pdf4tcl - Pdf document generation

# pdf4tcl(n) 0.9.1 pdf4tcl "Pdf document generation"

## Name

pdf4tcl - Pdf document generation

## Table Of Contents

## Synopsis

- package require Tcl 8.6
- package require pdf4tcl ?0.9.1?

- ::pdf4tcl::new objectName ?option value...?
- ::pdf4tcl::getPaperSize paper
- ::pdf4tcl::getPaperSizeList
- ::pdf4tcl::getPoints val
- ::pdf4tcl::loadBaseTrueTypeFont basefontname ttf_file_name
- ::pdf4tcl::createBaseTrueTypeFont basefontname ttf_data
- ::pdf4tcl::loadBaseType1Font basefontname AFM_file_name PFB_file_name
- ::pdf4tcl::createBaseType1Font basefontname AFM_data PFB_data
- ::pdf4tcl::createFont basefontname fontname encoding_name
- ::pdf4tcl::createFontSpecEnc basefontname fontname subset
- ::pdf4tcl::getFonts
- ::pdf4tcl::rgb2Cmyk rgb
- ::pdf4tcl::cmyk2Rgb cmyk
- ::pdf4tcl::catPdf infile ?infile ...? outfile
- objectName method ?arg arg ...?
- objectName configure
- objectName configure option
- objectName configure -option value...
- objectName cget -option
- objectName destroy
- objectName startPage ?option value...?
- objectName endPage
- objectName startXObject ?option value...?
- objectName endXObject
- objectName finish
- objectName get
- objectName write ?-file filename?
- objectName addForm type x y width height ?option value...?
- objectName getDrawableArea
- objectName canvas path ?option value...?
- objectName metadata ?option value...?
- objectName bookmarkAdd ?option value...?
- objectName embedFile filename ?option value...?
- objectName attachFile x y width height fid description ?option value...?
- objectName setFont size ?fontname?
- objectName getStringWidth str
- objectName getCharWidth char
- objectName setTextPosition x y
- objectName moveTextPosition dx dy
- objectName getTextPosition
- objectName newLine ?spacing?
- objectName setLineSpacing spacing
- objectName getLineSpacing
- objectName text str ?option value...?
- objectName drawTextBox x y width height str ?option value...?
- objectName getFontMetric metric
- objectName putImage id x y ?option value...?
- objectName putRawImage data x y ?option value...?
- objectName addImage filename ?option value...?
- objectName addRawImage data ?option value...?
- objectName getImageHeight id
- objectName getImageSize id
- objectName getImageWidth id
- objectName setBgColor red green blue
- objectName setBgColor c m y k
- objectName setFillColor red green blue
- objectName setFillColor c m y k
- objectName setStrokeColor red green blue
- objectName setStrokeColor c m y k
- objectName setLineWidth width
- objectName setLineDash ?on off...? ?offset?
- objectName setLineStyle width args
- objectName line x1 y1 x2 y2
- objectName curve x1 y1 x2 y2 x3 y3 ?x4 y4?
- objectName polygon ?x y...? ?option value...?
- objectName circle x y radius ?option value...?
- objectName oval x y radiusx radiusy ?option value...?
- objectName arc x y radiusx radiusy phi extend ?option value...?
- objectName arrow x1 y1 x2 y2 size ?angle?
- objectName rectangle x y width height ?option value...?

## Description

This package provides a container class for generating pdf documents.

## COORDINATES

All coordinates and distances can be expressed with or without a unit. See UNITS for valid units. When the page is configured with -orient set to false, origin is in the bottom left corner. With -orient true (the default), origin is in the top left corner. Origin is displaced to account for margins, i.e. if margins are 100, the user coordinate (0,0) corresponds to (100,100) on the paper. Page option -orient can also affect the anchor point for things like images.

## UNITS

Any coordinates and distances can be expressed with or without an explicit unit. If no unit is given, the default unit for the document is used. A unit may be one of mm (millimeter), m (millimeter), cm (centimeter), c (centimeter), p (points) or i (inches). Commands returning coordinates or distances always return a double value in the document's default unit.

