Build A PDF Practice In A FlexSnap

By Mario Morejon

March 26, 2007

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Building an entire practice around a toolset has never been as easy as reselling the RasterMaster FlexSnap editor from Snowbound Software.

Far from ordinary, FlexSnap is a complete multi-image viewer in a box. With FlexSnap, solution providers can build a complete PDF practice in hours.

Unlike Adobe's Acrobat Reader, the FlexSnap editor is a Java application with a server-side component to queue files on a network and a client to view the files. FlexSnap's Java servlet, which runs on the server side, is designed to control files from any file system or database repository.

Whenever a request is made from the FlexSnap client, the servlet decompresses a file and sends the first page. Along with individual pages, the FlexSnap client generates thumbnails on the fly at the time of viewing. FlexSnap can process huge files in seconds because it buffers them on the server side. This process allows users to open what they need to view on the fly.

Because all the pages are processed on the server side, users also can jump to any page quickly and view its thumbnails, which are only rendered on request. Scrolling and paging is seamless. Snowbound's FlexSnap developers have gone to great lengths to make the client as natural and stable as Adobe Reader. Users won't notice that they are scrolling through huge files.

Solution providers can use the process to build a quick proof-of-concept by breaking up pages at a content repository and sending single pages to a FlexSnap client on a laptop. The process takes seconds on large documents. FlexSnap's servlet is highly configurable, so solution providers can offer it to multiple departments with different requirements within a company. And because it is driven by a software development kit, solution providers can embed the FlexSnap applet inside applications.

By contrast, the Adobe Reader can only open cached files, so users that need fast access to large PDF files can't rely on Adobe Reader. With Adobe Reader, users must first download files to their local PCs before opening them.

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