GenPDFPrincePlugin

Generate PDF using Prince XML

This plugin generates PDF using the third-party tool Prince XML. You will have to download this tool from their site and agree on the license terms and conditions. Note that the non-commercial version can be used on a Foswiki server for free. In this case you will get a watermark at the top right corner of the generated pdf although not visible when printed out.

In case you'd like to use Prince XML for commercial purposes or just want to get rid of this watermark, contact MD Consulting to purchase a server license with a specific sales discount granted to Foswiki users.

Usage

Get a PDF by adding contenttype=application/pdf to the view url like this:

%SCRIPTURL{"view"}/%WEB%/%TOPIC%?contenttype=application/pdf&cover=print

Optionally an url parameter outfile can be used to specifiy the target filename of the pdf being generated. If not specified explicitly it defaults to genpdf_%!TOPIC%.pdf

%SCRIPTURL{"view"}/%WEB%/%TOPIC%?contenttype=application/pdf&cover=print&outfile=myreport.pdf

Here's the complete Foswiki documentation in PDF.

Installation

You will have to download Prince XML from http://www.princexml.com/download.

If you are using other plugins that implement a completePageHandler (see InstalledPlugins) then you most probably need to tune the $Foswiki::cfg{PluginsOrder} to list the GenPDFPrincePlugin behind those. For example, if you are using Foswiki:Extensions/ZonePlugin then you will have to list both giving them a specific order how they execute the completePageHandler

$Foswiki::cfg{PluginsOrder} = '...., ZonePlugin, GenPDFPrincePlugin';

Note, that ZonePlugin is not required anymore in newer Foswiki engines > 1.1.0.

You do not need to install anything in the browser to use this extension. The following instructions are for the administrator who installs the extension on the server.

Open configure, and open the "Extensions" section. "Extensions Operation and Maintenance" Tab -> "Install, Update or Remove extensions" Tab. Click the "Search for Extensions" button. Enter part of the extension name or description and press search. Select the desired extension(s) and click install. If an extension is already installed, it will not show up in the search results.

You can also install from the shell by running the extension installer as the web server user: (Be sure to run as the webserver user, not as root!)

cd /path/to/foswiki
perl tools/extension_installer <NameOfExtension> install

If you have any problems, or if the extension isn't available in configure, then you can still install manually from the command-line. See https://foswiki.org/Support/ManuallyInstallingExtensions for more help.

Change History

19 Jan 2024	use the PRINT_TEMPLATE as a view template if present
12 Nov 2019	don't append the html page to the end of the pdf output
11 Jul 2016	added option pdfdisposition to inline or redirect content
31 Aug 2015	compatibility for Foswiki-2.0
16 Dec 2014	work around call to unofficial internal api to get absolute pub urls
18 Mar 2014	fixed encoding content again; setting static context when delivering pdf output
18 Mar 2013	added outfile url param to specify the file name of the pdf being generated
08 Mar 2012	fixed encoding of charset fed to prince xml; rewrite img urls from http: to file: urls while prince works on the local filesystem generating pdf
17 Nov 2010	using legacy interface mkpath to make_path to please older perl versions
11 Nov 2010	fixing incomplete image data in pdf
07 Jun 2010	added content-disposition to ease saving the pdf to disk
20 Aug 2009	improved error handling
07 May 2009	initial release