Page Layout

This section explains how to create and insert entities on a page. Entity types are listed in the section Entities.

Unless specific situation, the scenario is basically the same for all entities: the entity is created in a first step at a document level, then it is inserted and positioned on the page.

For widgets, the data is usually added on a third step by specific field functions or more generally by using data model (see section Data Model).

Inserting a Text Line

You can insert a text line in a page. The text should only be one line and cannot contain carriage return. You can parameterize the font for the text, chosen beyond one of the basic standard fonts in Adobe Reader, or chosen from a font installed on the machine running HOOPS Publish. The characters used in the text string are supposed to be supported by the font selected.

Using a Basic Standard Font

Standard fonts are four faces (normal, italic, bold, bold-italic) of three Latin text typefaces: Courier, Helvetica, and Times. They are also two symbol fonts Symbol and ZapfDingbats. These standard fonts are automatically handled by Adobe Reader and don’t require any font installation. The text string content is restricted by the use of these fonts. The supported character set is the “Latin Character Set” with the Standard Encoding described in Annex D.2 in the PDF reference, and “Symbol Set” described in Annex D.5 and D.6. Standard font is defined using the A3DPDFTextData data structure.

Using a System Font

Arbitrary system fonts can also be used for text lines. The font needs to be available in the system folder (C:\Windows\Fonts for Windows system) on the machine where HOOPS Publish is run, or in the ‘Font’ sub folder of the resource folder specified to A3DPDFInitializePDFLibAndResourceDirectory. A system font is subsetted in the final PDF, to only support the characters used in the page, leaving no need to have the font installed on the computer for the user who will open the document. System font is defined using the A3DPDFTextDataEx data structure.

The text can be positioned anywhere on the page, specified by a position in page unit, from the bottom left of the page. To create a text line, use A3DPDFTextCreate or A3DPDFTextCreateEx, then use A3DPDFPageInsertText to insert it on the page.

A3DPDFTextData sTextData;
A3D_INITIALIZE_DATA(A3DPDFTextData, sTextData);
sTextData.m_eFontName = kA3DPDFFontTimesRoman;
sTextData.m_iFontSize = 12;
sTextData.m_sColor.m_dRed = 0.4;
sTextData.m_sColor.m_dGreen = 0.4;
sTextData.m_sColor.m_dBlue = 0.4;
sTextData.m_pcTextString = "my text line";
A3DPDFText* pText = NULL;
iRet = A3DPDFTextCreate(pDoc, &sTextData, &pText);
iRet = A3DPDFPageInsertText(pPage, pText, iPosX, iPosY);

Inserting an Image

You can insert an image in a page. HOOPS Publish supports the most popular image formats (BMP, PNG, JPEG, GIF …). The image can be positioned anywhere on the page, specified by a position in page unit, from the bottom left of the page. To create an image, use A3DPDFImageCreate, then use A3DPDFPageInsertImage to insert it on the page.

A3DPDFImageData sImageData;
A3D_INITIALIZE_DATA(A3DPDFImageData, sImageData);
sImageData.m_pcFileName = "c:\\temp\\myimage.jpg";
sImageData.m_iHeight = 480;
sImageData.m_iWidth = 640;
sImageData.m_eFormat = kA3DPDFImageFormatJpg;
A3DPDFImage* pImage = NULL;
iRet = A3DPDFImageCreate(pDoc, &sImageData, &pImage);
iRet = A3DPDFPageInsertImage(pPage, pImage, iPosX, iPosY);

Inserting a Table

You can insert a table in a page. Any number of tables can be positioned anywhere on the page.

HOOPS Publish Provides two ways to create and insert tables.

  • Using TableToPDF Module - This way is discouraged to be used as it is deprecated and won’t be supported any more.

  • Using HOOPS Publish APIs - This is the preferred way to create and insert the tables in your PDF files. Please see more details below.

To create a table with API functions, use A3DPDFTableCreateFromDesc(), then use A3DPDFPageInsertTable() to insert it on the page. The table insertion point is the top left corner of the table. The coordinate origin (0, 0) is the bottom left of the page. The unit is point.

Note that you can also create a table using HTML and CSS format using A3DPDFTableCreate(). However this functionality is deprecated in HOOPS Publish 2024.2.0. More information is available on the Table Module.

Create a table using API

A table can be defined using HOOPS Publish API. With HOOPS Publish API, a table is defined on three levels: the cell, the row, and the table. Obviously a table contains a set of rows, and a row contains a set of cells. Then the style applied can be defined at cell level, at row level, or at table level. More information is available on the Table From API Module.

