I have a program that creates html output with a table that has an individual user's schedule for the day, and I'd like to be able to create a graphic file that I can e-mail out showing that schedule so that the customer can set that graphic as the background for his phone or tablet. (The reasons why the graphic is better for some users than the HTML file are complicated; suffice it to say I've reached the point that sending out a .PNG file or something similar IS the direction I need to explore.)
If the scope was a few dozen users, I could use a script to open the html page in a browser, grab a screenshot, crop as necessary, and go with that. However, if this project expands, I may need to process up to a few thousand of these schedules, and I'd prefer to generate the graphic file in code rather than taking over the screen with a script running for an hour or more with a series of load, capture, crop, and save commands.
So, it's time to learn something about graphics in Visual Basic, which is all new ground for me. I'm not looking for "how do I code this" so much as, what direction should I be looking for the most efficient solution. I've seen that it's fairly straightforward to add text to a bitmap & then save that bitmap. To reproduce the even columns that the HTML table gives me is obviously possible, although it may take a while and may not be particularly flexible if/when the format of the schedule evolves in the future. Is that probably my best bet, or are there other methods I should learn about that will better accomplish what I need to do?
If there were code that accepts my .html file as input and returns a .png of what it looks like without having to put each page up on the screen, that would be ideal, although I recognize that that may be a bit much to hope for.
I'm open to any suggestions.
Thanks!
If the scope was a few dozen users, I could use a script to open the html page in a browser, grab a screenshot, crop as necessary, and go with that. However, if this project expands, I may need to process up to a few thousand of these schedules, and I'd prefer to generate the graphic file in code rather than taking over the screen with a script running for an hour or more with a series of load, capture, crop, and save commands.
So, it's time to learn something about graphics in Visual Basic, which is all new ground for me. I'm not looking for "how do I code this" so much as, what direction should I be looking for the most efficient solution. I've seen that it's fairly straightforward to add text to a bitmap & then save that bitmap. To reproduce the even columns that the HTML table gives me is obviously possible, although it may take a while and may not be particularly flexible if/when the format of the schedule evolves in the future. Is that probably my best bet, or are there other methods I should learn about that will better accomplish what I need to do?
If there were code that accepts my .html file as input and returns a .png of what it looks like without having to put each page up on the screen, that would be ideal, although I recognize that that may be a bit much to hope for.
I'm open to any suggestions.
Thanks!
