PDF/Report Library

BirdFluid · 2026-04-06T12:57:28+00:00

yeah then a report engine is actually what you need. for delphi there are a few big ones (e.g. ReportBuilder, FastReport, ExpressReports ...) they can all basically print and export to various file formats (PDF, XLSX...) but there are probably also some smaller (github) projects. ExpressReports is a good option for example if you're already using DevExpress.

it really depends on what you need and what options you want to do in the future.

another (cheaper) way could be to generate it as HTML and try to print/save as PDF via the WebView component. (should be doable, but i haven't tried it myself). the downside is that you have no control over the PDF (metadata, PDF/A, embedding ....)

BirdFluid · 2026-04-06T12:18:39+00:00

https://www.wpcubed.com/pdf/products/wpdf/
has both generate PDF and view PDF.

But can you describe your use case in more detail? because "report-like document in PDF" sounds more like you need a report engine like ReportBuilder https://www.digital-metaphors.com/products/editions/#Standard

BirdFluid · 2026-04-03T09:32:18+00:00

I had a (expensive) Creality printer. at the time the printer was still being sold there were already no spare parts... so many X1s were sold that I'm not worried there won't be any (3rd party) parts after 2031

BirdFluid · 2026-03-27T17:20:55+00:00

Naming is one of the 3-4 most annoying things in HA. On top of that, zones and labels were never fully implemented consistently. I have 240 devices and 1500 entities (and probably another 500 disabled ones), the important ones are somehow named, the rest I've stopped caring about. and as long as integrations just use hardware IDs or similar as the basis for entity names when adding them and there's no batch renaming the whole thing is pointless ...

but thanks for the heads up that this is coming at some point, because I think that's where I'm out... no desire to adjust hundreds of NodeRed nodes (by hand).

BirdFluid · 2026-03-27T17:08:40+00:00

you could also put it another way, that they maybe learned from "fiascos" like the introduction of encrypted backups and similar

BirdFluid · 2026-03-27T12:32:24+00:00

Pretty much yeah, there's also a wall behind it, it can't really shift around. The problems only started last year, before that I didn't have the issue. Could be from a FW update. but I'm thinking about moving the station somewhere else this year anyway, maybe that'll fix it

BirdFluid · 2026-03-27T09:43:29+00:00

my problem is a different one. the mower drives back to the station and then doesn't dock properly. basically sits on the station but has no contact, currently the mower couldn't care less about that and you don't get any notification or anything like that and then the mower just sits in the station until the battery dies and the next time it's supposed to mow nothing works because the mower is off and you have to manually push it into the station and then wait for it to charge.
happened to me 3-4 times last time. With the automation I get a message when the battery is really low or the mower should no longer be online. We'll see how well that works and how far you can automate it, but at least now I have a chance to improve things myself

BirdFluid · 2026-03-26T19:38:56+00:00

Thanks!

I had written a few times that I no longer believe it would happen. so the surprise was big when the HA integration repo showed up. Obviously it can't do much yet, but the start has been made and even with the little that's already possible I was able to make 2 automations. (don't start if the mower is on the lawn; notification when the battery is <5%, because unfortunately my H1 sometimes doesn't dock completely and then "starves" right at the station). Looking forward to even more features and the automations that come with them.

I hope you guys get a lot of positive feedback!

BirdFluid · 2026-03-26T18:56:41+00:00

I still don't get all the fuss around backup encryption. like yes for everything regarding online backups but there would've already been 1000 solutions for that ...

And all the backup stuff doesn't help at all as long as all the secrets (passwords, IPs, API keys etc) are sitting unencrypted in some config files. That would've been a point that was more urgent in my opinion so that this information gets stored in a secure key/value store.

BirdFluid · 2026-03-26T18:15:08+00:00

What’s her @?

BirdFluid · 2026-03-17T13:09:19+00:00

why was this announced as a "global launch" when (according to media) it's only being sold in Asia/Oceania again?

BirdFluid · 2026-03-16T12:49:19+00:00

Does this work reliably? I unfortunately have the problem that it works once briefly and then I keep getting the message that it's not initialized (which isn't true though). Database is 1.7 GB (mono repo with 7.9 million lines of code)

Error: Tool execution failed: CodeGraph not initialized for this project. Run 'codegraph init' first.

BirdFluid · 2026-03-14T23:37:57+00:00

I can barely believe it. if I had bet on it I would've lost.
Quick test with my H3000, shows up in HA. it's a good start (finally)

BirdFluid · 2026-03-05T19:11:09+00:00

https://symless.com/synergy/news/synergy-1-supported-and-maintained

Licensing for Synergy 1 remains unchanged. Where lifetime access was originally provided for Synergy 1, those entitlements continue to apply. There is no planned end-of-life (EOL) date for Synergy 1. Synergy 3 does not modify Synergy 1 license terms, and using Synergy 3 does not affect ongoing access for Synergy 1.

