for the easy system integration. Also the output of the native parser of .NET (XML and XSLT output) can be directly received without going through a file. It is possible to receive DOM directly and process it with not only .NET interface but also COM interface.

• Flexible float features

  By implementing the advanced float features, it's now available to arrange the float content in an arbitrary place of the page, or in multi-column layout with column spanning of the float. See also Float Extension.

Antenna House Formatter V7.4 formats XSL Formatting Objects (XSL-FO), XML with XSL stylesheet, or HTML with CSS. The formatted result will be displayed in GUI and outputted or printed to PDF. (Display and printing are available only with Windows versions.) The work flow is as shown below.

• When an (X)HTML document is inputted, Antenna House Formatter V7.4 formats it immediately using a default HTML stylesheet.
• When an XML document or an (X)HTML document with a CSS are inputted, Antenna House Formatter V7.4 formats it immediately.
• When an XSL Formatting Object is inputted, Antenna House Formatter V7.4 formats it immediately.
• When an XML document and an XSL stylesheet are inputted, Antenna House Formatter V7.4 transforms them to XSL Formatting Object using XSLT Processor and formats the XSL Formatting Object or XHTML.

Find a list of implemented XSL-FO and CSS properties in “XSL/CSS Properties”.

The main features and enhancements added in Antenna House Formatter V7.4 are:

• Support for CSS Grid. ☞ CSS (-ah-)display no-LT
• Support for CSS Flexible Box ☞ CSS (-ah-)display no-LT
• Now able to render without waiting for page number resolution in CSS. ☞ CSS -ah-fixed-width-pending-page-number no-LT
• Extended the feature of CSS ::before / ::after. ☞ CSS ::before / ::after no-LT
• Now able to specify CSS pseudo-classes :is(), :where(), and :has(). Some pseudo-classes have been made to correspond to CSS4. ☞ Pseudo Classes
• Now able to output CSS Debug Tree. no-LT
• Now able to convert the data specified in src in fo:external-graphic to PDF using Office Server Document Converter. ☞ axf:image-preproc / CSS -ah-image-preproc no-LT
• Now able to specify how to perform the line breaking in a URL. ☞ axf:url-break / CSS -ah-url-break no-LT
• Now able to specify whether to place a hyphen also at the start of the line when breaking lines at a hyphen. ☞ axf:double-hyphen-translineation / CSS -ah-double-hyphen-translineation
• Now able to specify the alignment of a float on the start side of the dropped initial. ☞ axf:initial-letters-start-intrusion / CSS -ah-initial-letters-start-intrusion no-LT
• Extended the feature of axf:border-radius.
• Now able to specify whether printer marks are drawn over the page content. ☞ axf:printer-marks-over-content / CSS -ah-printer-marks-over-content no-LT
• Now able to specify the data: scheme for axf:annotation-file-attachment / CSS -ah-annotation-file-attachment. no-LT
• Now able to specify whether black is always converted to K100 when color-conversion="all-cmyk". ☞ color-conversion-k100
• Now able to specify the resolution of the image when setting the blurring in box-shadow. ☞ boxshadow-resolution-dpi no-LT
• Now able to specify whether to create the directory when images are copied to the directory specified by copy-image-path and processed, if the destination directory of the specified image copy does not exist. ☞ create-copy-image-path, -svgcicp
• Now able to specify whether to output deprecated annotations in PDF2.0. ☞ allow-deprecated-annotation
• Now able to specify whether to embed PDF1.X in PDF2.0. ☞ allow-embedding-lower-versions
• Now able to specify XML Catalog files. ☞ xml-catalog no-LT
• Now able to specify whether to scan the Windows system font directory by registry or by physical directory. ☞ winfonts-registry
• Now able to reset the layer display in GUI. ☞ Layer Submenu no-LT
• Now able to specify whether text should always be displayed with glyph lines when drawing MathML in the GUI. ☞ Display Glyph on MathML
• Extended the available units. ☞ fr no-LT
• Now able to process files with long paths in Windows versions. ☞ System Requirements
• Now able to specify the display magnification of the bar width for Linear Barcodes.

