One o my clients is a State Information Depository that receives disclosure data from all types of government entities acroos the state. We are working toward establishing a standard document format to make all of the documents available on the web. Here are the issues:

>1. What distributed document format would be best? HTML? PDF?

The real deciding factor here is the source of the documents. Do you have control? Are the various sources governed by a common body who has the ability to set a standard? If you can set a standard, and it is practical to do so, then I feel that HTML is the best format. It is highly flexible and just about everyone can read it without having to download a reader.

>2. How would I convert the submitted documents into a common format, retaining all formatting and embedded images?

If this is really an issue then really your only answer is pdf. Any document that can be opened in a program that can print can be easily converted to pdf with nearly 100% preservation of formatting and graphics. If the source of these documents were VFP reports, for example, then pdf is really the only way to store them as a file.

PDF has a couple of downsides though. First and most obvious is the fact that you have to have AcroReader to view the files. Even though the reader is freeware, this might be a PITA depending on the people viewing the documents. The second downfall, and possibly the most prohibitive, is the inability to to cut and paste text and data from a pdf file. There are 3rd party Acrobat Add-ins that do this (Red-wing, Jade), but they are expensive, especially considering any other format lets you do this without help.

>3. Are there other, more efficient development platforms that would be better suited for this kind of app than VFP?

VFP will work fine. I suspect though, that you will come to the conclusion that you will need both an e-mail distribution mechanism and a way to access files from the web. It will be one week max before you get a call from someone who got the e-mail, deleted it, and then decided he needs it again. Do you really want to handle that one manually every time it comes up?

On the technical side, you also need to decide on a SMTP mail program that will automatically send you e-mails. WWIPStuff does this, but you might find more flexibility in another (not-for-free) 3rd party product. Or you can just go with MAPI.