Set Up

The solution and skeletons for this task are available to clone on this repository

git clone git@github.com:Taack/myLibrary.git
To access the skeleton for this part, go to your terminal cd into the project (myLibrary) and copy the following line.
git checkout part-5-skeleton

Or in IntelliJ you can select the wanted branch directly. Select in the top left corner main/myLibrary/remote, and you will see all the branches. Select a branch add checkout.

Creating PDFs

In this section, you will learn how to create PDFs based on the data in your project.

To create a pdf, you will use a UiPrintableSpecifier(), composed of a:

  • printableHeader that allows to define a header that will be repeated on all pages.

  • printableBody that allows to define the content of the PDF on many pages.

  • printableFooter allows to define the footer that will be repeated on all pages (the size must not be greater than 2cm).

If you want to see an example, refer to Printable Block DSL.

Printable Header

The height parameter is mandatory if you need a height different from 2cm.

There are three options to organize the display if the header.

  • printableHeaderLeft: will draw from left to right

  • printableHeader: you will need to specify the location (center, left, right)

  • printableHeaderRight: will draw from right to left

Inside the header, you draw the content using UiSpecifiers.

Example code:
printableHeaderRight('7.5cm') { //(1)
    show new UiShowSpecifier().ui {
        field'Content'
    }, BlockSpec.Width.MAX
}

  1. draws the header starting on the right with a height of 7.5cm.

We are going to implement our own printableHeader. Where we will draw the name of the user requesting the PDF, the taack logo and the date the PDF is requested at.

Go to MyLibraryUiService.

Pro Mode: implement the printableHeader of buildLibraryPdf [TODO 1.1].

Implement the printableHeader of buildLibraryPdf:
printableHeaderLeft('7.5cm') {
    show new UiShowSpecifier().ui {
        field Style.BOLD, 'Printed for'
        field """${currentUser.firstName} ${currentUser.lastName}"""
    }, BlockSpec.Width.THIRD
    show new UiShowSpecifier().ui {
        field """
            <div style='height: 2cm; text-align: center; width: 75%;'>
                ${this.taackUiService.dumpAsset('logo-taack-web.svg')}
            </div>
        """
    }, BlockSpec.Width.THIRD
    show new UiShowSpecifier().ui {
        field Style.ALIGN_RIGHT, """${new Date()}"""
    }, BlockSpec.Width.THIRD
}

Printable Body

Inside the body, you draw the content using UiSpecifiers, same as for the printableHeader.

  1. We want to display all the author names with a table below displaying the books written by the specific authors.

  2. We also want to display the graph that we implemented previously.

  3. Finally, if the user requesting the PDF is a borrower, we want to display the list of borrowed requests of books that have been returned in a table.

Pro Mode: implement the first part of printableBody of buildLibraryPdf [TODO 1.2.1].

Implement the first part of printableBody of buildLibraryPdf:
List<MyLibraryAuthor> authors = MyLibraryAuthor.list(sort: 'lastName')
for (MyLibraryAuthor author : authors) {
    show new UiShowSpecifier().ui {
        field """<h2>${author.firstName} ${author.lastName}</h2>"""
    }, BlockSpec.Width.MAX
    table this.buildAuthorTablePdf(author), BlockSpec.Width.MAX
}

Pro Mode: implement the second part of printableBody of buildLibraryPdf [TODO 1.2.2].

Implement the second part of printableBody of buildLibraryPdf:
anonymousBlock BlockSpec.Width.MAX, {
    diagram buildAuthorPieDiagram(true), BlockSpec.Width.MAX
    diagram buildBookPopularityPieDiagram(true), BlockSpec.Width.MAX
    diagram buildBarDiagram(true, 'YEAR'), BlockSpec.Width.MAX
    diagram buildBorrowDurationWhiskersDiagram(), BlockSpec.Width.MAX
}

Pro Mode: implement the third part of printableBody of buildLibraryPdf [TODO 1.2.3].

Implement the third part of printableBody of buildLibraryPdf:
if (currentUser?.authorities?.any { it.authority == 'ROLE_BORROWER' }) {
    table this.buildUserBorrowsTable(false, null, true), BlockSpec.Width.MAX
}

Printable Footer

Inside the body, you draw the content using UiSpecifiers, same as for the printableHeader. It automatically displays the number of the page in the bottom right corner. For the sake of redundancy we will not display anything in the printableFooter.

Rendering the PDF

A button has been added to the menu displaying an export_pdf button that calls downloadLibraryPdf, which will allow the pfd to be created and downloaded. Let’s implement downloadLibraryPdf.

Go to MyLibraryController.

Pro Mode: implement downloadBinLibraryPdf [TODO 2].

Implement downloadBinLibraryPdf:
def downloadBinLibraryPdf() {
    UiPrintableSpecifier pdf = myLibraryUiService.buildLibraryPdf()
    taackUiPdfService.downloadPdf(pdf, 'LibrarySummary', false)
}
Warning

Any method used to create a PDF has to start with downloadBin

Here is an example of PDF generated by this code: LibrarySummary