PDF with jsf

[Jolie Lee]

what is the best way to have pdf if all my pages are in jsf?

i'm planning to let user to print in pdf format when they click the "print" button..

any suggestions on how to start with it?

[Gregg Bolinger]

This thread might help.

[Jolie Lee]

i've read the thread.. hmm, by using this method provided i can actually convert my stuff into pdf?

 public void exportFile() {
        FacesContext context = FacesContext.getCurrentInstance();
        HttpServletResponse response =
(HttpServletResponse)context.getExternalContext().getResponse();
        response.setContentType("application/pdf");
        response.setHeader("Content-disposition",
"inline=filename=file.pdf");
                
        try {
                response.getOutputStream().write(yourdata[]);
                response.getOutputStream().flush();
                response.getOutputStream().close();
                context.responseComplete();
        } catch (IOException e) {
                e.printStackTrace();
        }
} 

and this line.. response.getOutputStream().write(yourdata[]);

i will pass all the things i want to retrieve from database here? do u happened to have a complete example for me to refer?

thks in advance..

[Ulf Dittmer]

The code snippet assumes that the "yourdata" array holds the contents of a PDF file. To create a PDF file from your database data, you will need to use some PDF library, such as mentioned here.

[Jolie Lee]

so how will "yourdata" look like? xml? html?

sorry, this is my first time generating pdf so i'm not really sure what do i need and how do i do that.

[Ulf Dittmer]

"yourdata" should contain a binary representation of the PDF file. That you can create by using a PDf libraray, as mentioned in my previous post. iText in particular has a thorough introduction.

[Jolie Lee]

from the iText eg, i see that most of it are using servlet. just wondering, is it possible to have pdf without using servlet?

[Ulf Dittmer]

The servlets just serve as examples. iText can be used in any kind of Java program.

[Gregg Bolinger]

So Jolie, any success? I mean, have you actually tried out any of the suggestions and code we've provided?

[Jolie Lee]

i've actually read thru the itext.. and one of the example their using jsp with iText to generate...

hmm.. might used that, but still not sure how they do column and etc .. cos wat i can see is that they only using paragraph.. cos i'm generating reports, so they will be a lot of columns and tables involves...

in my jsp page, how can i called the backing bean? cos if i were to use jsp to generate pdf(s), i may need to refer to backing beans to do retrieval from the database.. and i think i won't have any jsf tags in that jsp page that generate pdf...

[Gregg Bolinger]

Jolie, Jolie, Jolie...

Remember that method I showed you?

public void exportFile() {
        FacesContext context = FacesContext.getCurrentInstance();
        HttpServletResponse response =
(HttpServletResponse)context.getExternalContext().getResponse();
        response.setContentType("application/pdf");
        response.setHeader("Content-disposition",
"inline=filename=file.pdf");
                
        try {
                response.getOutputStream().write(yourdata[]);
                response.getOutputStream().flush();
                response.getOutputStream().close();
                context.responseComplete();
        } catch (IOException e) {
                e.printStackTrace();
        }
}

Ok, lets change that just a bit...

public void exportFile([B]byte[] data[/B]) {
        FacesContext context = FacesContext.getCurrentInstance();
        HttpServletResponse response =
(HttpServletResponse)context.getExternalContext().getResponse();
        response.setContentType("application/pdf");
        response.setHeader("Content-disposition",
"inline=filename=file.pdf");
                
        try {
                response.getOutputStream().write([B]data[][/B]);
                response.getOutputStream().flush();
                response.getOutputStream().close();
                context.responseComplete();
        } catch (IOException e) {
                e.printStackTrace();
        }
}

Now, supose you have a commandButton that calls a backing bean method called generatePDF(). Let's take a look at what that method might look like..

public void generatePDF(ActionEvent event)
{
    /**
     * Now here is where you would do a bunch of iText stuff to actually
     * create the PDF in memory.  I don't know what the method is but
     * there is a way to get a byte[] array from the document you have 
     * created.  This will be in the iText API.  So once we have that...
     **/
     exportFile(byteArrayFromPDFYouCreated);
}

And that's it. It can all be done in the backing bean. That is what we have been trying to convey.

