FPDF – Creating A Basic PDF
I recently introduced you to a wonderful piece of software name FPDF. If you have not downloaded and began playing with its capabilities you definitely should. As a Developer we must always be looking for new additions to our toolbox.
In order to hopefully entice you into trying FPDF I thought it might be a good idea to show you jest exactly how easy it is to create a basic Dynamic Pdf.
Download your preferred version of FPDF and unzip it into the preferred location.
*IMPORTANT make sure the folder containing FPDF as well as its subfolder have write access. Otherwise the pdf will crash while trying to save itself causing a possible troubleshooting headache.
>PHP Version
In the parent directory containing the PFDF folder create a file named mypdf.php
In mypdf.php write
<?php Require(‘fpdf.php’); $pdf = new FPDF(“p”, “mm”,”A4”); $pdf->AddPage(); $pdf->SetFont(‘Arial’,’B’,16); $pdf->Cell(40,10,’My First PDF!’); $pdf->Output(“/public/mypdf.pdf”); ?>
Then open mypdf.php in your browser and voila your very first dynamic pdf.
>ASP Version
In the parent directory containing the PFDF folder create a file named mypdf.asp
In mypdf.asp write
<!--#include virtual=”/public/fpdf.asp”--> <% Set pdf=CreateJsObject(“FPDF”) pdf.CreatePDF “P”, “mm”,”A4” pdf.SetPath(“fpdf/”) pdf.AddPage() pdf.SetFont “Arial”,”B”,16 pdf.Open() pdf.cell 40,10,’My First PDF!’,1,0,,1 pdf.Close() filewrite=server.MapPath(“/public/mypdf.pdf”) pdf.Output filewrite %>