The DynamicPDF API now supports JSON data with named objects and allows referring to data elements using dot (.) notation. This change allows more flexibility in structuring JSON layout data used to create reports using Designer.
DynamicPDF Designer is a powerful graphical editing tool for creating a DLEX XML specification that, when processed, creates a PDF document. You can also programmatically create a DLEX specification to format a report dynamically. Here, we show how to dynamically create a columnar report.
This post is part two of a two-part blog post. In this post, we programmatically add columns to a DLEX from (almost) scratch.
In the last post (Dynamic Columns and Designer Reports - Part One), we modified an existing DLEX file to remove and move columns in an existing DLEX document. But many times, you might wish to create a DLEX programmatically from scratch. Here, we illustrate making a DLEX file dynamically from a bare-bones DLEX document.
Creating and modifying a DLEX from scratch is tedious and error-prone. If possible, you should use DynamicPDF Designer Online.
We start with a bare-bones DLEX file, report-with-cover-page.json, and use the DynamicPDF API C# Client library, available on GitHub or as a NuGet package.
We use the client library to create a PDF using the pdf endpoint. We also use Microsoft's System.XML namespace.
DynamicPDF Designer is a powerful graphical editing tool for creating a DLEX XML specification that, when processed, creates a PDF document. You can also programmatically modify a DLEX specification to format a report dynamically. Here, we show how to dynamically change a report to remove columns when creating a columnar report.
This is part one of a two-part blog post. In this post we programmatically modify an existing DLEX. In the next post we create that DLEX from scratch.
When using Designer, you might have trouble getting started with producing JSON data to design and test your DLEX document. If you use SQL Server, then an easy way to produce a JSON dataset is by using the for JSON clause in your SQL statement.
Here at DynamicPDF, we have noticed several clients needing help distinguishing if they should use a Subreport rather than a ConditionalHeader or ConditionalFooter. ConditionalHeader elements and ConditionalFooter elements are convenient ways to add top-level information or column headers to a report. However, when you need to display substantial data in a header or footer, often the better choice is to use a Subreport. Here, we create a report illustrating why you might consider using a Subreport rather than a ConditionalHeader or ConditionalFooter.
DynamicPDF API now allows conditionally formatting an element's color using expressions. In the following example we illustrate formatting a simple DLEX Report.
You can expand rows to easily match the height of your content. You can even use Lines and Rectangles to expand with a field's content. Here's how to do it.
DynamicPDF CloudAPI Designer now supports Google Fonts, significantly expanding the number of fonts available to you when creating a PDF document.
We at DynamicPDF are happy to announce the following tutorials, now available online. These tutorials illustrate how to use DynamicPDF Designer to create rich, dynamic PDF reports.
We at DynamicPDF are happy to announce the following tutorials, now available online. Available now are written and video tutorials covering all DynamicPDF API's REST endpoints.