[sridhar panini]

use this.
it will work
am doing this works great with itext.

public void executePDF() {
try {
FacesContext faces = FacesContext.getCurrentInstance();
HttpServletResponse response =
(HttpServletResponse) faces.getExternalContext().getResponse();
// setting some response headers
response.setHeader("Expires", "0");
response.setHeader("Cache-Control", "must-revalidate, post-check=0, pre-check=0");
//response.setHeader("Content-disposition","inline; filename=kiran.pdf");
response.setHeader("Pragma", "public");
response.setContentType( "application/pdf" );
//response.setHeader("Content-Disposition", "attachment;filename=\"ContactList.pdf\"");
response.addHeader("Content-disposition", "attachment;filename=\"DataListBean.pdf\"");
//step 1: creation of a document-object
Document document = new Document(PageSize.A3.rotate(), 10, 10, 10, 10);
//step 2: we create a writer that listens to the document
// and directs a PDF-stream to a temporary buffer
ByteArrayOutputStream baos = new ByteArrayOutputStream(1024);
PdfWriter writer = PdfWriter.getInstance( document, baos);
//step 3: we open the document
document.open();
Table datatable = getTable();
int rowCount = data.getRowCount();
// step 4: we add a paragraph to the document
for (int i=0;i<rowCount;i++) {
datatable.setDefaultHorizontalAlignment(Element.ALIGN_LEFT);
List list = (List)data.getRowData();
Iterator iter = list.iterator();
while(iter.hasNext()) {
Object obj = (Object) iter.next();
datatable.addCell(obj.toString());
if (i<=2) {
System.out.println(obj.toString());
}
}
if (!writer.fitsPage(datatable)) {
datatable.deleteLastRow();
i--;
document.add(datatable);
document.newPage();
datatable = getTable();
}
}
document.add(datatable);
//step 5: we close the document
document.close();
//step 6: we output the writer as bytes to the response output
// the contentlength is needed for MSIE!!!
response.setContentLength(baos.size());
// write ByteArrayOutputStream to the ServletOutputStream
ServletOutputStream out = response.getOutputStream();
baos.writeTo(out);
baos.flush();
faces.responseComplete();
//DataOutput output = new DataOutputStream( response.getOutputStream() );
//byte[] bytes = buffer.toByteArray();
//response.setContentLength(bytes.length);
//for( int i = 0; i < bytes.length; i++ ) { output.writeByte( bytes[i] ); }
} catch(Exception e) {
e.printStackTrace();
}
}

private Table getTable()
throws BadElementException, DocumentException {

int colCount = columnHeaders.getRowCount();
Table datatable = new Table(colCount);
datatable.setPadding(4);
datatable.setSpacing(0);
datatable.setBorder(Rectangle.NO_BORDER);
int headerwidths[] = {14,3,3,9,8,5,14,9,5,3,1,4,4,10,3,3,2,10,10,2};
datatable.setWidths(headerwidths);
datatable.setWidth(140);
// the first cell spans 20 columns
Cell cell = new Cell(new Phrase("NEMO Order Tool Report",
FontFactory.getFont(FontFactory.HELVETICA, 14, Font.BOLD)));
cell.setHorizontalAlignment(Element.ALIGN_CENTER);
cell.setLeading(10);
cell.setColspan(20);
cell.setBorder(Rectangle.NO_BORDER);
cell.setBackgroundColor(new Color(0xC0, 0xC0, 0xC0));
datatable.addCell(cell);

// These cells span n rows
datatable.setDefaultCellBorderWidth(1);
datatable.setDefaultHorizontalAlignment(1);
datatable.setDefaultRowspan(1);

List colList = (List)columnHeaders.getWrappedData();
for (int i=0; i < colList.size();i++) {
ColumnHeader header = (ColumnHeader) colList.get(i);
datatable.addCell(header.getLabel());
}

return datatable;
}

[Boris Tenardier]

sridhar panini wrote:use this.
it will work
am doing this works great with itext.