Create a table using TableToPDF add-on

Note

This functionality is deprecated in HOOPS Publish 2024.2.0.

A table can be defined using HTML and CSS format. This HTML table implementation uses an add-on to HOOPS Publish (TableToPDF) which is provided for free by Tech Soft 3D. The add-on is using components that are licensed under GNU LGPL terms. Consequently, the usage of tables using HOOPS Publish add-on requires our customer’s application to comply with LGPL requirements. TableToPDF can be downloaded at https://developer.techsoft3d.com/add-ons/tabletopdf/. The deployment process is simple and just requires to copy the provided DLLs in HOOPS Publish binaries folder.

A3DPDFTableData sTableData;
A3D_INITIALIZE_DATA(A3DPDFTableData, sTableData);
sTableData.m_pcHtmlTable = "<table class=\"gridtable\"> \
    <tr> \
       <th>Name</th><th>City</th><th>Age</th> \
    </tr> \
    <tr> \
       <td>Bob</td><td>Seattle</td><td>35</td> \
    </tr> \
    <tr> \
       <td>Sandy</td><td>New York</td><td>32</td> \
    </tr> \
    </table>";
sTableData.m_pcHtmlStyle = "<style type=\"text/css\"> \
    table.gridtable { \
       font-family: helvetica; \
       font-size:11pt; \
       border-width: 1pt; \
       border-collapse: collapse; \
    } \
    table.gridtable th { \
       border-width: 1pt; \
       border-style: solid; \
       background-color: #dedede; \
       padding: 8pt; \
    } \
    table.gridtable td { \
       border-width: 1pt; \
       border-style: solid; \
       background-color: #ffffff; \
       padding: 8pt; \
    } \
    </style>";
A3DPDFTable* pTable = NULL;
// Warning, TableToPDF dll must be in the HOOPS Publish binary directory.
iRet = A3DPDFTableCreate(pDoc, &sTableData, &pTable);
iRet = A3DPDFPageInsertTable(pPage, pTable, iPosLeft, iPosTop);

Inserting Field Widgets

You can create and insert fields in a page using HOOPS Publish API. Supported fields are text fields, buttons, check boxes, radio buttons, list boxes, drop down lists, and signature fields. They are all inserted similarly. The following example demonstrates how to insert a button.

Buttons

Like all fields, buttons are referenced by their name member, which is a string that you specify at creation time. Buttons can use text or images as the button label.

The first thing to do when inserting a button is to define an area on the page where you want it to be displayed. Remember that the coordinate system unit is points, and the origin is the bottom left corner of the page. The following code defines the button’s area in the bottom left corner:

A3DPDFRectData pRectData;
A3D_INITIALIZE_DATA(A3DPDFRectData, pRectData);
pRectData.m_iTop = 100;
pRectData.m_iBottom = 0;
pRectData.m_iLeft = 0;
pRectData.m_iRight = 200;

Next, define the button’s members using A3DPDFButtonData. This structure is not stored and can be used to create additional buttons. The name member m_pcName is required:

A3DPDFButtonData pButtonData;
A3D_INITIALIZE_DATA(A3DPDFButtonData, pButtonData);
pButtonData.m_pcName = "myButton"; // required!
pButtonData.m_pcLabel = "Hello Buttons";
pButtonData.m_pcFontName = "HeBo";
pButtonData.m_iFontSize = 12;
pButtonData.m_pcTooltip = "";
pButtonData.m_bHasBorder = true;
pButtonData.m_eThicknessBorder = kA3DPDFThin;
pButtonData.m_eLineStyleBorder = kA3DPDFSolid;
pButtonData.m_bHasFillColor = true;
pButtonData.m_sFillColor.m_dRed = 0.5;
pButtonData.m_sFillColor.m_dGreen = 0.5;
pButtonData.m_sFillColor.m_dBlue = 0.5;
pButtonData.m_eLayoutTextIcon = kA3DPDFLabelOnly;

Finally, the button is created and inserted. It is not shown here, but you should always remember to handle potential errors by checking return values for all A3D* functions:

A3DPDFButton* pButton;
A3DPDFButtonCreate(pDoc, &pButtonData, &pButton);
A3DPDFPageInsertButton(pPage, pButton, &pRectData);

When clicked, a button will execute an action that you specify. Standard Actions can be specified using A3DPDFButtonAddAction, or advanced actions can also be coded with Javascript and specified using A3DPDFPageFieldSetActionJavascriptFromString.

Other Fields

Each field type has its own data structure that is used for defining the field. Many structure members are common, but each field type has a few special members.

