Ok; here's what I have so far:

the code in the java, when run from the command line makes the pdf file, with the data in it. That code looks like this:

import java.datasource.dom4j.Dom4jDataSource;

import java.xmlreport.ProcessPdf;

import java.xmlreport.ProcessReport;

import java.io.*;


/**

 * Generate a PDF report using an XML file as the datasource. For this
+ use case this is the entire set of code needed

 * to use Windward Reports. For different output formats and/or differ
+ent datasources, the code will change.

 */

public class GeneratePdfReport {

 /**

  * Generate a PDF report using an XML file as the datasource.

  * @param template The report template.

  * @param report The generated report.

  * @param xmlData The XML data file.

  */


 public static void generatePdfReport(String template_filename, String
+ report_filename, String xmlData_filename) throws Exception {
        
        InputStream template = new FileInputStream(template_filename);
         OutputStream report   = new FileOutputStream(report_filename)
+;
        InputStream xmlData  = new FileInputStream(xmlData_filename);
  // generally called once when your app starts, not in here.

  ProcessReport.init();

  // create the report.

  ProcessPdf proc = new ProcessPdf(template, report);

  proc.processSetup();

  proc.processData(new Dom4jDataSource(xmlData), "");

  proc.processComplete();

 }
public static void main(String []args) throws Exception{
    String template_filename = "/path/PurchaseOrderTemplate.rtf";
        String report_filename = "/path/order.pdf";
        String xmlData_filename= "/path/order.xml";
 

GeneratePdfReport myTest = new GeneratePdfReport();    
myTest.generatePdfReport(
    template_filename,
    report_filename,
    xmlData_filename
);    
    
}

}
[download]

this works like a charm BUT, when I put this code inside inline::java, get ride of the main, it runs, but the pdf file is empty. Here's the code:

#!/usr/bin/perl -w 
use strict;
use CGI::Carp qw(fatalsToBrowser);
BEGIN {
  
   $ENV{CLASSPATH}='.:/path/java.jar';


}
use Inline Java => <<'END', CLASSPATH => $ENV{CLASSPATH};
import java.datasource.dom4j.Dom4jDataSource;

import java.xmlreport.ProcessPdf;

import java.xmlreport.ProcessReport;

import java.io.*;


/**

 * Generate a PDF report using an XML file as the datasource. For this
+ use case this is the entire set of code needed

 * to use Windward Reports. For different output formats and/or differ
+ent datasources, the code will change.

 */

public class GeneratePdfReport {

 /**

  * Generate a PDF report using an XML file as the datasource.

  * @param template The report template.

  * @param report The generated report.

  * @param xmlData The XML data file.

  */


 public static void generatePdfReport(String template_filename, String
+ report_filename, String xmlData_filename) throws Exception {
        
        InputStream template = new FileInputStream(template_filename);
         OutputStream report   = new FileOutputStream(report_filename)
+;
        InputStream xmlData  = new FileInputStream(xmlData_filename);
  // generally called once when your app starts, not in here.

  ProcessReport.init();

  // create the report.

  ProcessPdf proc = new ProcessPdf(template, report);

  proc.processSetup();

  proc.processData(new Dom4jDataSource(xmlData), "");

  proc.processComplete();

 }


}
END


text("does this work still 2?");
my $template_file = '/path/PurchaseOrderTemplate.rtf';
my $report_file = '/path/order.pdf';
my $xml_file = '/path/order.xml';


my $generator = GeneratePdfReport->new;
$generator->generatePdfReport(
    "$template_file",
    "$report_file",
    "$xml_file"
);
print "yes it did\n";
######################################################################
+#########
sub text {
print "Content-type: text/html\n\n";
print "<table width='340' border='0' cellspacing='0' cellpadding='0'><
+tr><td>";
print "<p><strong>@_</strong></p>";
print "</td></tr></table>";
}

######################################################################
+########
[download]

also, the print command at the end of the code won't print. Any suggestions?