public void executePDF() {
try {
FacesContext faces = FacesContext.getCurrentInstance();
HttpServletResponse response =
(HttpServletResponse) faces.getExternalContext().getResponse();
// setting some response headers
response.setHeader("Expires", "0");
response.setHeader("Cache-Control", "must-revalidate, post-check=0, pre-check=0");
//response.setHeader("Content-disposition","inline; filename=kiran.pdf");
response.setHeader("Pragma", "public");
response.setContentType( "application/pdf" );
//response.setHeader("Content-Disposition", "attachment;filename=\"ContactList.pdf\"");
response.addHeader("Content-disposition", "attachment;filename=\"DataListBean.pdf\"");
//step 1: creation of a document-object
Document document = new Document(PageSize.A3.rotate(), 10, 10, 10, 10);
//step 2: we create a writer that listens to the document
// and directs a PDF-stream to a temporary buffer
ByteArrayOutputStream baos = new ByteArrayOutputStream(1024);
PdfWriter writer = PdfWriter.getInstance( document, baos);
//step 3: we open the document
document.open();
Table datatable = getTable();
int rowCount = data.getRowCount();
// step 4: we add a paragraph to the document
for (int i=0;i<rowCount;i++) {
datatable.setDefaultHorizontalAlignment(Element.ALIGN_LEFT);
List list = (List)data.getRowData();
Iterator iter = list.iterator();
while(iter.hasNext()) {
Object obj = (Object) iter.next();
datatable.addCell(obj.toString());
if (i<=2) {
System.out.println(obj.toString());
}
}
if (!writer.fitsPage(datatable)) {
datatable.deleteLastRow();
i--;
document.add(datatable);
document.newPage();
datatable = getTable();
}
}
document.add(datatable);
//step 5: we close the document
document.close();
//step 6: we output the writer as bytes to the response output
// the contentlength is needed for MSIE!!!
response.setContentLength(baos.size());
// write ByteArrayOutputStream to the ServletOutputStream
ServletOutputStream out = response.getOutputStream();
baos.writeTo(out);
baos.flush();
faces.responseComplete();
//DataOutput output = new DataOutputStream( response.getOutputStream() );
//byte[] bytes = buffer.toByteArray();
//response.setContentLength(bytes.length);
//for( int i = 0; i < bytes.length; i++ ) { output.writeByte( bytes[i] ); }
} catch(Exception e) {
e.printStackTrace();
}
}

private Table getTable()
throws BadElementException, DocumentException {

int colCount = columnHeaders.getRowCount();
Table datatable = new Table(colCount);
datatable.setPadding(4);
datatable.setSpacing(0);
datatable.setBorder(Rectangle.NO_BORDER);
int headerwidths[] = {14,3,3,9,8,5,14,9,5,3,1,4,4,10,3,3,2,10,10,2};
datatable.setWidths(headerwidths);
datatable.setWidth(140);
// the first cell spans 20 columns
Cell cell = new Cell(new Phrase("NEMO Order Tool Report",
FontFactory.getFont(FontFactory.HELVETICA, 14, Font.BOLD)));
cell.setHorizontalAlignment(Element.ALIGN_CENTER);
cell.setLeading(10);
cell.setColspan(20);
cell.setBorder(Rectangle.NO_BORDER);
cell.setBackgroundColor(new Color(0xC0, 0xC0, 0xC0));
datatable.addCell(cell);

// These cells span n rows
datatable.setDefaultCellBorderWidth(1);
datatable.setDefaultHorizontalAlignment(1);
datatable.setDefaultRowspan(1);

List colList = (List)columnHeaders.getWrappedData();
for (int i=0; i < colList.size();i++) {
ColumnHeader header = (ColumnHeader) colList.get(i);
datatable.addCell(header.getLabel());
}

return datatable;
}

Hello sridhar panini,
Please, can you give me the libraries used for this code? Thank you

[Prithvi Sehgal]

Hello,
I will suggest use Jasper reports, you will get the PDF within no time.
I have the made a sample long ago. If you want let me know.
BR,

[Boris Tenardier]