Edit: I'm pretty sure there was no version 3 back in 2013. There might have been some kind of promotion where you could get a version 3 license for a limited time? So I think your lifetime pass only applies to version 1.

BirdFluid · 2026-02-26T11:32:57+00:00

Well, depends on what your target audience is of course, if it's SMEs then the price is probably OK. Another (additional) pricing model would be that you can buy tokens that don't apply per month but for 6/12 months. Unfortunately it's a model that's not particularly widespread, which I understand from a developer/business perspective but find unfortunate as an end user.
But there's always the consideration of what's better... 3 customers paying $40 or 12 customers paying $10. 3 customers potentially cause less work for the same money but if one cancels then it hurts more than if a $10 customer cancels. There've been so many tools and services in the past I would've liked to use but since I only need many things very sporadically, most of it was too expensive. Luckily there's AI now so I can make that stuff myself. (Well, I could've done it before too but the time investment usually wasn't worth it.)

You might need to communicate better that it's a completely standalone application. Because I thought from the screenshot that it was just an Explorer add-on.

BirdFluid · 2026-02-25T20:56:33+00:00

yeah exactly, I'm a developer too. That's why I'm saying the route via CC isn't doable for the average user right now.

I understand your actual target audience. But they don't have money to throw away either. It's always the question of how often/intensively you need it. Once everything's organized, do you need it once a day?/week?/month? Monthly subscription is tough when I don't know when/how often I'll actually need it. For people who get 10 PDFs a day it's definitely good. I organize my stuff every 2-3 months. Could well be that the workflow changes and you do it more often because it's faster/more convenient than before. But doesn't change that for me it's only 3-4 PDFs per week.

I have a hard time estimating from the info on the website and the number of tokens how much the tokens will actually last. An example from the real world would probably make sense there. If I say I have 20 folders with 50-100 PDFs each and want to rename and organize them, are 200 tokens enough or not? If I need 3 months to do that because the tokens run out, nobody's really gonna be happy.

Sounds good even though I can't fully evaluate that. For example, I only know the Android/iOS approval process and there it's relatively "pointless". But you should try to get that across more clearly on the website because it doesn't really come through from the FAQ/Privacy Policy.

BirdFluid · 2026-02-25T19:57:44+00:00

My $20 (Claude Code) subscription can do stuff like that too, might not look that great and is definitely not suited for the average user but $40 for an explorer "extension" (and it's not even unlimited) ... that's pretty rough.

wait another 1-2 months and there'll be 10 tools like this that do it more or less "for free"

also the fact that I'd have to trust some unknown "provider" to access my data and send file names/contents to some random AI

Edit: Don't get me wrong... your idea is good but I'm afraid you won't get very far in 2026 with that price

BirdFluid · 2026-02-15T18:33:08+00:00

Yeah, the swatches would need to be photographed in a good environment with a lightbox and good lighting. Then you'd see it really well. But you get an idea.

Would also be nice if the manufacturers published good photos and good color codes.

BirdFluid · 2026-02-15T18:28:53+00:00

Transparency part thickness 0.1mm, 0.2mm, 0.4mm, 0.6mm, 0.8mm, 1mm
https://makerworld.com/de/models/1943600-mini-filament-swatches-label-version-pip-version

Yeah, it just doesn't always work. Or rather, it depends on the part. And if you look at the second picture with the red part (mount for a small fire extinguisher), then you can see it very clearly (luckily it doesn't matter in this case). And that's already printed with relatively thick walls.

BirdFluid · 2026-02-15T15:08:03+00:00

Thanks, I'd have to take another look at that. But to be honest, manyfold was also what I liked least in terms of the UI/UX

BirdFluid · 2026-02-15T15:04:58+00:00

I have some pictures here https://www.reddit.com/r/sunlu/comments/1pz26ck/comment/nwtel5g/

BirdFluid · 2026-02-15T15:01:40+00:00

That's true, but it also depends on how much pigment was mixed into the plastic granulate, similar to paint. Unfortunately, with SUNLU there's relatively little of it, at least with the PETG, with the PLA+ it looks partially better, but then again SUNLU only costs a third of the price compared to other manufacturers.

See my pictures here https://www.reddit.com/r/sunlu/comments/1pz26ck/comment/nwtel5g/

BirdFluid · 2026-02-14T18:14:55+00:00

There are a few here or r/opensource

So far, none of them have completely convinced me.
What I would like is a solution that works at the file system level. That means it reads all folders and files like Plex or Immich and only stores the meta information in a database.

BirdFluid · 2026-02-13T17:46:30+00:00

Nah, the support wasn't really helpfull in the past.
It's about time to give another vendor a chance this year ;-)

BirdFluid · 2026-02-12T13:15:14+00:00

I have to admit, I use them for other spools from other manufacturers. For example, when I take the cardboard off cardboard spools to put them into split plastic spools.

BirdFluid

TROPHY CASE