Hi guys! Ready for another tutorial? Have you ever heard that we can generate a PDF document including database table records
This is how to deal with PDF documents in Laravel. We have to take some external tools for this task.
Here we mainly use Laravel TCPDF library.
This is how to deal with PDF documents in Laravel. We have to take some external tools for this task.
Here we mainly use Laravel TCPDF library.
Documentation link : https://github.com/elibyy/tcpdf-laravel
Step 1 - Create new laravel project
composer create-project laravel/laravel LaravelPDF
Step 2 - Migrate database
Open the project folder and edit database configuration files.
.env file
config/database.php file
Before database migration, we have something to do to avoid migration errors... In your project folder, open Http/Providers/AppServiceProvider.php file and replace its code with this.
<?php
namespace App\Providers;
use Illuminate\Support\ServiceProvider;
use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Schema;
class AppServiceProvider extends ServiceProvider
{
/**
* Bootstrap any application services.
*
* @return void
*/
public function boot()
{
Schema::defaultStringLength(191);
}
/**
* Register any application services.
*
* @return void
*/
public function register()
{
//
}
}
Now open the database folder in the project folder and go into the folder called migrations. Then Delete the migration built for password resets. Edit the migration reserved for users. Replace this code.
<?php
use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Schema;
use Illuminate\Database\Schema\Blueprint;
use Illuminate\Database\Migrations\Migration;
class CreateUsersTable extends Migration
{
/**
* Run the migrations.
*
* @return void
*/
public function up()
{
Schema::create('users', function (Blueprint $table) {
$table->increments('id');
$table->string('name');
$table->string('email');
});
}
/**
* Reverse the migrations.
*
* @return void
*/
public function down()
{
Schema::dropIfExists('users');
}
}
Open a cmd and type this command to migrate database.
php artisan migrate
You will have the database tables now..
Now the database is ready for our task! But we have to upload some data to the database. So, go to PhpMyadmin and select the laravel_pdf database. Then import the SQL file include in my GitHub folder. It will upload some data to the database.
Move on for next step..
Step 3 - Install TCPDF Library into the project
As I mentioned at the beginning I will use TCPDF library to generate pdf fles. So we have to install it in the project. Open composer.json file and add this to require section."elibyy/tcpdf-laravel": "5.6.*",
composer update
Then open config/app.php file to do further configurations.
Place this code in providers section
Elibyy\TCPDF\ServiceProvider::class
Place this code in aliases section
Okay!!! Now we have fully installed TCPDF library! Move on guys!
Step 4 - Create a controller to add functionalities
Open the cmd and type the command to create a controller called UserController.php artisan make:controller UserController
Add the index function to load the with users included in the database.
<?php
namespace App\Http\Controllers;
use Illuminate\Http\Request;
use App\User;
use PDF;
class UserController extends Controller
{
public function index()
{
$users = User::all();
return view('welcome', ['users' => $users]);
}
}
Step 5 - Add Routes
Open routes/web.php and add this code lines.
Route::get('/', 'Usercontroller@index');
Route::get('/download', 'Usercontroller@savePDF');
Route::get('/viewpdf', 'Usercontroller@openPDF');
Step 6 - Modify the view file to load the front page
Edit the welcome blade file to integrate the styles and design. I use Bootstrap 4 to add styles.
<!doctype html>
<html lang="{{ app()->getLocale() }}">
<head>
<meta charset="utf-8">
<meta http-equiv="X-UA-Compatible" content="IE=edge">
<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
<title>Laravel PDF</title>
<!-- Bootstrap core CSS -->
<link href="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/twitter-bootstrap/4.0.0/css/bootstrap.min.css" rel="stylesheet">
<!-- Fonts -->
<link href="https://fonts.googleapis.com/css?family=Lato" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css">
<style type="text/css">
body{
font-family: 'Lato', sans-serif;
}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<div class="container" style="margin-top: 50px;">
@if(count($users) > 0)
<h2 class="text-left">User List</h2><br>
<a href="/download" class="btn btn-success btn-sm">Download PDF</a>
<a href="/viewpdf" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">Open PDF</a>
<br><br>
<table class="table table-bordered table-striped">
<tr>
<th>ID</th>
<th>Name</th>
<th>Email</th>
</tr>
@foreach($users as $user)
<tr>
<td>{{ $user->id }}</td>
<td>{{ $user->name }}</td>
<td>{{ $user->email }}</td>
</tr>
@endforeach
</table>
@else
<br><h4 class="text-center">There are no users</h4>
@endif
</div>
<script type="text/javascript" src="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/jquery/3.2.1/jquery.min.js"></script>
<!-- Bootstrap core JavaScript -->
<script type="text/javascript" src="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/twitter-bootstrap/4.0.0/js/bootstrap.min.js"></script>
</body>
</html>
Open cmd and type php artisan serve. Then open web browser and type localhost:8000 to run the project. You will get this output view.
Step 7 - Modify the controller
<?php
namespace App\Http\Controllers;
use Illuminate\Http\Request;
use App\User;
use PDF;
class UserController extends Controller
{
public function index()
{
$users = User::all();
return view('welcome', ['users' => $users]);
}
// this function opens the PDF in browser. If we want, we can downlod
public function openPDF()
{
$users = User::orderBy('id','asc')->get();
// usersPdf is the view that includes the downloading content
$view = \View::make('usersPdf', ['users'=>$users]);
$html_content = $view->render();
// Set title in the PDF
PDF::SetTitle("List of users");
PDF::AddPage();
PDF::writeHTML($html_content, true, false, true, false, '');
// userlist is the name of the PDF downloading
PDF::Output('userlist.pdf');
}
// this function directly downloads the PDF.
public function savePDF()
{
$users = User::orderBy('id','asc')->get();
$view = \View::make('usersPdf', ['users'=>$users]);
$html_content = $view->render();
PDF::SetTitle("List of users");
PDF::AddPage();
PDF::writeHTML($html_content, true, false, true, false, '');
// D is the change of these two functions. Including D parameter will avoid
// loading PDF in browser and allows downloading directly
PDF::Output('userlist.pdf', 'D');
}
}
Step 8 - Create the Downloading content
As the last step, we have to prepare the content in a view file called usersPdf since we included the view as usersPdf, in our controller functions. This view should include only the content. When it is rendered, only the basic HTML tags will be evaluated. The structure in the PDF is arranged using those basic tags. Do not include Bootstrap styles. They will not be recognized.
<div class="container">
<h1>User list</h1>
<table border="1" cellpadding="10" width="100%" style="margin-bottom: 100px;">
<tr>
<th width="20%">ID</th>
<th width="40%">Name</th>
<th width="40%">Email</th>
</tr>
@foreach($users as $user)
<tr>
<td>{{ $user->id }}</td>
<td>{{ $user->name }}</td>
<td>{{ $user->email }}</td>
</tr>
@endforeach
</table>
</div>
WE HAVE COMPLETED THE TUTORIAL GUYS!
Now click on two buttons and see the outcome.. So, this is the way to generate PDFs easily using TCPDF library with Laravel. Laravel always provides easier ways to use libraries and packages. That's why I consider this as the best PHP framework..
Try this and give feedback. I'm looking forward for your comments...
Good Luck!
Generate PDF using TCPDF library with Laravel
Reviewed by DAL
on
August 02, 2018
Rating:
Reviewed by DAL
on
August 02, 2018
Rating:
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