pdfTag - Homepage

the pdfTag class
how to use pdfTag
common elements
miscellaneous elements
text elements
graphic elements
hypertext elements
index

how to use pdfTag

Creating pdfs with pdfTag is quiet easy as creating webpages.

First of all you need a XML source. Here is an example:

Listing 1: xml source 'sample.xml'

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1"?>
<document>
  <page format="A4">
    <setfont font="Helvetica" size="12.0"/>
    <showxy x="100" y="100">Test</showxy>
  </page>
</document>

Create a file with the content from listing 1 and name it 'sample.xml'
The next step will be the php script, which creates the pdf.

Listing 2: 'pdf.php'

<?php
include("pdfTag.php");
$pdf = new pdfTag();
$pdf->readFromFile('sample.xml');

if(!$_REQUEST["show"]):
  $pdf->Debug = true;
  $pdf->pdfProfile = true;
  $pdf->generatePDF();
?>
<a href="pdf.php?show">click to view the pdf</a>
<?php
else:
  $pdf->generatePDF();
  $pdf->dumpPDF();
endif;
?>

We use the properties 'Debug' and 'pdfProfile' of the instatiated object for some informational output.
$pdf->generatePDF() parses the xml source and create the pdf, per default memory. With $pdf->dumpPDF() the generated pdf will be passed to the client, i.e. a browser. Be sure that no other output from your script is send to the client before, otherwise the pdf can't be displayed or downloaded by the client without errors.

common elements

document

Syntax: <document [author] [creator] [keywords] [subject] [title] >..<document>

Attributes:

author="string"
creator="string"
keywords="string"
subject="string"
title="string"

These attributes set possible values for information about the document, all of them are optional.

Example:

<document author="Roy Kaldung" creator="pdfTag/PHP">
..
<document>

content index

page

Syntax: <page (width height)|format [orientation]>..</page>

Attributes:

width="double"
height="double"
format="string"
For an easy page definition the are some predefined formats:
- A4/DIN A4
- A5/DIN A5
- A6/DIN A6
- letter
- legal
- ledger
- 11x17
orientation="portrait|landscape"

Example:

<page format="A4" orientation="landscape">..</page>

content index

miscellaneous elements

addthumbnail

Syntax: <addthumbnail id />

Attributes:

id="string"

Adding a thumbnail to the current page. Before adding it, you must load it with openimagefile. The image is referenced by the attribute 'id'. Using an undefined id results in a warning.

Example:

<addthumbnail id="thumb1"/>

See also:

openimagefile

content index

annotation

Syntax: <annotation llx lly urx ury title text />

Alternative: <annotation llx lly urx ury title>text</annotation>

Attributes:

llx="double"
lly="double"
urx="double"
ury="double"
title="string"
text="string"

Adds an annotation to the current page, at the position llx,lly (lower left x and y) and urx,ury (upper right x and y) with a title and the mentioned attribute text as the content.

Example:

<annotation llx="0" lly="0" urx="100" ury="100" title="Annotation" text="This is my annotation"/>

content index

border_color

Syntax: <border_color colors/>

Alternative: <border_color>colors</border_color>

Attributes:

colors="r,g,b"

set the actual color for all drawed borders to the specified values.

Example:

<border_color colors="0,0,1"/>
<-- set the border color to blue -->

content index

initgraphics

Syntax:
<initgraphics />

Attributes:

none

This elements will reset all color and graphic state paremeters to their defaults.

Example:

<initgraphics />

content index

openimagefile

Syntax: <openimagefile id type src />

Attributes:

id="string"
type="[tiff|png|gif|jpeg]"
src="string"

This tag make the image, specified by src, available for using in the whole document. All three attributes must be present, see the documentation of the pdflib for further information about the size of the image.

