Catalyst::View::PDF::Reuse - Create PDF files from Catalyst using Template Toolkit templates
Create a PDF::Reuse view:
script/myapp_create.pl view PDF::Reuse PDF::Reuse
In MyApp.pm, add a configuration item for the template include path:
__PACKAGE__->config('View::PDF::Reuse' => { INCLUDE_PATH => __PACKAGE__->path_to('root','templates') });
In your controller:
$c->stash->{pdf_template} = 'hello_pdf.tt'; $c->forward('View::PDF::Reuse');
In root/templates/hello_pdf.tt:
[% pdf.prFont('Helvetica-Bold') %] [% pdf.prFontSize(20) %] [% pdf.prText(100,100,'Hello, World!') %]
Catalyst::View::PDF::Reuse provides the facility to generate PDF files from a Catalyst application by embedding PDF::Reuse commands within a Template Toolkit template.
Within your template you will have access to a pdf object which has methods corresponding to all of PDF::Reuse's functions.
pdf
For example, to print the text Hello, World at PDF coordinates 100,100, use the following directive in your template:
[% pdf.prText(100,100,'Hello, World') %]
Data held in the stash can be printed as follows:
$c->stash->{list} = ['one', 'two', 'three', 'four']; [% y = 500 %] [% FOREACH item IN list %] [% pdf.prText(100,y,item) %] [% y = y - 13 %] [% END %]
Formatting can be defined using the Template Toolkit format plugin:
[% USE format %] [% currency = format('£%.2f') %] [% pdf.prText(100,100,currency(10)) %]
The key benefit of PDF::Reuse is the ability to load an existing PDF file and use this as the basis for a new document.
For example, to produce receipts or shipping labels you could create a blank receipt in Microsoft Word, convert this to PDF, then use PDF::Reuse to add in details such as the order number and customer address.
[% pdf.prForm('customer_receipt.pdf') %] [% pdf.prText(123,643,order.number) %] [% pdf.prText(299,643,order.date) %]
Note that the PDF document loaded by pdf.prForm must be in the same directory as your Template Toolkit template.
pdf.prForm
Render the PDF file, places the contents in $c->response->body and sets appropriate HTTP headers.
$c->response->body
You should normally not need to use this method directly, instead forward to the PDF::Reuse view from your controller:
$c->forward('View::PDF::Reuse');
The filename and content disposition (inline or attachment) can be controlled by putting the following values in the stash:
$c->stash->{pdf_disposition} = 'attachment'; # Default is 'inline' $c->stash->{pdf_filename} = 'myfile.pdf';
If the PDF filename is not specified, it will be set to the last component of the URL path, appended with '.pdf'. For example, with a URL of http://localhost/view/order/pdf/1234 the PDF filename would be set to 1234.pdf.
Renders the PDF file and returns the raw PDF data.
If you need to capture the PDF data, e.g. to store in a database or for emailing, call render_pdf as follows:
render_pdf
my $pdf = $c->view("PDF::Reuse")->render_pdf($c);
Jon Allen, jj@jonallen.info
Please report any bugs or feature requests to bug-catalyst-view-pdf-reuse at rt.cpan.org, or through the web interface at http://rt.cpan.org/NoAuth/ReportBug.html?Queue=Catalyst-View-PDF-Reuse. I will be notified, and then you'll automatically be notified of progress on your bug as I make changes.
bug-catalyst-view-pdf-reuse at rt.cpan.org
You can find documentation for this module with the perldoc command.
perldoc Catalyst::View::PDF::Reuse
You can also look for information at:
RT: CPAN's request tracker
http://rt.cpan.org/NoAuth/Bugs.html?Dist=Catalyst-View-PDF-Reuse
AnnoCPAN: Annotated CPAN documentation
http://annocpan.org/dist/Catalyst-View-PDF-Reuse
CPAN Ratings
http://cpanratings.perl.org/d/Catalyst-View-PDF-Reuse
Search CPAN
http://search.cpan.org/dist/Catalyst-View-PDF-Reuse
PDF::Reuse
Penny's Arcade Open Source - http://www.pennysarcade.co.uk/opensource
Copyright (C) 2009 Penny's Arcade Limited
This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as Perl itself.
To install Catalyst::View::PDF::Reuse, copy and paste the appropriate command in to your terminal.
cpanm
cpanm Catalyst::View::PDF::Reuse
CPAN shell
perl -MCPAN -e shell install Catalyst::View::PDF::Reuse
For more information on module installation, please visit the detailed CPAN module installation guide.