Creating PDF in MVC 5 using ITextSharp

Creating PDF in MVC 5 using ITextSharp

For a long time I have been looking for free and cheaper ways of creating pdf documents within MVC. I have tried all the other options and none was able to give me the standard of document I wanted.

After long and tiresome nights of trying to figure out the solution I stumbled upon ItextSharp... This was my life changer. Maybe it might be for you too..

 Process

1. Download ItextSharp using the Nuget Package manager and if you prefer using command line arguments you an use: Install-Package iTextSharp full documentation to this can be retrieved here
2. Create a class that will be used to write the data you created as a byte array. How this works can be found here or here
    

     public class BinaryResult : ActionResult  
      {  
        private byte[] _fileBinary;  
        private string _contentType;  
        private string _fileName;  
        public BinaryResult(byte[] fileBinary, string contentType, string fileName)  
        {  
          _fileBinary = fileBinary; //gets the binary array to be written  
          _contentType = contentType; //gets the content type of the documet  
          _fileName = fileName; //gets the file name for the document  
        }  
        public override void ExecuteResult(ControllerContext context)  
        {  
          context.HttpContext.Response.Clear(); //clears the buffers  
          context.HttpContext.Response.ContentType = _contentType; // sets the content type for the document  
          context.HttpContext.Response.AddHeader("Content-Disposition", "attachment;filename=" + _fileName); //This allows the file to be downloadable  
          if (_fileBinary != null)  
          {  
            context.HttpContext.Response.BinaryWrite(_fileBinary); //returns dynamic made document for download  
          }  
        }  
      }  
    }  
   

3. Format the document the way you want it. This can be achieved in many way but I used this blog here to accomplish this in  a different way.

     public ActionResult Pdf(List<Fee> fees)  
        {  
          var document = new Document(PageSize.A4, 50, 50, 25, 25);  
          // Create a new PdfWrite object, writing the output to a MemoryStream  
          var output = new MemoryStream();  
          var writer = PdfWriter.GetInstance(document, output); //setting an instance of the object to be written  
          // Open the Document for writing  
          document.Open();  
          // First, create our fonts... (For more on working w/fonts in iTextSharp, see: http://www.mikesdotnetting.com/Article/81/iTextSharp-Working-with-Fonts  
          var titleFont = FontFactory.GetFont("Arial", 14, Font.BOLD);  
          var subTitleFont = FontFactory.GetFont("Arial", 10, Font.BOLD);  
          var boldTableFont = FontFactory.GetFont("Arial", 10, Font.BOLD);  
          var endingMessageFont = FontFactory.GetFont("Arial", 10, Font.ITALIC);  
          var bodyFont = FontFactory.GetFont("Arial", 10, Font.NORMAL);  
          //Adding a pragraph to the document  
          document.Add(new Paragraph("Kilifi County Transaction", titleFont));  
          //adding a new ling after the paragraph   
          document.Add(Chunk.NEWLINE);  
          //Adding a paragraph to the document  
          document.Add(new Paragraph("Transaction Details", subTitleFont));  
          // Create the transaction details table - see http://www.mikesdotnetting.com/Article/86/iTextSharp-Introducing-Tables for more info  
          var orderInfoTable = new PdfPTable(new float[] { 0.8f, 1.0f, 1f, 1f, 0.7f, 0.7f, 1f, 1f, 1.2f });  
          orderInfoTable.WidthPercentage = 100; //make the table span the whole document  
          orderInfoTable.HorizontalAlignment = 1; //0 - left aligh, 1 - center, 2 - right align  
          orderInfoTable.SpacingBefore = 5; // spacing before cell  
          orderInfoTable.SpacingAfter = 5; // spaceing after cell  
          orderInfoTable.DefaultCell.Border =0; // used to add borders to the document  
          //Creating the headers to the that tables  
          orderInfoTable.AddCell(new Phrase("Reciept No:", boldTableFont));  
          // orderInfoTable.AddCell(new Phrase("Attendant", boldTableFont));  
          orderInfoTable.AddCell(new Phrase("Terminal", boldTableFont));  
          orderInfoTable.AddCell(new Phrase("Location", boldTableFont));  
          orderInfoTable.AddCell(new Phrase("Tarrif", boldTableFont));  
          orderInfoTable.AddCell(new Phrase("Rate (KSH)", boldTableFont));  
          orderInfoTable.AddCell(new Phrase("Units/ Weight", boldTableFont));  
          orderInfoTable.AddCell(new Phrase("Reg No.", boldTableFont));  
          orderInfoTable.AddCell(new Phrase("Amount", boldTableFont));  
          orderInfoTable.AddCell(new Phrase("Timestamp", boldTableFont));  
          //lopping through the list to populate the table with data  
          foreach (var feeItem in fees)  
          {  
            orderInfoTable.AddCell(new Phrase(feeItem.ID.ToString(), bodyFont));  
          //   orderInfoTable.AddCell(new Phrase(feeItem.Attendant.FullNames, bodyFont));  
            orderInfoTable.AddCell(new Phrase(feeItem.Terminal.Name, bodyFont));  
            orderInfoTable.AddCell(new Phrase(feeItem.Location.Name, bodyFont));// Phrase("Location", boldTableFont));  
            orderInfoTable.AddCell(new Phrase(feeItem.Tarrif.Name, bodyFont));// Phrase("Tarrif", boldTableFont));  
            orderInfoTable.AddCell(new Phrase(feeItem.Tarrif.Amount.ToString(), bodyFont)); // Phrase("Rate (KSH)", boldTableFont));  
            orderInfoTable.AddCell(new Phrase(String.Format("{0:0.00}", (feeItem.Amount / feeItem.Tarrif.Amount)), bodyFont));// Phrase("Unit/Weight", boldTableFont));  
            orderInfoTable.AddCell(new Phrase(feeItem.RegistrationNumber, bodyFont));// Phrase("Reg No.", boldTableFont));  
            orderInfoTable.AddCell(new Phrase(String.Format("{0:0}", feeItem.Amount), bodyFont));// Phrase("AMount", boldTableFont));  
            orderInfoTable.AddCell(new Phrase(feeItem.Timestamp.ToString(), bodyFont));// Phrase("Timestamp", boldTableFont));  
          }  
          //adding all the content to the document object or else nothing will display  
          document.Add(orderInfoTable);  
          // Add ending message  
          var visionMessage = new Paragraph(" Vision: \"To be a leading, vibrant, highly productive, secure and prosperous county providing a high quality of life for all its inhabitants.\"" , endingMessageFont);  
          visionMessage.Alignment = 1;  
          document.Add(visionMessage);  
          var misionMessage = new Paragraph(" Vision: \"The county will provide the environment for efficient utilization of resources, effective provision of essential services, and industrial growth and development initiatives for improved quality of life for all.\"", endingMessageFont);  
          misionMessage.Alignment = 1;  
          document.Add(misionMessage);  
          // Finally, add an image in the upper right corner  
          //var logo = iTextSharp.text.Image.GetInstance(Server.MapPath("~/Images/4guysfromrolla.gif"));  
          //logo.SetAbsolutePosition(440, 800);  
          //document.Add(logo);  
          document.Close();  
          //creating the output dynamically  
          return new BinaryResult(output.ToArray(), "application/pdf", "Trascation.pdf");  
        }  
   

4. Finally I call the method within my Action whenever I want to export the content to a pdf

     }  
          else if (command == "Export")  
          {  
            return Pdf(fees);  
          }  

       
This were were my simple steps to getting a document exported to pdf within mvc.
For more reading on creating and formatting the document according to your preference you can go here. Mike has done a good job explaining how this can be achieved.