• Windows x86 version can be installed on Windows (64-bit version). When you use each interface, note the following points:
  • .NET Interface : For .NET Framework, specify /platform:x86. For .NET, install the 32-bit version of .NET Runtime and set PlatformTarget to x86 in your project file.
  • COM Interface : Use WSH (C:\Windows\SysWOW64\cscript.exe) 32-bit version.
  • Java Interface : Use JDK 32-bit version.
  • C/C++ Interface : Compile to be run on Win32 platform.
• Both Windows x86 version and Windows x64 version cannot be installed on the same Windows (64-bit version).
• Hereinafter unless otherwise explicitly mentioned, the phrase “Windows versions” indicates both Windows x86 version and Windows x64 version.
• Hereinafter unless otherwise explicitly mentioned, the phrase “Linux versions” indicates both Linux version and Amazon Linux 2 Graviton2 version.
• Hereinafter unless otherwise explicitly mentioned, the phrase “Macintosh versions” indicates both Macintosh version and Macintosh M1 version.
• See “Fonts” for supported fonts. In addition, fonts are not included in Windows versions.
• Core 14 Fonts supplied with non-Windows versions have the metrics information file only. They do not have the file of the outline information. If you want to embed these fonts to PDF or PS files, prepare whole fonts by yourself.
• Confirm the necessary environment variables at “Environment Variables” in this manual.
• Confirm the installed modules at “Installed Modules” in this manual.
• When you change the directory of the modules from the installation status in Macintosh versions, see Note when changing the location of Macintosh modules.
• Use case-insensitive OSX Extended format for Macintosh versions.
• The printing function on Windows versions depends on Windows-based printer drivers.
• In Windows versions, the run time library of Microsoft Visual C++ 2015 is required. This run time library is installed when you have the product installed on your system. It is also possible to download it from the following site when you need the library package separately.
  • Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable packages
• In Windows versions, files with long paths can be handled on Windows 10 version 1607 or later. However, you cannot set long paths in the environment variables TMP or TEMP. In addition, your PDF viewer may not support long paths. For information on maximum path length limitation and how to enable long paths, see the following site: V7.4
  • Maximum Path Length Limitation
• When running Antenna House Formatter V7.4 on the virtual environment (VMware or Hyper-V, etc.), operation is guaranteed only when the same operation is guaranteed as the actual running environment.

For more details, see also Antenna House Website.

Antenna House Formatter V7.4 supports languages expressed with the following scripts among the scripts specified by ISO 15924.

• Latn : Latin
• Grek : Greek
• Cyrl : Cyrillic
• Armn : Armenian no-LT
• Geor : Georgian no-LT
• Ethi : Ethiopic no-LT
• Arab : Arabic
• Syrc : Syriac no-LT
• Hebr : Hebrew
• Deva : Devanagari
• Beng : Bengali no-LT
• Guru : Gurmukhi no-LT
• Gujr : Gujarati no-LT
• Orya : Oriya no-LT
• Taml : Tamil no-LT
• Telu : Telugu no-LT
• Knda : Kannada no-LT
• Mlym : Malayalam no-LT
• Sinh : Sinhala no-LT
• Thai : Thai
• Khmr : Khmer no-LT
• Laoo : Lao no-LT
• Mymr : Myanmar no-LT
• Kana : Katakana
• Hira : Hiragana
• Hang : Hangul
• Hani : Han (Kanji)
• Hans : Han (Chinese Simplified)
• Hant : Han (Chinese Traditional)
• Jpan : Japanese (Hani+Hira+Kana)

Depending on the language, it's possible to hyphenate the Latin script, the Greek script and the Cyrillic script. Even if the hyphenation is no in this table, the hyphenation is available by preparing the TeX Dictionary.

Many of the language codes that are defined by ISO 639-2 (T) or ISO 639-3 can be specified. The main codes are as follows:

The codes in parentheses are defined by ISO 639-3. The corresponding scripts show the major example.

Antenna House Formatter V7.4 supports the following HTML, CSS or FO Encodings. These are registered in CHARACTER SETS of IANA. However, the list includes some encodings that are not registered there. (Windows-31J is considered Shift_JIS.)

The encoding of the XML document and XSL stylesheet depends on the XSLT Processor you use when the XML document and XSL stylesheet are converted into XSL-FO by using the XSLT Processor.

Antenna House Formatter V7.4 uses an XSLT Processor for converting XML documents and XSL stylesheets into XSL Formatting Objects (XSL-FO) or XHTML. In Windows versions, the higher version available from MSXML6 to MSXML3 is used as the standard XSLT Processor. Windows users have the option to use a different XSLT Processor if desired. Non-Windows versions users set their desired XSLT Processor through the “Environment Variables” or “Option Setting File”. For Windows MSXML is already installed.