Hello Prithvi Sehgal,
I tried to use JasperReport 3.7.5 but I got some problemes. This my code with JasperReport

public final String DB_URL = "jdbc:oracle:thin:@localhost:1521:orcl";
    public final String DB_USER = "user";
    public final String DB_MDP = "pswd";
    private Connection connexion;

    public Connection getConnexion() throws SQLException {
        Driver mDriver = new oracle.jdbc.OracleDriver();
        DriverManager.registerDriver(mDriver);
        connexion = DriverManager.getConnection(DB_URL, DB_USER, DB_MDP);
        return connexion;
    }

public void printPdf() throws FileNotFoundException, JRException {
        InputStream input = new FileInputStream(new File("C:/Java/Jaspersoft/iReport-3.7.5/workspace/card.jrxml"));
        JasperDesign design = JRXmlLoader.load(input);

        JasperReport report = JasperCompileManager.compileReport(design);
        Map map = new HashMap();

        JasperPrint print = JasperFillManager.fillReport(report, map, connexion);
        OutputStream output = new FileOutputStream(new File("c:/report/card.pdf"));
        JasperExportManager.exportReportToPdfStream(print, output);
    }

When I run this code, I get an empty pdf. Please can you help me to use Jasperreport to make my Reports.
Thank You

[Prithvi Sehgal]

Hello Boris,

I didn't look at the code before. Try to pick .jasper directly from IReport and see.
It should work. From where you data is coming?

HTH,

[Prithvi Sehgal]

Hello Boris,

I can see that you are using the compiler inside the code. I wanted to know from where
your data is coming?

Checkout my snippet of code.

public static void createReport() throws JRException, IOException{
		InputStream inputstream = null;
		File file = new File("C:\\report.pdf");
		FileOutputStream fileOutputStream = new FileOutputStream(file);
		
		
		try {
			 inputstream = new FileInputStream(new File(ReportConstants.FILE_PATH));
		} catch (FileNotFoundException e) {
			// TODO Auto-generated catch block
			e.printStackTrace();
		}
		JasperPrint jasperPrint = null;
		//List jasperList = new ArrayList();
		HashMap map = new HashMap();
		jasperPrint = JasperFillManager.fillReport(inputstream,map,new JREmptyDataSource());
		JRPdfExporter pdfExporter = new JRPdfExporter();
		pdfExporter.setParameter(JRExporterParameter.JASPER_PRINT, jasperPrint);
		pdfExporter.setParameter(JRExporterParameter.OUTPUT_STREAM,fileOutputStream);
		pdfExporter.setParameter(JRPdfExporterParameter.IS_128_BIT_KEY, Boolean.TRUE);
		pdfExporter.setParameter(JRPdfExporterParameter.IS_ENCRYPTED, Boolean.TRUE);
		pdfExporter.setParameter(JRPdfExporterParameter.PERMISSIONS, new Integer(PdfWriter.ALLOW_PRINTING));
		pdfExporter.exportReport();
	}

BR,

[Boris Tenardier]

I try your code, but I get always an empty pdf

I wanted to know from where your data is coming?

With ireport, I defined a Database JBDC Connexion. And, in my jrxml file, I used a query whose the database connexion parameters are defined in the Database JBDC Connexion. I hope that I answered correctly to your question. English isn't my mother tongue, so excuse me for my bad english
Thank you

[Prithvi Sehgal]

Hello Boris,

Thats true. So basically is your query parameter based, like a criteria query. For example, find all all employees
whose salary is greater then your specified parameter. If you see that, you are passing a empty hashmap to your
jrxml. You are not passing any parameters. You need to put your parameters in the hashmap and send that hashmap.
Be sure that your your parameter in Hashmap is of the same name as in the JRXML.

