Important Note

This is a wrapper for the npm package pdfmake. Since with Meteor 1.3 you can include npm packages out of the box I'll stop updating this plugin. I'd recommend using the original npm package instead.

About

• Package: pdfmake
• Original Author: bpampuch
• Package Docs: pdfmake-docs
• Version: client-version (not working on server)
• Release: 0.1.20

With this Package of Pdfmake you can easily generate pdf documents on the client. It also provides quite a lot of useful Features to achive sophisticated layouts and fairly complex styling.

Quickstart

• Add the Package to your Project:

meteor add nilsdannemann:pdfmake

• The simplest Version of a pdf-document can be defined like so:

var docDefinition = { content: 'My Text' };

• With this you can start the pdf-generation like so:

pdfMake.createPdf(docDefinition).open();

• Now you can (for example) add both to any simple meteor event:

Template.myTemplate.events({
	'click .myButton': function() {
		// Define the pdf-document
		var docDefinition = { content: 'My Text' };
		
		// Start the pdf-generation process
		pdfMake.createPdf(docDefinition).open();
	}
});

Thats it. When ".myButton" is clicked, the pdf is generated and then opened in the Browser.

Examples

Here are some examples on how you might use the package.

1. Iterating over a Collection

This Example explains how to iterate over documents in a collection.

In this case: Display the names of all customers in the Collection "Customers".

Template.myTemplate.events({
	'click .myButton': function() {
		var customerNames = Customers.find().map(function(i){
			return i.name;
		});

		// Define the pdf-document
		var docDefinition = { 
			content: [
				'Some text',		
				customerNames,
				'Some text'
			]
		};
		
		// Start the pdf-generation process
		pdfMake.createPdf(docDefinition).open();
	}
});

2. Using a Form to create a pdf

This Example take the input values from a form an creates a pdf with them on submit.

The form:

<template name="myTemplate">
	<form class="my_form">
		<input class="my_input" type="text" name="name">
		<input class="my_input" type="text" name="number">
		<input type="submit" value="submit">
	</form>
</template>

The event:

Template.myTemplate.events({
	'submit .my_form': function(event) {
		var name = event.target.name.value;
		var number = event.target.number.value;

		//define pdf
		var docDefinition = {
			content: [
				name,
				number,
				'Some text'
			]
		};

		//generate pdf
		pdfMake.createPdf(docDefinition).open();

		// clear form & prevent browser refresh
		event.target.name.value = "";
		event.target.number.value = "";
		event.preventDefault();
	}
});

3. Using Columns & Styles

This Example uses iron:router and pdfmake-features like: page sizes & margins, columns & style dictionaries.

In this case: Display some Customer Data with a decent layout.

Template.myTemplate.events({
	'click .myButton': function() {
		// Some variables with 'this' (requires router setup - see below)
		var customerName = this.name;
		var customerDetailOne = this.detail_one;
		var customerDetailTwo = this.detail_two;
		// Some variables without 'this'
		var customerAdress = Customers.findOne(this._id).adress;
		var currentUser = Meteor.user().profile.name;

		// Define the pdf-document
		var docDefinition = { 
			pageSize: 'A4',
			pageMargins: [ 30, 25, 30, 25 ],
			
			// Content with styles
			content: [
				{ text: customerName, style: 'headline' },
				{
					columns: [
						{ width: '15%', text: 'Detail #1:', style: ['listItem', 'listLabel'] },
						{ width: '35%', text: customerDetailOne, style: ['listItem', 'listText'] },
						{ width: '15%', text: 'Detail #2:', style: ['listItem', 'listLabel'] },
						{ width: '35%', text: customerDetailTwo, style: ['listItem', 'listText'] }
					],
					columnGap: 10
				},
				{ text: customerAdress },
				{ text: currentUser }
			],
			
			// Style dictionary
			styles: {
				headline: { fontSize: 25, bold: true, margin: [0, 0, 0, 25] },
				listItem: { fontSize: 14, margin: [0, 0, 0, 5] },
				listLabel: { bold: true },
				listText: { italic: true }
			}
		};

		// Start the pdf-generation process
		pdfMake.createPdf(docDefinition).open();
	}
});

To use "this" in your variables, use a router setup like so:

Router.route('/customer_detail/:_id/', {
	action: function () {
		this.render('customer_detail', {
			data: function () {
				return Customers.findOne({_id: this.params._id});
			}
		});
	}
});

Further Reading

For more complex things I would suggest to take a look at two things:

• The Docs

The Docs give you a quick, but detailed overview on what pdfmake can do.

• The Playground

The Playground let's you see, test and change all the Features live. Extremely handy.

Acknowledgements

I didn't write the original pdfmake. Many thanks to bpampuch for his great work.