Example:

<openimagefile id="thumb" type="tiff" src="img/Thumb.tiff"/>

See also:

addthumbnail

content index

outline

Syntax: <outline [id] text [parent] [open]/>

Alternative: <outline [id] [parent] [open]>text</outline>

Attributes:

text="string"
id=string
parent="string"
open="open|close"

The content of text will be added as a outline to the current page. If parent is specified it must be an existing id of another outline. If the value of open is 'open' the outline will be displayed.

Example:

<outline id="chapter1" open="open" parent="content"/>

content index

placeimage

Syntax: <placeimage id x y [scale] />

Attributes:

id="string"
x="double"
y="double"
scale="double"
Places an image, already loaded with openimagefile, to the position 'x','y'. The image is referenced by 'id'. If 'scale' is specified, it it scaled. The default scale is set to '1.0'.

Example:

<placeimage x="100" y="100" id="img1" />

See also:

openimagefile

content index

text elements

graphic lements

arc

Syntax: <arc x y radius start end />

Attributes:

x="double"
y="double"
radius="double"
start="double"
end="double"

The element 'arc' draws an circular arc with the center 'x','y' and radius 'radius', starting with angle 'start', ending with angle 'end'.

Example:

<arc x="200" y="150" radius="30" start="0" end="90" />

content index

circle

Syntax: <circle x y radius />

Attributes:

x="double"
y="double"
radius="double" Draws a circle with the center 'x', 'y' and the radius 'radius'.

Example:

<circle x="200" y="150" radius="30" />

content index

line

Syntax: <line x1 y1 x2 y2/>

Alternative: <line>x1,y1,x2,y2</line>

Attributes:

x1="double"
y1="double"
x2="double"
y2="double"
linewidth="double", optional

Example:

<line linewidth="0.3">100,75,300,250</line>

content index

hypertext lements

weblink

Syntax: <weblink llx lly urx ury url />

Attributes:

llx="double"
lly="double"
urx="double"
ury="double"
url="string"
Draws a rectangle with the coordinates llx, lly, urx, ury and open a link to the url 'url' if the user click on it.

Example:

<weblink llx="50" lly="650" urx="200" ury="670" url="http://www.kaldung.de/pdftag" />

content index

Index
A B C D F G H I K L M N O P R S T U W

addthumbnail (element)
annotation (element)
arc (element)
author (attribute)
  document

border_color (element)

circle (element)
clip (element)
close (value of attribute)
  outline
closepath (element)
colors (attribute)
  border_color (element)
continue_text (element)
creator (attribute)
  document
curveto (element)

dash (element)
document (element)
dumpPDF() (method)
duration (element)

fill (element)
fill_stroke (element)
format (attribute)
  page

generatePDF() (method)

height (attribute)
  page

id (attribute)
  addthumbnail
  openimagefile
  outline
  placeimage
initgraphics (element)

keywords (attribute)
  document

landscape (value of attribute)
  page
line (element)
lineto (element)
linewidth (element)
linewidth (attribute)
  line
llx (attribute)
  annotation
  weblink
lly (attribute)
  annotation
  weblink

moveto (element)

note (element)

open (attribute)
  outline
open (value of attribute)
  outline
openimagefile (element)
orientation (attribute)
  page
outline (element)

page (element)
parent (attribute)
  outline
path (element)
placeimage (element)
portrait (value of attribute)
  page

readFromFile() (method)
rect (element)
restore (element)
rotate (element)

save (element)
scale (element)
set (element)
set_leading (element)
setfont (element)
setlinewidth (element)
setrgbcolor (element)
settemplate (element)
show (element)
showboxed (element)
showxy (element)
src (attribute)
  openimagefile
subject (attribute)
  document
stroke (element)

template (element)
text (attribute)
  annotation
  outline
title (attribute)
  annotation
  document
translate (element)
type (attribute)
  openimagefile

url (attribute)
  weblink
urx (attribute)
  annotation
  weblink
ury (attribute)
  annotation
  weblink

weblink (element)
width (attribute)
  page