HTH,

[Boris Tenardier]

I don't pass parameter because my query don't have parameter. You can see my jrxml file
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?> <jasperReport xmlns="http://jasperreports.sourceforge.net/jasperreports" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xsi:schemaLocation="http://jasperreports.sourceforge.net/jasperreports http://jasperreports.sourceforge.net/xsd/jasperreport.xsd" name="report1" language="groovy" pageWidth="842" pageHeight="595" orientation="Landscape" columnWidth="802" leftMargin="20" rightMargin="20" topMargin="20" bottomMargin="20"> <property name="ireport.zoom" value="1.0"/> <property name="ireport.x" value="0"/> <property name="ireport.y" value="0"/> <style name="Title" fontName="Times New Roman" fontSize="50" isBold="true" pdfFontName="Times-Bold"/> <style name="SubTitle" forecolor="#736343" fontName="Arial" fontSize="18"/> <style name="Column header" forecolor="#666666" fontName="Arial" fontSize="12" isBold="true"/> <style name="Detail" fontName="Arial" fontSize="12"/> <style name="Row" mode="Transparent"> <conditionalStyle> <conditionExpression><![CDATA[$V{REPORT_COUNT}%2 == 0]]></conditionExpression> <style backcolor="#E6DAC3"/> </conditionalStyle> </style> <queryString language="SQL"> <![CDATA[SELECT MONEDIA_CARD."CARD_NUMBER" AS MONEDIA_CARD_CARD_NUMBER, MONEDIA_CARD."ACCOUNT_NUMBER" AS MONEDIA_CARD_ACCOUNT_NUMBER, MONEDIA_CARD."CARDHOLDER_NAME" AS MONEDIA_CARD_CARDHOLDER_NAME, MONEDIA_CARD."EXPIREDATE" AS MONEDIA_CARD_EXPIREDATE FROM "MONEDIA_CARD" MONEDIA_CARD]]> </queryString> <field name="MONEDIA_CARD_CARD_NUMBER" class="java.lang.String"/> <field name="MONEDIA_CARD_ACCOUNT_NUMBER" class="java.lang.String"/> <field name="MONEDIA_CARD_CARDHOLDER_NAME" class="java.lang.String"/> <field name="MONEDIA_CARD_EXPIREDATE" class="java.sql.Timestamp"/> <background> <band splitType="Stretch"/> </background> <title> <band height="136" splitType="Stretch"> <image> <reportElement x="0" y="0" width="164" height="126"/> <imageExpression class="java.lang.String"><![CDATA["coffee.jpg"]]></imageExpression> </image> <staticText> <reportElement style="Title" x="270" y="0" width="263" height="62"/> <textElement verticalAlignment="Middle"> <font pdfFontName="Times-Roman"/> </textElement> <text><![CDATA[Coffee Title]]></text> </staticText> <staticText> <reportElement style="SubTitle" x="303" y="62" width="196" height="22"/> <textElement> <font fontName="Times New Roman" pdfFontName="Times-Roman"/> </textElement> <text><![CDATA[Coffee SubTitle]]></text> </staticText> <staticText> <reportElement x="172" y="94" width="383" height="42"/> <textElement textAlignment="Right"> <font size="10"/> </textElement> <text><![CDATA[Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Fusce auctor purus gravida arcu aliquam mattis. Donec et nulla libero, ut varius massa. Nulla sed turpis elit. Etiam aliquet mauris a ligula hendrerit in auctor leo lobortis.]]></text> </staticText> <image> <reportElement x="633" y="-73" width="219" height="209"/> <imageExpression class="java.lang.String"><![CDATA["coffee_stain.png"]]></imageExpression> </image> </band> </title> <pageHeader> <band splitType="Stretch"/> </pageHeader> <columnHeader> <band height="16" splitType="Stretch"> <line> <reportElement positionType="FixRelativeToBottom" x="0" y="15" width="802" height="1"/> <graphicElement> <pen lineWidth="0.5" lineColor="#999999"/> </graphicElement> </line> <staticText> <reportElement style="Column header" x="0" y="0" width="200" height="15" forecolor="#736343"/> <textElement/> <text><![CDATA[Numéro de carte]]></text> </staticText> <staticText> <reportElement style="Column header" x="200" y="0" width="200" height="15" forecolor="#736343"/> <textElement/> <text><![CDATA[Numéro de compte]]></text> </staticText> <staticText> <reportElement style="Column header" x="400" y="0" width="200" height="15" forecolor="#736343"/> <textElement/> <text><![CDATA[Client]]></text> </staticText> <staticText> <reportElement style="Column