## PUBLIC API

### PACKAGE COMMANDS

::pdf4tcl::new objectName ?option value...?

  This command creates a new pdf4tcl object with an associated Tcl command whose name is objectName. This object command is explained in full detail in the sections OBJECT COMMAND and OBJECT METHODS. The object command will be created under the current namespace if the objectName is not fully qualified, and in the specified namespace otherwise. If objectName is %AUTO% a name will generated. The return value is the newly created object's name.

  The options and their values coming after the name of the object are used to set the initial configuration of the object. See OBJECT CONFIGURATION.

::pdf4tcl::getPaperSize paper

  This call returns the size of a named paper type, e.g. "a4". Paper names are case insensitive. The argument paper may also be a two element list with values as accepted by ::pdf4tcl::getPoints. The return value is a list with width and height in points.

::pdf4tcl::getPaperSizeList

  This call returns the list of known paper types.

::pdf4tcl::getPoints val

  This call translates a measurement to points (1/72 inch). The format of val is 'num ?unit?' where num is a valid integer or double. See UNITS for valid units. If no unit is given, the value is interpreted as points.

::pdf4tcl::loadBaseTrueTypeFont basefontname ttf_file_name

  This call loads a TTF font from file to be used by any pdf4tcl objects. The basefontname is used to reference this font. To use this base font in documents, a font with some encoding must be created from it using createFont. Note that the font loading functions require Tcl 8.5.

::pdf4tcl::createBaseTrueTypeFont basefontname ttf_data

  This call creates a base font from TTF binary data.

::pdf4tcl::loadBaseType1Font basefontname AFM_file_name PFB_file_name

  This call loads a Type1 font from two files (.afm and .pfb) to be used by any pdf4tcl objects. The basefontname is used to reference this font. To use this base font in documents, a font with some encoding must be created from it using createFont.

::pdf4tcl::createBaseType1Font basefontname AFM_data PFB_data

  This call creates a base font from AFM text and PFB binary data.

::pdf4tcl::createFont basefontname fontname encoding_name

  This call creates a font that can be used in documents from a base font.

      pdf4tcl::loadBaseTrueTypeFont BaseArial "arial.ttf"
      pdf4tcl::createFont BaseArial MyArial cp1251
      pdf4tcl::loadBaseType1Font BaseType1 "a010013l.afm" "a010013l.pfb"
      pdf4tcl::createFont BaseType1 MyType1 cp1251
      pdf4tcl::new mypdf -paper a4 -compress 0
      mypdf startPage
      mypdf setFont 10 MyArial
      set txt "\u042D\u0442\u043E \u0442\u0435\u043A\u0441\u0442 \u043D\u0430 \u0440\u0443\u0441\u0441\u043A\u043E\u043C\
               \u044F\u0437\u044B\u043A\u0435. This is text in Russian."
      mypdf text $txt -bg #CACACA -x 50 -y 100
      mypdf setFont 10 MyType1
      mypdf text $txt -x 50 -y 200
      mypdf write -file fonts.pdf
      mypdf destroy

::pdf4tcl::createFontSpecEnc basefontname fontname subset

  This call creates a font that can be used in documents from a base font. The subset must be a list of unicode values.

::pdf4tcl::getFonts

  This call returns the list of known font names, i.e. those accepted in a call to setFont. This includes the default fonts and fonts created by e.g. ::pdf4tcl::createFont.

::pdf4tcl::rgb2Cmyk rgb

  This call translates an RGB color value to a CMYK color value. It is used internally if -cmyk was set at object creation to translate colors. You can redefine this procedure to provide your own translation.

::pdf4tcl::cmyk2Rgb cmyk

  This call translates a CMYK color value to an RGB color value. It is used internally to translate colors. You can redefine this procedure to provide your own translation.

::pdf4tcl::catPdf infile ?infile ...? outfile

  This call concatenates PDF files into one. Currently the implementation limits the PDFs a lot since not all details are taken care of yet. Straightforward ones like those created with pdf4tcl or ps2pdf should work mostly ok.

### OBJECT COMMAND

All commands created by ::pdf4tcl::new have the following general form and may be used to invoke various operations on their pdf object.

objectName method ?arg arg ...?

