Appfarm Documentation
Getting startedDocumentationCommunityAppfarm Create
  • Overview
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    • Appfarm Showroom
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  • Appcademy
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    • Appfarm Fundamentals
      • Intro Course
        • 1. Intro to No-Code and Appfarm
        • 2. Navigation in Appfarm Create
        • 3. What is Apps?
        • 4. Intro to UI Editor
        • 5. Data Model
        • 6. App Data
        • 7. Actions
        • 8. Tips and Tricks
        • 9. Intro to practical walkthrough
        • 10. Create a details view of a Project
        • 11. Create a Custom List
        • 12. Swipe and Delete
        • 13. Functionality for simple Create of Data
        • 14. Upload and Download Photos
        • 15. Input Dialog with Validation and Save
        • 16. Dashboard
        • 17. Summary
        • Quiz
      • User Interface Fundamentals
        • Container - Sectioning, Styling and Repeating
        • Conditional Styles
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        • Featured UI Components
        • Quiz
      • App Data Fundamentals
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        • URL Parameters
        • Quiz
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        • Event Handlers
        • Featured Action Nodes
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        • Quiz
      • Services Fundamentals
        • Introduction to Services
        • Setting up a Service
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      • Integration Fundamentals
        • The web request action node
        • Fetch data from an endpoint
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        • Quiz
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        • Extending the User object class
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        • Unauthenticated access
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    • Appfarm Professional
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    • Appfarm Sales Representative
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      • Session 1: Data Modeling in Appfarm Create
      • Session 2: App Data in Appfarm Create
      • Session 3: Services in Appfarm Create
      • Session 4: Optimizing Performance
    • Background
      • Databases
        • Data modeling 101
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  • Library
    • UI components
      • Advanced bar chart
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      • Floating action button
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      • Delete user account
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      • End execution
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      • Export data
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      • If
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      • Set selection
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      • Set user account image
      • Show install app prompt
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  • Reference
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  • How to
    • Data modeling
      • Many-to-many relationships
      • Use naming conventions
      • Offline data handling
      • Data silos and White labelling
    • User interface
      • Manage a many-to-many relationship with a Chip group
      • Configure drag and drop
      • Build a drag-and-drop calendar
      • Design a responsive layout
      • Work with flexbox
      • Use Mapbox as a map layer
      • Understand charts
    • Logic and flow
      • Event Log Design
      • Configure advanced search
    • Themes and styling
      • Change the active theme
      • Add custom email templates
    • Enhance your app
      • Add deep links
      • Add keyboard shortcuts
      • Add link previews for social media
      • Apply SEO best practices
      • Change the active language
      • Generate a PDF from a Container
    • Integrations
      • Integrate with external systems
      • Integrate with OpenAI
      • Integrate with Google Analytics (GA4)
      • Configure a custom email account
      • Integrate with a payment provider
      • Integrate with Signicat
      • Integrate directly with an external database
      • Retrieve a Bearer token from Google Cloud
      • Fetch data from BigQuery
      • Retrieve access token from Microsoft Entra ID
    • Workflow automation
      • Update an OAuth 2.0 access token from a service
    • Authentication and access control
      • Add users and assign roles
      • Configure unauthenticated access
      • Implement third-party authentication
    • Security, testing and deployment
      • Add a custom domain
      • Install an app on a device
      • Get ready for Production
      • Optimize performance
      • Security checklist
      • Test and debug
    • Example apps
      • Create an Instagram clone
        • The end result
        • Designing the feed
        • Create new post
        • Add a like-button
        • Add comment-functionality
  • Solution administration
    • Subscription and billing
    • Dedicated tier benefits
    • Guide to GDPR
      • Key principles
      • How Appfarm protects personal data
      • How you can protect your clients’ data
      • Glossary
    • Appfarm and the EU AI Act
  • Policies
    • Appfarm Policies
    • Data Processors
    • Privacy Policy
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On this page
  • 1. Design your document in a Container
  • 2. Add the html2pdf library using a custom header tag
  • 3. Create an action with Run Code

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Export as PDF
  1. How to
  2. Enhance your app

Generate a PDF from a Container

PreviousChange the active languageNextIntegrations

Last updated 1 year ago

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The recommended way to generate a PDF document with Appfarm Create is by using the . Sometimes though, for example when you'd like to include charts, it may not be possible to create the required PDF using Generate Document.

In this case, you could design your document in a and then make use of the browser's built-in print functionality to print the page as a PDF. You can even trigger the browser's print dialog to open using the .

A third option, detailed in this guide, is to use the to generate a PDF based on the contents of a . This method relies on the external JavaScript library to convert the Container to an image and then generate a PDF which is automatically downloaded.

Important

This setup uses an external JavaScript library provided by a third-party that you use at your own risk. Appfarm does not provide support for third-party libraries and will not be responsible for any issues, conflicts, errors, or damages that may occur as a result of their use.

Example

A is available in our .

1. Design your document in a Container

In a new or existing :

  • Add a new that will hold the contents of the document.

  • In the Container's component properties, enter an Element ID. For example, report. Don't use spaces.

  • In the Container's style properties, enter an explicit Width in pixels.

  • Fill the Container with your desired UI components and configure them just as you normally would when building a View.

  • Add a new Button, outside of the Container, that will be used to trigger the PDF generation.

2. Add the html2pdf library using a custom header tag

Property
Value

Description

html2pdf

Tag Type

Script URL

Script URL

The CDN URL of the script. For example: https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/html2pdf.js/0.10.1/html2pdf.bundle.min.js.

The above properties are enough to use the library in your app. You might want to consider adding custom attributes such as integrity with the hash provided on the library's website.

3. Create an action with Run Code

  • Click the On Click event handler of the Button created in step 1 to open the Select Action dialog.

  • Click Create New Action.

  • Enter a name for the action.

    • A 10mm margin on all sides

    • A filename for the generated PDF.

    • The width of the Container configured in step 1.

  • Click OK.

// Change 'highScorers' to match the Element ID used in step 1.
const element = document.getElementById('highScorers');
/*
  Change the margin, in millimeters, as desired.
  Change the filename as desired.
  Change the width, in pixels, to match the width used in step 1.
*/
const opt = {
    margin:       10, // mm
    filename:     'High Scorers Report.pdf',
    html2canvas:  { width: 900, useCORS: true } // width in pixels
};
html2pdf().set(opt).from(element).save();
      
resolve();

Now you can preview your app and click the button to generate a PDF.

Head to to find the CDN URL for the latest version of the html2pdf JavaScript library.

Then, under , for each environment in which you'd like to generate PDFs, add a new . Use the following values:

Add a .

Click Code and paste in the code below. Make sure to change the Element ID to match the one you entered in step 1 and configure any other options. This code sets the following basic options, but are available:

https://ekoopmans.github.io/html2pdf.js/
Run Code action node
more options
Generate Document action node
View
Open Print Dialog action node
Run Code action node
Container
html2pdf
working example
Showroom
View
Container
Environments
custom header tag
The active Container is configured to be used as the source for a PDF, with the Element ID highlighted.
An example of the html2pdf library added with a custom header tag.