header" x="600" y="0" width="200" height="15" forecolor="#736343"/> <textElement/> <text><![CDATA[date expiration]]></text> </staticText> </band> </columnHeader> <detail> <band height="15" splitType="Stretch"> <frame> <reportElement style="Row" mode="Opaque" x="0" y="0" width="802" height="15"/> <textField isStretchWithOverflow="true"> <reportElement style="Detail" x="0" y="0" width="200" height="15"/> <textElement/> <textFieldExpression class="java.lang.String"><![CDATA[$F{MONEDIA_CARD_CARD_NUMBER}]]></textFieldExpression> </textField> <textField isStretchWithOverflow="true"> <reportElement style="Detail" x="200" y="0" width="200" height="15"/> <textElement/> <textFieldExpression class="java.lang.String"><![CDATA[$F{MONEDIA_CARD_ACCOUNT_NUMBER}]]></textFieldExpression> </textField> <textField isStretchWithOverflow="true"> <reportElement style="Detail" x="400" y="0" width="200" height="15"/> <textElement/> <textFieldExpression class="java.lang.String"><![CDATA[$F{MONEDIA_CARD_CARDHOLDER_NAME}]]></textFieldExpression> </textField> <textField isStretchWithOverflow="true"> <reportElement style="Detail" x="600" y="0" width="200" height="15"/> <textElement/> <textFieldExpression class="java.sql.Timestamp"><![CDATA[$F{MONEDIA_CARD_EXPIREDATE}]]></textFieldExpression> </textField> </frame> </band> </detail> <columnFooter> <band height="6" splitType="Stretch"> <line> <reportElement positionType="FixRelativeToBottom" x="0" y="3" width="802" height="1"/> <graphicElement> <pen lineWidth="0.5" lineColor="#999999"/> </graphicElement> </line> </band> </columnFooter> <pageFooter> <band height="25" splitType="Stretch"> <frame> <reportElement mode="Opaque" x="-21" y="1" width="843" height="24" forecolor="#D0B48E" backcolor="#F2EBDF"/> <textField evaluationTime="Report"> <reportElement style="Column header" x="783" y="1" width="40" height="20" forecolor="#736343"/> <textElement verticalAlignment="Middle"> <font size="10" isBold="false"/> </textElement> <textFieldExpression class="java.lang.String"><![CDATA[" " + $V{PAGE_NUMBER}]]></textFieldExpression> </textField> <textField> <reportElement style="Column header" x="703" y="1" width="80" height="20" forecolor="#736343"/> <textElement textAlignment="Right" verticalAlignment="Middle"> <font size="10" isBold="false"/> </textElement> <textFieldExpression class="java.lang.String"><![CDATA["Page "+$V{PAGE_NUMBER}+" of"]]></textFieldExpression> </textField> <textField pattern="EEEEE dd MMMMM yyyy"> <reportElement style="Column header" x="22" y="1" width="197" height="20" forecolor="#736343"/> <textElement verticalAlignment="Middle"> <font size="10" isBold="false"/> </textElement> <textFieldExpression class="java.util.Date"><![CDATA[new java.util.Date()]]></textFieldExpression> </textField> </frame> </band> </pageFooter> <summary> <band splitType="Stretch"/> </summary> </jasperReport>

[Prithvi Sehgal]

Hello Boris,

Where are you calling the getConnection() method to get the connection. In your code, i don't see anywhere that you are calling
the getConnection method.

Put in your printPdf() method as

connexion = getConnextion();

I feel your connection reference is not properly initialized.

Have you checked your SQL in a editor like SQL editor, is it returning any results? Additionally, try to use the .jasper file directly and comment
the JRXML compile. To me your JRXML looks okay. Additionally, check is is your connection object null means is it able to correct to database
properly?

BR,

[Boris Tenardier]

Hello,
Now the report is generated, but I can't open it because it is used by another process. After verification, this is the process "java.exe" which use the genereted report.
I try to resolve it. Please, don't forget me If you have an idea to resolve the probleme.
I appreciate the attention you have given me

[Prithvi Sehgal]

Hello Boris,

Can you tell me what exception you are getting exactly? Additionally i would like to know did you try to use
.jasper file directly rather then using the built in compile utility.

BR,