  The method method and its arg'uments determine the exact behavior of the command. See section OBJECT METHODS for the detailed specifications.

### OBJECT METHODS

objectName configure

  The method returns a list of all known options and their current values when called without any arguments.

objectName configure option

  The method behaves like the method cget when called with a single argument and returns the value of the option specified by said argument.

objectName configure -option value...

  The method reconfigures the specified options of the object, setting them to the associated values, when called with an even number of arguments, at least two.

  The legal options are described in the section OBJECT CONFIGURATION.

objectName cget -option

  This method expects a legal configuration option as argument and will return the current value of that option for the object the method was invoked for.

  The legal configuration options are described in section OBJECT CONFIGURATION.

objectName destroy

  This method destroys the object it is invoked for. If the -file option was given at object creation, the output file will be finished and closed.

objectName startPage ?option value...?

  This method starts a new page in the document. The page will have the default page settings for the document unless overridden by option. See PAGE CONFIGURATION for page settings. This will end any ongoing page.

objectName endPage

  This method ends a page in the document. It is normally not needed since it is implied by e.g. startPage and finish. However, if the document is built page by page in e.g. an event driven environment it can be good to call endPage explicitly to have all the page's work finished before reentering the event loop.

objectName startXObject ?option value...?

  This method starts a new XObject in the document. An XObject is a reusable drawing object and behaves just like a page where you can draw any graphics. An XObject must be created between pages and this method will end any ongoing page. The return value is an id that can be used with putImage to draw it on the current page or with some forms. All page settings (PAGE CONFIGURATION) are valid when creating an XObject. Default options are -paper = {100p 100p}, -landscape = 0, -orient = document default, -margin= 0.

  -noimage bool

    If this is set the XObject is not added to the image resource set and cannot be used with putImage, only in forms. The XObject also gets access to resources which is needed to use e.g. fonts within the XObject. This behaviour has shown to be PDF reader dependent, and it is currently not known if this can be made to work better.

objectName endXObject

  This method ends an XObject definition. It works just like endPage.

objectName finish

  This method ends the document. This will do endPage if needed. If the -file option was given at object creation, the output file will be finished and closed.

objectName get

  This method returns the generated pdf. This will do endPage and finish if needed. If the -file option was given at object creation, nothing is returned.

objectName write ?-file filename?

  This method writes the generated pdf to the given filename. If no filename is given, it is written to stdout. This will do endPage and finish if needed. If the -file option was given at object creation, an empty file is created.

objectName addForm type x y width height ?option value...?

  Add an interactive form at the given position and size. Supported types are text and checkbutton. Option -init gives an initial value for the form. For a checkbutton, options -on and -off can be given an xobject (created with startXObject) to control its appearance.

### OBJECT METHODS, PAGE

objectName getDrawableArea

  This method returns the size of the available area on the page, after removing margins. The return value is a list of width and height, in the document's default unit.

objectName canvas path ?option value...?

  Draws the contents of the canvas widget path on the current page. Option -bbox gives the area of the canvas to be drawn. Default is the entire contents, i.e. the result of $path bbox all. Options -x, -y, -width and -height defines an area on the page where to place the contents. Default area starts at origin, stretching over the drawable area of the page. Option -sticky defines how to place the contents within the area. The area is always filled in one direction, preserving aspect ratio, unless -sticky defines that the other direction should be filled too. Default -sticky is nw. If option -bg is true, a background is drawn in the canvas' background color. Otherwise only objects are drawn. Default is false. Option -fontmap gives a dictionary mapping from Tk font names to PDF font names.

  Fonts:

  If no font mapping is given, fonts for text items are limited to PDF's builtins, i.e. Helvetica, Times and Courier. A guess is made to chose which one to use to get a reasonable display on the page.

  An element in a font mapping must exactly match the -font option in the text item. The corresponding mapping value is a PDF font family, e.g. one created by pdf4tcl::createFont. It is recommended to use named fonts in Tk to control the font mapping in detail.

  Limitations:

  Option -splinesteps for lines/polygons is ignored.

  Stipple offset is limited. The form x,y should work.

