Although all web browsers let you print HTML pages, HTML-format pages are not optimized for printed output. For example, lack of control over line breaks, page breaks, headers, footers, and page numbers are just a few of the problems that you encounter when designing reports and other pages meant to be printed.
In the context of ColdFusion MX, the term printable output refers to pages that include the following features:
ColdFusion MX provides the following tags for generating printable output:
cfdocument Creates printable output and returns it to the browser or saves it in a file. For more information, see Creating PDF and FlashPaper output with the cfdocument tag.
cfreport Invokes the specified report definition to create printable output and return it to the browser or save it in a file. ColdFusion MX supports report definitions from the following tools:
cfreport tag. For more information, see Creating reports with Crystal Reports (Windows only).ColdFusion MX printable reports are available in the following formats:
FlashPaper ColdFusion MX creates a SWF file. Clients must have an up-to-date version of the Macromedia Flash Player installed.
Adobe Acrobat ColdFusion MX creates a PDF file. Clients must have the Acrobat Reader installed.
Microsoft Excel (ColdFusion MX 7 reporting only) ColdFusion MX 7 creates an Excel spreadsheet.
Note: The Excel report output format type provides limited support for the formatting options available in ColdFusion MX 7 reporting. Images and charts are not supported and numeric data containing formatting (commas, percents, currency, etc.) appears as plain text in Excel. The Excel output format supports simple reports only and it is recommended that careful design and layout consideration be given to reports designed for Excel output.
Crystal Reports (Windows only) ColdFusion MX passes control to Crystal Reports, which creates HTML. This option is available with the cfreport tag only.