Yes it is popular, please don’t remove the ability to attach documents, specifically Customer documents.
Other software I use utilises this pdf render engine Ghostscript which works well. To comply with the licensing requirement, users install the software them selves. The software then checks the dll has been installed or prompts to locate it.
I think building version management of Documents into Manager to record the state of a document every time a link is sent is unnecessary since this is already supported by attaching the PDF to an email which can be viewed under Emails. The link in my mind should be the same live view as the Customer portal and the attachment would be the version of the document at the time the email was sent.
For the Server version I would prefer the current simplicity of a single install and not be dependant on version changes / compatibility of external software.
@lubos I don’t know how you will implement this but I hope you take into consideration the following two things:
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Document headers. Almost all browsers and other PDF printers will print exactly 1header row of the table also they don’t support nested tables. This will mess up the invoice format.
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Page counters. When printing using browsers or PDF printers, there’s no way to show page counters without showing the URL, which isn’t suited for Preprinted letterheads. Even worse, when batch printing, all of the invoices will share the same page sequence which isn’t a desirable result.
I mean without these two if a batch printed invoices got mingled there’s no way to tell which page belongs to which invoice.
Also, in case solving these two things requires changes to the theme structure, please give us a heads up in advance so we don’t get into panic mode when things stop working.
These “benefits” seem of little value. Knowing a recipient has viewed a document does not mean they have absorbed it, kept it, or will act upon it. It only means they clicked something on a screen. Modified documents should be replaced and resent, not edited with the expectation or hope the recipient will revisit and see the change. Recalling is a forlorn hope unless the recipient shares the same email server. Even then, you have no guarantee they have not saved, printed, or forwarded the email already.
Relying on links seems like a very bad idea.
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Agree
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I use pdf copies of documents I send externally precisely because they are NOT changed by changes to my business data file or Manager program version number.
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A dynamic copy of a document I have sent out would be an extremely bad thing in my opinion.
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Also… an invoice in many jurisdictions cannot be changed once issued. And you cannot send an editable format. That’s why they should be sent in pdf.
PDF files are editable.
Pdf files can be counterfeit but it is a completely different film…
That is why it makes sense to have a secure link to the customer portal (in addition to the PDF) where the customer can verify the PDF attachment if he/she is in any doubt.
Every state has its laws. We are moving towards the e-invoices almost everywhere in order to avoid fraud and counterfeiting. Since I was able to create a link from Manager API to the tax authority portal with n8n I don’t need these kind of solutions. I’m simply stating that:
- what you send should be crystallized and a mail with an attached pdf works in this direction;
- in many case you cannot (or don’t wanto to) give access to this “folder”, ie to the URL where your server run;
- I foresee a procession of clients and suppliers that will not accept to open the link to have the invoices;
- we are not talking only about invoices but every kind of report.
So the portal idea is not a solution and pdf rendering should remain inside Manager, also given the fact that every accounting program that I know has this option.
PS: @lubos, what really scares me is that it was only from a chance bug report about a different issue that this project of change, that would have put many companies in crisis, emerged.
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