  Window items require Img to be present and must be visible on-screen when the canvas is drawn.

objectName metadata ?option value...?

  This method sets metadata fields for this document. Supported field options are -author, -creator, -keywords, -producer, -subject, -title, -creationdate and -format.

objectName bookmarkAdd ?option value...?

  Add a bookmark on the current page.

  -title text

    Set the text of the bookmark.

  -level level

    Set the level of the bookmark. Default is 0.

  -closed boolean

    Select if the bookmark is closed by default. Default is false, i.e. not closed.

objectName embedFile filename ?option value...?

  This method embeds a file into the PDF stream. File data is considered binary. Returns an id that can be used in subsequent calls to attachFile.

  -id id

    Explicitly select an id for the file. The id must be unique within the document.

  -contents data

    Provides the file contents instead of reading the actual file.

objectName attachFile x y width height fid description ?option value...?

  This method adds a file annotation to the current page. The location of the file annotation is given by the coordinates x, y, width, height. The annotation is rendered by default as a paperclip icon, which allows the extraction of the attached file. An fid from a previous call to embedFile must be set as well as a description, which is shown by the PDF viewer upon activating the annotation.

  -icon icon

    Controls the appearance of the attachment. Valid values are Paperclip, Tag, Graph, or PushPin. Default value is Paperclip.

      set fid [$pdfobject embedFile "data.txt" -contents "This should be stored in the file."]
      $pdfobject attachFile 0 0 100 100 $fid "This is the description"

### OBJECT METHODS, TEXT

objectName setFont size ?fontname?

  This method sets the font used by text drawing routines. If fontname is not provided, the previously set fontname is kept.

objectName getStringWidth str

  This method returns the width of a string under the current font.

objectName getCharWidth char

  This method returns the width of a character under the current font.

objectName setTextPosition x y

  Set coordinate for next text command.

objectName moveTextPosition dx dy

  Increment position by dx, dy for the next text command.

objectName getTextPosition

  This method returns the current text coordinate.

objectName newLine ?spacing?

  Moves text coordinate down and resets x to where the latest setTextPosition was. The number of lines to move down can be set by spacing. This may be any real number, including negative, and defaults to the value set by setLineSpacing.

objectName setLineSpacing spacing

  Set the default line spacing used be e.g. newLine. Initially the spacing is 1.

objectName getLineSpacing

  Get the current default line spacing.

objectName text str ?option value...?

  Draw text at the position defined by setTextPosition using the font defined by setFont.

  -align left|right|center (default left)
  -angle degrees (default 0) - Orient string at the specified angle.
  -xangle degrees (default 0)
  -yangle degrees (default 0) - Apply x or y shear to the text.
  -x x (default 0)
  -y y (default 0) - Allow the text to be positioned without setTextPosition.
  -bg bool (default 0)
  -background bool (default 0)
  -fill bool (default 0)

    Any of -bg, -background or -fill cause the text to be drawn on a background whose color is set by setBgColor.

objectName drawTextBox x y width height str ?option value...?

  Draw the text string str wrapping at blanks and tabs so that it fits within the box defined by x, y, width and height. An embedded newline in str causes a new line in the output. If str is too long to fit in the specified box, it is truncated and the unused remainder is returned.

  -align left|right|center|justify

    Specifies the justification. If not given, the text is left justified.

  -linesvar var

    Gives the name of a variable which will be set to the number of lines written.

  -dryrun bool

    If true, no changes will be made to the PDF document. The return value and -linesvar gives information of what would happen with the given text.

objectName getFontMetric metric

  Get information about current font. The available metrics are ascend, descend, fixed, bboxb, bboxt and height.

  ascend

    Top of typical glyph, displacement from anchor point. Typically a positive number since it is above the anchor point.

  descend

    Bottom of typical glyph, displacement from anchor point. Typically a negative number since it is below the anchor point.

  fixed

    Boolean which is true if this is a fixed width font.

  bboxb

    Bottom of Bounding Box, displacement from anchor point. Typically a negative number since it is below the anchor point.

  bboxt

    Top of Bounding Box, displacement from anchor point. Typically a positive number since it is above the anchor point.

  height

    Height of font's Bounding Box.

