Generate PDF from filters in Cakephp

Question

In a management page it is possible to filter by Company, User and between two dates.

How to generate a PDF when the user clicks the button based on the filters used or then from the Database table?

Answer 1

Do the download of the TCPDF.

Extract to folder, as example by putting in app/vendors. A directory with the php extension will be created. It is necessary to configure it. Something like this: tcpdf/config/tcpdf_config.php. Do the TCPDF extension for the header or footer. By default, there are two methods: header() and footer() (for header and footer).

xtcpdf.php

<?php 
App::import('Vendor','tcpdf/tcpdf'); 

class XTCPDF  extends TCPDF 
{ 

    var $xheadertext  = 'PDF created using CakePHP and TCPDF'; 
    var $xheadercolor = array(0,0,200); 
    var $xfootertext  = 'Copyright © %d XXXXXXXXXXX. All rights reserved.'; 
    var $xfooterfont  = PDF_FONT_NAME_MAIN ; 
    var $xfooterfontsize = 8 ; 


    /** 
    * Overwrites the default header 
    * set the text in the view using 
    *    $fpdf->xheadertext = 'YOUR ORGANIZATION'; 
    * set the fill color in the view using 
    *    $fpdf->xheadercolor = array(0,0,100); (r, g, b) 
    * set the font in the view using 
    *    $fpdf->setHeaderFont(array('YourFont','',fontsize)); 
    */ 
    function Header() 
    { 

        list($r, $b, $g) = $this->xheadercolor; 
        $this->setY(10); // shouldn't be needed due to page margin, but helas, otherwise it's at the page top 
        $this->SetFillColor($r, $b, $g); 
        $this->SetTextColor(0 , 0, 0); 
        $this->Cell(0,20, '', 0,1,'C', 1); 
        $this->Text(15,26,$this->xheadertext ); 
    } 

    /** 
    * Overwrites the default footer 
    * set the text in the view using 
    * $fpdf->xfootertext = 'Copyright © %d YOUR ORGANIZATION. All rights reserved.'; 
    */ 
    function Footer() 
    { 
        $year = date('Y'); 
        $footertext = sprintf($this->xfootertext, $year); 
        $this->SetY(-20); 
        $this->SetTextColor(0, 0, 0); 
        $this->SetFont($this->xfooterfont,'',$this->xfooterfontsize); 
        $this->Cell(0,8, $footertext,'T',1,'C'); 
    } 
} 
?>

It is possible to customize the code. The layout for the PDF file, save in:app/views/layouts/pdf.ctp

    <?php 
    header("Content-type: application/pdf"); 
    echo $content_for_layout; 
    ?>

No caso, se for imprimi-lo:
    function viewPdf($id = null) 
    { 
        if (!$id) 
        { 
            $this->Session->setFlash('Sorry, there was no property ID submitted.'); 
            $this->redirect(array('action'=>'index'), null, true); 
        } 
        Configure::write('debug',0); // Otherwise we cannot use this method while developing 

        $id = intval($id); 

        $property = $this->__view($id); // here the data is pulled from the database and set for the view 

        if (empty($property)) 
        { 
            $this->Session->setFlash('Sorry, there is no property with the submitted ID.'); 
            $this->redirect(array('action'=>'index'), null, true); 
        } 

        $this->layout = 'pdf'; //this will use the pdf.ctp layout 
        $this->render(); 
    } 

It is necessary to choose the PDF layout to be rendered.

$this->layout = 'pdf'; //this will use the pdf.ctp layout 
$this->render(); 

And so, the workings of Cakephp:

<?php 
App::import('Vendor','xtcpdf');  
$tcpdf = new XTCPDF(); 
$textfont = 'freesans'; // looks better, finer, and more condensed than 'dejavusans' 

$tcpdf->SetAuthor("KBS Homes & Properties at http://kbs-properties.com"); 
$tcpdf->SetAutoPageBreak( false ); 
$tcpdf->setHeaderFont(array($textfont,'',40)); 
$tcpdf->xheadercolor = array(150,0,0); 
$tcpdf->xheadertext = 'KBS Homes & Properties'; 
$tcpdf->xfootertext = 'Copyright © %d KBS Homes & Properties. All rights reserved.'; 

// add a page (required with recent versions of tcpdf) 
$tcpdf->AddPage(); 

// Now you position and print your page content 
// example:  
$tcpdf->SetTextColor(0, 0, 0); 
$tcpdf->SetFont($textfont,'B',20); 
$tcpdf->Cell(0,14, "Hello World", 0,1,'L'); 
// ... 
// etc. 
// see the TCPDF examples  

echo $tcpdf->Output('filename.pdf', 'D'); 

?>

Source.

Answer 2

You can adapt the PDF generation routine by reading a parameter GET and filter over this parameter before generating the PDF.