Simple document generation in Mendix

With Mendix you easily develop the most beautiful and best applications. With Mendix you model, instead of traditional programming. This makes application development much faster; after all, you work a lot with built-in modules and templates. Unfortunately, there are also a few things in practice that go less easily in Mendix. Like generating documents, for example.

Generate documents with Mendix

If you want to generate documents in Mendix, you have to get started in the “Studio Pro”. Via the Studio Pro you add data views, data grids, tables and fields. This process is not easy because you have no visual support. You only see the result when you actually have the document generated. Did you not set the margins correctly? Do you want to add a new page? Then you have to go back to Studio Pro. This method can cost your developers hours per document and even complex days such as a quote. Isn’t it much nicer if you can format your documents from Microsoft Word and save them immediately?

Appronto developed the “Document Generation for Mendix” module. With this module it is much easier to generate documents from Mendix. The 5 biggest advantages are listed below.

1. Preparation by the business and not by the developer

No more Mendix Studio Pro, but Microsoft Word for formatting your template and managing the texts. The development and management of the template can be done directly by the responsible business user instead of a Mendix developer. Business users can easily and without error add the correct Mendix fields to the document via drag-and-drop. This allows you to create a document template much faster and in a fraction of the time because other users have control.

2. Simple layout in Microsoft Word

With Document Generation for Mendix, creating document templates such as letters, invoices or reports in your own house style is very easy. You simply select the desired font and ensure that the content of the document is correct. Simply in Microsoft Word. And with the drag-and-drop functionality you add the desired data fields as merge fields to the document.

3. Microsoft Word plugin for Document Generation for Mendix

In the Microsoft Office AppStore you download the official Word plugin for Document Generation for Mendix. It is even easier to create documents after installation. End users within your organization can also use this plugin. By clicking in the right place in the document, they simply and correctly add the correct data fields to the document. For example, does the financial administration want to adjust a text line? Then they can do it themselves – without the intervention of a developer! Naturally, all features of Microsoft Word, such as headers and footers, page numbering, table of contents, graphs, etc., are supported.

4. Easy management

Your developers can easily install the Document Generation for Mendix module via the Mendix App Store. After that, they only need to manage data sets in the configuration pages. All standard formats are supported, such as: DOCX, PDF, PDF / A, RTF, XML, HTML, TIFF, JPEG and BMP and document versions are managed automatically.

5. Precision

Because your employees do not need CSS (knowledge) to prepare documents, you can use MS Word effectively. Very important when documents must be exported to multiple formats that must be exactly the same as DOCX, PDF, PDF / A and more.

“The biggest advantage of using Document Generation for Mendix is the fact that you can use already existing templates. This makes creating documents with your company identity so much easier!” – Martijn Hingstman, Mendix Developer with Mendix.