HotPDF är ett nativt VCL PDF-bibliotek för Delphi- och C++Builder-program som behöver direkt PDF-skapande och redigering, formulär, annoteringar, kryptering, digitala signaturer, Unicode-teckensnitt, standardmedveten utdata och preflight-rapporter utan extern PDF-runtime.
Den här artikeln är skriven för teams that need repeatable PDF intake, release gates, or customer-support diagnostics. Den behandlar automated PDF preflight reports som produktionsnära dokumentteknik, inte som ett isolerat komponentanrop.
Den praktiska risken är att manual visual checks are inconsistent and do not create machine-readable evidence for operators, CI jobs, or support engineers. Därför behöver flödet ett skrivet kontrakt, observerbar diagnostik och realistiska regressionsfiler.
Arkitekturbeslut
Turn preflight into a policy service. profiles for intake, release, archive, print, and accessibility checks / severity thresholds, waiver rules, and customer-specific exceptions
- profiles for intake, release, archive, print, and accessibility checks
- severity thresholds, waiver rules, and customer-specific exceptions
- report formats for humans, CI logs, dashboards, and support bundles
- time limits, maximum file size, and quarantine behavior for damaged input
Implementeringsflöde
Classify findings before deciding pass or fail. The order below keeps the workflow reviewable for Delphi and C++Builder teams.
- identify the business purpose before selecting the preflight profile
- run validation in an isolated step before editing or distributing the document
- normalize findings into stable codes, severities, locations, and remediation hints
- apply waiver policy after findings are classified, not before validation
- store the report beside the output or ticket that depends on it
Valideringsbevis
Report fields that make findings actionable. Keep these fields with the output or support record.
- profile version, input hash, validator version, elapsed time, and pass or fail result
- finding code, severity, page, object reference, and operator-facing message
- waiver identifier, reviewer, expiry, and affected issue codes
- machine-readable summary for CI plus an HTML or text report for support
A report is only useful when it drives a decision
Preflight automation should map low-level PDF findings to product decisions. Operators need to know what failed, why it matters, whether retry is useful, and where the affected page or object can be inspected.
Decision table for automated PDF preflight reports
A decision table keeps product ownership visible when the same workflow is reused by a desktop tool, service job, and support utility.
| Decision | Engineering reason | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| profiles for intake, release, archive, print, and accessibility checks | identify the business purpose before selecting the preflight profile | profile version, input hash, validator version, elapsed time, and pass or fail result |
| severity thresholds, waiver rules, and customer-specific exceptions | run validation in an isolated step before editing or distributing the document | finding code, severity, page, object reference, and operator-facing message |
| report formats for humans, CI logs, dashboards, and support bundles | normalize findings into stable codes, severities, locations, and remediation hints | waiver identifier, reviewer, expiry, and affected issue codes |
Engineering review notes for automated PDF preflight reports
Use these review notes to make sure the feature has moved beyond a demo and can be defended during release, support, and customer escalation.
- Decision: profiles for intake, release, archive, print, and accessibility checks. Implementation pressure point: run validation in an isolated step before editing or distributing the document. Acceptance evidence: waiver identifier, reviewer, expiry, and affected issue codes. Regression trigger: support staff need stable issue codes rather than parser exception text
- Decision: severity thresholds, waiver rules, and customer-specific exceptions. Implementation pressure point: normalize findings into stable codes, severities, locations, and remediation hints. Acceptance evidence: machine-readable summary for CI plus an HTML or text report for support. Regression trigger: warnings can become release blockers when the target channel changes
- Decision: report formats for humans, CI logs, dashboards, and support bundles. Implementation pressure point: apply waiver policy after findings are classified, not before validation. Acceptance evidence: profile version, input hash, validator version, elapsed time, and pass or fail result. Regression trigger: batch preflight should limit memory and CPU per file to protect queues
Gränsfall
- warnings can become release blockers when the target channel changes
- batch preflight should limit memory and CPU per file to protect queues
- repairing input before preflight can hide the original customer issue
- support staff need stable issue codes rather than parser exception text
Delphi / C++Builder notes
HotPDF Component should sit behind a small service boundary that receives files, streams, profiles, and credentials, then returns output paths, warnings, metrics, and validation status. Important terms include preflight, validation profile, report automation, severity, waiver, CI gate.
Delphi-kodexempel
Följande Delphi-skiss visar en praktisk servicegräns för detta ämne. Håll policykontroller, loggning och validering utanför det smala produktanropet så att arbetsflödet går att testa.
procedure RunPreflightBatch(const InputFile, ReportFile: string);
var
Pdf: THotPDF;
Profile: THPDFPreflightProfile;
Report: string;
begin
Pdf := THotPDF.Create(nil);
try
Profile := Pdf.GetBuiltInPreflightProfile('strict');
Report := Pdf.CreatePreflightReportWithProfile(InputFile, Profile);
TFile.WriteAllText(ReportFile, Report, TEncoding.UTF8);
RaiseIfBlockingFindings(Report);
finally
Pdf.Free;
end;
end;Produktionschecklista
- Run the workflow on an empty file, a normal customer file, and a worst-case file
- Open the generated PDF with the target viewer, validator, printer, or downstream application
- Log product version, profile version, input hash, output path, elapsed time, and warning count
- Keep passwords, certificates, temporary files, and customer data under explicit retention rules
- Add regression documents when a customer file exposes a new edge case