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I have to redesign a report (web-based) that basically adds text on top of a map. It relies on some parts which are no longer supported by 64bit systems and is too unreliable and complex to just patch.

Essentially, it starts with a WMF file (I'd like to keep it that way if possible, avoids the overhead of changing all the maps), and a list of items to add in the form of rectangles, text, and other WMF files (which will usually contain a bitmap image). The final result is for display on a web page and should be somehow downloadable (it's currently a PDF). Zooming would most likely be required because of the size of the maps, but it doesn't have to be fancy (just like a PDF reader's zoom). The text can be in various fonts and sizes, with simple effects (and multilingual. UTF-8 and/or Unicode friendly). The rectangles can have dotted borders, background filling, etc (think old VB6 drawing options).

I'm trying to find a solution that's easy and quick to implement and distribute. This is for a web site, again. The system is currently built with a mix of J and TeX (MiKTeX).

The tricky part (or one of them) is that I don't want this report (2% of the system) running off a large library of an entirely different framework, Ruby On Rails for example, while the rest is on J. Javascript, C++ and C# are not out of the question, as they fit in with other bits and could be justified. I'd like to avoid Flash and Silverlight, it's perfectly fine if the map isn't dynamic, it can be a simple static image (and whatever support it's running on can handle the zoom part). Ideally, it would be a component J can call, throw the data at, and it pops out an image.

All I'm asking for is suggestions, starting points to get me going.

Supplemental:

One fairly small library currently used is an old version of ComponentOne Chart. I'm looking into that to see if they have something.

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Are you lookinng for an implementation solution? Or an approach on how to get at the solution? If you're looking for an implementation solution, this is off-topic on Programmers. – Walter Oct 6 '12 at 19:07
I'm basically looking for a lead. – MPelletier Oct 6 '12 at 20:02
@Walter An approach would serve. – MPelletier Oct 7 '12 at 11:51

closed as not constructive by MainMa, Mark Trapp, ChrisF♦ Oct 11 '12 at 21:45

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