Antenna House Formatter V7.4 Lite is a popular version of Antenna House Formatter V7.4, it limits some of the professional functions of V7.4 (hereafter Standard) and is a lower-cost alternative to V7.4 Standard. V7.4 Lite is suitable for customers who don't need advanced handling of PDF, formatting of a great deal of pages, etc. But it's still full of many other attractive functions.The main features that are restricted are:

• Total page number of the formatted pages are limited to 300 per 1 document. The watermark that shows the limited version is displayed and the URL of our Website is displayed at the bottom of the pages which exceed 300.
• Some Scripts and Languages are not supported.
• Some Fonts are not supported.
• Some of the versions of PDF that can be output are not supported.☞ PDF Output
• Tagged PDF output is not supported.
• Linearized PDF output is not supported.
• Additionally some PDF Output features are not supported.
• Some PDF features such as Acroform and Annotation are not supported.
• Spread Page Master Extension is not supported.
• Automated Analysis of formatting results is not supported.
• 2-pass formatting is not supported. ☞ Formatting Large Document
• Some XSL/CSS Extensions are not supported.
• Rendering MathML is not supported. To use MathML, you need to purchase "Antenna House Formatter MathML Option".
• Saving and loading the AreaTree is not supported. ☞ Save AreaTree Dialog
• Word(docx) Output is not supported.
• TEXT Output is not supported.
• Some features of Graphical User Interface are not supported.
• Some features of Command-line Interface are not supported.
• Some features of Option Setting File are not supported.
• Some Environment Variables are not supported.

FYI: no-LT sign is applied to the restricted items or described as restriction in this Manual.

Antenna House Formatter V7.4 Evaluation version has the following restrictions as compared to the product version.

• The URL of Antenna House website is shown at the bottom of all pages.
• The watermark image, “Evaluation Version”, is placed on each page.
• The weight of the font and the color of the image may look a little different because of the watermark. This is caused by an issue with Adobe Acrobat or Reader. In addition, the printing speed decreases because of the watermark.
• PDF1.3 cannot be output with the evaluation version.
• Impossible to input/output the AreaTree.
• The function of PostScript^® Output is effective. PostScript Output has the following restrictions.
  • Only the first page can be outputted.
  This function with the product version is provided as an option. In order to use this function with the product version, customers must purchase Antenna House Formatter PostScript^® Output Option separately.
• The function of SVG Output is effective. SVG Output has the following restrictions.
  • Only the first page can be outputted.
  The SVG Output function in the product version is provided as an option. In order to use this function in the product version, customers must purchase Antenna House Formatter SVG Output Option separately.
• The function of XPS Output is effective. XPS Output has the following restrictions.
  • Only the first page will be outputted.
  The XPS Output function in the product version is provided as an option. In order to use this function in the product version, customers must purchase Antenna House Formatter XPS Output Option separately.
• The feature of Word(docx) Output is effective. Word(docx) Output has the following restrictions.
  • Only the first page will be outputted.
  The Word(docx) Output feature in the product version is provided as an option. In order to use this feature in the product version, customers must subscribe Antenna House Formatter Word(docx) Output Option separately.
• The feature of CGM rendering by utilizing our direct creation module is effective. This feature in the product version is provided as an option. In order to use this feature with the product version, customers must purchase Antenna House Formatter CGM Option separately.
• Barcode Generator Option is effective. However, it may not be able to read correctly because the watermark is drawn. In order to use this feature with the product version, customers must purchase Antenna House Formatter Barcode Generator Option separately.
• The evaluation copy expires after 90 days.
• Use of the evaluation version for live production or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited.
• Removal of the watermark and/or our website URL at the bottom of the page in the evaluation version is prohibited.

There are no restrictions on formatting functions except for the above mentioned. However, the optional features that are not explicitly stated above are invalid.

For further information about Antenna House Formatter V7.4, see our website.

• Antenna House Formatter

Antenna House provides numerous XSL-FO and CSS samples for testing and learning purpose. See the following:

• Developing XSL-FO Stylesheets
• XSL-FO Samples
• Antenna House Tips & Tricks
• Introduction to CSS for Paged Media