### OBJECT METHODS, IMAGES

A limited set of image formats are directly understood by pdf4tcl, currently JPEG and some PNG formats. To use unsupported formats, use Tk and the Img package to load and dump images to raw format which can be fed to putRawImage and addRawImage.

objectName putImage id x y ?option value...?

  Put an image on the current page. The image must have been added previously by addImage or addRawImage. The id is the one returned from the add command.

  -angle degrees

    Rotate image degrees counterclockwise around the anchor point. Default is 0.

  -anchor anchor

    Set the anchor point (nw, n, ne etc.) of the image. Coordinates x and y places the anchor point, and any rotation is around the anchor point. Default is nw if -orient is true, otherwise se.

  -height height

    Set the height of the image. Default height is one point per pixel. If width is set but not height, the height is selected to preserve the aspect ratio of the image.

  -width width

    Set the width of the image. Default width is one point per pixel. If height is set but not width, the width is selected to preserve the aspect ratio of the image.

objectName putRawImage data x y ?option value...?

  Put an image on the current page. Works like putImage except that the raw image data is given directly.

  -compress boolean

    Raw data will be zlib compressed if this option is set to true. Default value is the document's -compress setting.

        image create photo img1 -file image.gif
        set imgdata [img1 data]
        mypdf putRawImage $imgdata 60 20 -height 40

objectName addImage filename ?option value...?

  Add an image to the document. Returns an id that can be used in subsequent calls to putImage. Supported formats are PNG and JPEG.

  -id id

    Explicitly select an id for the image. The id must be unique within the document.

  -type name

    Set the image type. This can usually be deduced from the file name, this option helps when that is not possible. This can be either "png" or "jpeg".

objectName addRawImage data ?option value...?

  Add an image to the document. Works like addImage except that the raw image data is given directly.

  -compress boolean

    Raw data will be zlib compressed if this option is set to true. Default value is the document's -compress setting.

        image create photo img1 -file image.gif
        set imgdata [img1 data]
        set id [mypdf addRawImage $imgdata]
        mypdf putImage $id 20 60 -width 100

objectName getImageHeight id

  This method returns the height of the image identified by id.

objectName getImageSize id

  This method returns the size of the image identified by id. The return value is a list of width and height.

objectName getImageWidth id

  This method returns the width of the image identified by id.

### OBJECT METHODS, COLORS

Colors can be expressed in various formats. First, as a three element list of values in the range 0.0 to 1.0. Second, in the format #XXXXXX where the Xes are two hexadecimal digits per color value. Third, if Tk is available, any color accepted by winfo rgb is accepted.

objectName setBgColor red green blue

  Sets the background color for text operations where -bg is true.

objectName setBgColor c m y k

  Alternative calling form, to set color in CMYK color space.

objectName setFillColor red green blue

  Sets the fill color for graphics operations, and the foreground color for text operations.

objectName setFillColor c m y k

  Alternative calling form, to set color in CMYK color space.

objectName setStrokeColor red green blue

  Sets the stroke color for graphics operations.

objectName setStrokeColor c m y k

  Alternative calling form, to set color in CMYK color space.

### OBJECT METHODS, GRAPHICS

objectName setLineWidth width

  Sets the width for subsequent line drawing. Line width must be a non-negative number.

objectName setLineDash ?on off...? ?offset?

  Sets the dash pattern for subsequent line drawing. Offset and any elements in the dash pattern must be non-negative numbers. on off is a series of pairs of numbers which define a dash pattern. The 1st, 3rd ... numbers give units to paint, the 2nd, 4th ... numbers specify unpainted gaps. When all numbers have been used, the pattern is re-started from the beginning. An optional last argument sets the dash offset, which defaults to 0. Calling setLineDash with no arguments resets the dash pattern to a solid line.

objectName setLineStyle width args

  Sets the width and dash pattern for subsequent line drawing. Line width and any elements in the dash pattern must be non-negative numbers. args is a series of numbers (not a tcl list) which define a dash pattern. The 1st, 3rd ... numbers give units to paint, the 2nd, 4th ... numbers specify unpainted gaps. When all numbers have been used, the pattern is re-started from the beginning. This method do not support offsetting the pattern, see setLineDash for a more complete method.

objectName line x1 y1 x2 y2

  Draws a line from x1, y1 to x2, y2

objectName curve x1 y1 x2 y2 x3 y3 ?x4 y4?

