Dynamic Color Using Designer

DynamicPDF API now allows conditionally formatting an element's color using expressions. In the following example we illustrate formatting a simple DLEX Report.

info

Download the files from your samples folder using the DynamicPDF CloudAPI File Manager.

After opening the DynamicColorTest.dlex file in Designer you see five different formatted elements, each formatted using an expression.

The following table summarizes the elements and the expressions used.

	Element	Expression	Explanation
A	Symbol	IF(LTE(num,0),"red",LT(num,10),"yellow")	If num <= 0 then red checkmark. Else if num <=10 then yellow checkmark. Otherwise, no checkmark (as default is omitted).
B	Line	IF(LTE(num,0),"red",LT(num,10),"yellow", "purple")	If num <= 0 then red line. Else if num <=10 then yellow line. Otherwise, purple line (the default).
C	RecordBox	IF(GTE(num,10), "green","black")	If num >= 10 then green text otherwise black.
D	RecordBox	IF(LTE(num,0),"critical")	If num <= 0 then display critical otherwise do not display.
E	Rectangle	IF(GT(num,10),"blue",LTE(num,0),"red","green")	If num > 10 then blue. Else if num <= 0 then red. Otherwise green (default).

The Data Explorer pane contains the dataset, consisting of lineItems with a num, product, and unitPrice field.

The Layout Data Editor contains the complete JSON document.

Formatting Symbol

The checkmark uses a Symbol element to display a symbolType of check1. However, if the color of the checkmark is either red, yellow, or omitted depending upon the value of the num field.

IF(LTE(num,0),"red",LT(num,10),"yellow")

Formating Recordbox

The RecordBox containing the num field is either green or black, depending upon its value.

IF(GTE(num,10), "green","black")

Formatting Line

The Line is either red, yellow, or purple depending upon the value of the num field.

IF(LTE(num,0),"red",LT(num,10),"yellow", "purple")

Formatting Rectangle

The Rectangle element's color is blue, red, or green depending upon the num field's value.

IF(GT(num,10),"blue",LTE(num,0),"red","green")

Generated Report

Running the report generates the following PDF.

DLEX Document

<document xmlns="https://www.dynamicpdf.com" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xsi:schemaLocation="https://www.dynamicpdf.com https://www.dynamicpdf.com/schemas/DLEX20.xsd" version="2.0" author="" keywords="" subject="" title="" id="Document1">
  <report id="Report1" dataName="lineItems" pageSize="letter" pageOrientation="portrait" leftMargin="50" topMargin="50" rightMargin="50" bottomMargin="50">
    <template id="Template1"/>
    <header id="Header1" height="20">
      <label id="Label2" x="3" y="4" width="69" height="14" underline="false" text="PRODUCT"/>
      <label id="Label3" x="76" y="4" width="100" height="14" align="right" underline="false" text="UNIT PRICE"/>
      <label id="Label4" x="181" y="4" width="100" height="14" align="right" underline="false" text="CREDITS"/>
      <line id="Line1" x1="2" y1="20" x2="512" y2="20"/>
    </header>
    <detail id="Detail1" autoSplit="false" height="18">
      <symbol id="Symbol1" x="283" y="3" width="43" height="14" color="IF(LTE(num,0),"red",LT(num,10),"yellow")" symbolType="check1"/>
      <recordBox id="RecordBox2" x="3" y="3" width="68" height="14" underline="false" autoLeading="true" cleanParagraphBreaks="true" expandable="false" rightToLeft="false" splittable="false" dataName="product"/>
      <recordBox id="RecordBox4" x="179" y="3" width="100" height="14" align="right" textColor="IF(GTE(num,10),"green","black")" underline="false" autoLeading="true" cleanParagraphBreaks="true" expandable="false" rightToLeft="false" splittable="false" dataName="num"/>
      <recordBox id="RecordBox5" x="76" y="3" width="100" height="14" align="right" underline="false" autoLeading="true" cleanParagraphBreaks="true" expandable="false" rightToLeft="false" splittable="false" dataName="unitPrice" dataFormat="$#.00"/>
      <rectangle id="Rectangle1" x="476" y="3" width="30" height="14" borderColor="IF(GT(num,10),"blue",LTE(num,0),"red","green")"/>
      <recordBox id="RecordBox7" x="330" y="3" width="66" height="14" align="center" textColor="red" underline="false" autoLeading="true" cleanParagraphBreaks="true" expandable="false" rightToLeft="false" splittable="false" dataName="IF(LTE(num,0),"critical")"/>
      <line id="Line2" x1="401" y1="10" x2="457" y2="10" color="IF(LTE(num,0),"red",LT(num,10),"yellow","purple")"/>
    </detail>
    <footer id="Footer1" height="20">
      <conditionalFooter id="ConditionalFooter1" condition="LastPage">
        <recordBox id="RecordBox6" x="410" y="3" width="100" height="14" align="right" underline="false" autoLeading="true" cleanParagraphBreaks="true" expandable="false" rightToLeft="false" splittable="false" dataName="sum(num)"/>
        <label id="Label5" x="306" y="3" width="100" height="14" underline="false" text="TOTAL CREDITS:"/>
      </conditionalFooter>
    </footer>
  </report>
</document>