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PDF Create

PDF Create

Section titled “PDF Create”

Type: pdf-create  ·  Package: PDF Activities v1.2.4  ·  Output: string

Creates a new PDF from text. It is a simple way to generate plain documents from the robot: a receipt, a summary, a process record. Returns the path of the PDF created.

How it works

Section titled “How it works”

Writes content to a new PDF at output and returns the path of the file. It uses black Arial on white, at the fontSize size and with a line spacing of 1.4 times that size, starting at the top margin.

The content is written line by line, and each line maps to a line in the PDF:

  • If you pass a text, every line break starts a new line. All three line endings work (\n, \r\n and \r).
  • If you pass a list, each item is a line. If an item contains line breaks, it is split too.

Lines wider than the page are wrapped at word boundaries so they fit; a single word that doesn’t fit on its own (a long path, a hash) is broken by characters. Text never runs off the side of the page. When a page fills up, the text continues on a new one.

To force a page break, include a line with \f or {PAGE_BREAK} (only that on the line; surrounding spaces are allowed). That line is not written.

It creates the output folder if it doesn’t exist and overwrites the file if it already exists.

Required parameters

Section titled “Required parameters”
ParameterTypeDefaultDescription
outputstring—Path of the PDF to create.
contentstring | List—Text content: a text, where each line break starts a new line, or a list of texts (one line each).

Optional parameters

Section titled “Optional parameters”
ParameterTypeDefaultDescription
titlestring—Document title (the Title metadata, which the viewer shows in its tab). It is not written on the page.
fontSizenumber11Font size in points, greater than 0. It accepts a number or an expression. Since 1.2.4.
marginnumber2.0Page margin in centimetres, the same on all four sides, from 0 to less than 10.5. It accepts a number or an expression. Since 1.2.4.

Output

Section titled “Output”

Returns a string with the path of the PDF created (the same as output).

Common errors

Section titled “Common errors”
MessageCause and fix
'fontSize' must be a number. Received: …. (or 'margin')The typed value or the result of the expression isn’t a number. Since 1.2.4.
'fontSize' must be greater than 0. Received: ….Font size 0 or negative. Since 1.2.4.
'margin' must be between 0 and 10.5 centimetres. Received: ….Negative margin, or so large it leaves no room to write. Since 1.2.4.
'output' is required. / 'content' is required.The parameter was left empty or its expression returned null. An empty text ("") is valid: it creates a one-page blank PDF.
File system access errorNo permission on the folder, or the output file is open in another program.

A fontSize or margin value that isn’t a number counts as 0; make sure they are numbers.

Example

Section titled “Example”

Generate a processing receipt:

PDF Create
  output  = "C:/receipts/" + number + ".pdf"
  title   = "Receipt " + number
  content = arr(
     "Processing receipt",
     "Number: " + number,
     "Date: " + now().ToString("yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm"),
     "Status: Processed successfully"
  )
  → output: receipt
PDF Add Watermark   path = receipt   output = receipt.Replace(".pdf", "-copy.pdf")   text = "COPY"

The same document with a text instead of a list — each \n is a line:

PDF Create
  output  = "C:/receipts/" + number + ".pdf"
  content = "Processing receipt\n" +
              "Number: " + number + "\n" +
              "Status: Processed successfully"

A two-page report, with the break marked as one more line:

PDF Create
  output  = "C:/reports/summary.pdf"
  content = arr(
     "Process summary",
     "Records processed: " + total.ToString(),
     "{PAGE_BREAK}",
     "Annex: error details"
  )
Section titled “Related activities”