  If x4, y4 are present, draws a cubic bezier from x1, y1 to x4, y4 with control points x2, y2 and x3, y3. Otherwise draws a quadratic bezier from x1, y1 to x3, y3, with control point x2, y2

objectName polygon ?x y...? ?option value...?

  Draw a polygon. There must be at least 3 points. The polygon is closed back to the first coordinate.

  -filled bool (default 0)

    Fill the polygon.

  -stroke bool (default 1)

    Draw an outline of the polygon.

objectName circle x y radius ?option value...?

  Draw a circle at the given center coordinates.

  -filled bool (default 0)

    Fill the circle.

  -stroke bool (default 1)

    Draw an outline of the circle.

objectName oval x y radiusx radiusy ?option value...?

  Draw an oval at the given center coordinates.

  -filled bool (default 0)

    Fill the oval.

  -stroke bool (default 1)

    Draw an outline of the oval.

objectName arc x y radiusx radiusy phi extend ?option value...?

  Draw an arc, following the given oval. The arc starts at angle phi, given in degrees starting in the "east" direction, counting counter clockwise. The arc extends extend degrees.

  -filled bool (default 0)

    Fill the arc.

  -stroke bool (default 1)

    Draw an outline of the arc.

  -style arc|pieslice|chord (default arc)

    Defines the style of the arc. An arc draws the perimeter of the arc and is never filled. A pieslice closes the arc with lines to the center of the oval. A chord closes the arc directly.

objectName arrow x1 y1 x2 y2 size ?angle?

  Draw an arrow. Default angle is 20 degrees.

objectName rectangle x y width height ?option value...?

  Draw a rectangle.

  -filled bool (default 0)

    Fill the rectangle.

  -stroke bool (default 1)

    Draw an outline of the rectangle.

### OBJECT CONFIGURATION

All pdf4tcl objects understand the options from PAGE CONFIGURATION, which defines default page settings when used with a pdf4tcl object. The objects also understand the following configuration options:

-cmyk boolean

  If true, pdf4tcl will try to generate the document in CMYK color space. See ::pdf4tcl::rgb2Cmyk for a way to control color translation. Default value is false. This option can only be set at object creation.

-compress boolean

  Pages will be zlib compressed if this option is set to true. Default value is true. This option can only be set at object creation.

-file filename

  Continuously write pdf to filename instead of storing it in memory. This option can only be set at object creation.

-unit defaultunit

  Defines default unit for coordinates and distances. Any value given without a unit is interpreted using this unit. See UNITS for valid units. Default value is "p" as in points. This option can only be set at object creation.

### PAGE CONFIGURATION

-paper name

  The argument of this option defines the paper size. The paper size may be a string like "a4", where valid values are available through ::pdf4tcl::getPaperSizeList. Paper size may also be a two element list specifying width and height.

  The default value of this option is "a4".

-landscape boolean

  If true, paper width and height are switched.

  The default value of this option is false.

-orient boolean

  This sets the orientation of the y axis of the coordinate system. With -orient false, origin is in the bottom left corner. With -orient true, origin is in the top left corner.

  The default value of this option is true.

-margin values

  The margin is a one, two or four element list of margins. For one element, it specifies all margins. Two elements specify left/right and top/bottom. Four elements specify left, right, top and bottom.

  The default value of this option is zero.

-rotate angle

  This value defines a rotation angle for the display of the page. Allowed values are multiples of 90.

  The default value of this option is zero.

## EXAMPLES

      pdf4tcl::new mypdf -paper a3
      mypdf startPage
      mypdf setFont 12 Courier
      mypdf text "Hejsan" -x 50 -y 50
      mypdf write -file mypdf.pdf
      mypdf destroy

## See Also

doctools

## Keywords

document, pdf

## Copyright

Copyright © 2007-2016 Peter Spjuth
Copyright © 2009 Yaroslav Schekin