Follow the above pattern to insert other fields - corresponding data structures are noted below:

Field

Data Structure

Creation Function

Insertion Function

Supporting Function

Button

A3DPDFButtonData

A3DPDFButtonCreate

A3DPDFPageInsertButton

Check box

A3DPDFCheckBoxData

A3DPDFCheckBoxCreate

A3DPDFPageInsertCheckBox

Drop down list

A3DPDFDropDownListData

A3DPDFDropDownListCreate

A3DPDFPageInsertDropDownList

A3DPDFPageFieldListAddItem

List box

A3DPDFListBoxData

A3DPDFListBoxCreate

A3DPDFPageInsertListBox

A3DPDFPageFieldListAddItem

Signature field

A3DPDFDigitalSignatureData

A3DPDFDigitalSignatureCreate

A3DPDFPageInsertDigitalSignature”

Radio button

A3DPDFRadioButtonData

A3DPDFRadioButtonCreate

A3DPDFPageInsertRadioButton

Text field

A3DPDFTextFieldData

A3DPDFTextFieldCreate

A3DPDFPageInsertTextField

If you need more information on the fields themselves, including their members and functions, consult Adobe’s documentation.

Specifying Font for Field

You can parameterize the font used for a field. The font specified must be installed on the machine running HOOPS Publish. Unfortunately, embedding a font is not completely possible for fields, as the text is theorically subject to change dynamically. Consequently, the font selected must also be installed on the machine used by the final user of the PDF document. If the font is not found by Adobe Reader, then a replacement font is tentatively selected by Adobe Reader that can display the characters used. Finally, note that an Asian font selected for text field requires the Adobe Asian font package to be installed on the machine used by the final user.

Inserting Rich Text

Text field allows to define certain rich text attributes. For example, text color, alignment, and font, among others. To define a text field as rich text, you have to set the Boolean A3DPDFTextFieldData.m_bAllowRichText to true. Then, define a rich text value with A3DPDFTextFieldData.m_pcRichTextValue:

sTextFieldData.m_bAllowRichText = TRUE;
sTextFieldData.m_pcRichTextValue = "<?xml version=\"1.0\"?>  \
      <body xfa:APIVersion=\"Acroform:2.7.0.0\"  \
      xfa:spec=\"2.1\" xmlns=\"http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml\"  \
      xmlns:xfa=\"http://www.xfa.org/schema/xfa-data/1.0/\"><p style=\"margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;text-align:center;  \
        text-valign:middle;font-family:Arial;font-size:18pt;  \
        color:#0000ff\"><i><b>Hello italic bold  \
        centered</b></i></p></body>";

The above example gives us the following results:

Hello italic bold centered


Please note that the header is mandatory. Rich text strings are XHTML elements with a limited set of CSS2 style attributes:

<?xml version=\"1.0\"?>
<body xfa:APIVersion=\"Acroform:2.7.0.0\"
      xfa:spec=\"2.1\" xmlns=\"http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml\"
      xmlns:xfa=\"http://www.xfa.org/schema/xfa-data/1.0/\">

The following piece of code is to create a text field in RTF format:

A3DPDFTextFieldData sTextFieldData;
A3D_INITIALIZE_DATA(A3DPDFTextFieldData, sTextFieldData);
sTextFieldData.m_pcDefaultValue="mon second RTF text field est rose";
sTextFieldData.m_pcName="textfield";
sTextFieldData.m_pcTooltip="tooltip!!";
sTextFieldData.m_sBorderColor.m_dRed=1.0;
sTextFieldData.m_sBorderColor.m_dGreen=0.0;
sTextFieldData.m_sBorderColor.m_dRed=0.0;
sTextFieldData.m_sFillColor.m_dRed=0.5;
sTextFieldData.m_sFillColor.m_dGreen=0.5;
sTextFieldData.m_sFillColor.m_dBlue=0.5;
sTextFieldData.m_eFormField=kA3DPDFVisible;
sTextFieldData.m_eTextOrientation=kA3DPDFNormal;
sTextFieldData.m_bIsLocked=false;
sTextFieldData.m_bHasBorder=true;
sTextFieldData.m_eThicknessBorder=kA3DPDFThick;
sTextFieldData.m_eLineStyleBorder=kA3DPDFBeveled;
sTextFieldData.m_pcFontName="Times,BoldItalic";
sTextFieldData.m_iFontSize=18;
sTextFieldData.m_sTextColor.m_dRed=0.1;
sTextFieldData.m_sTextColor.m_dGreen=0.0;
sTextFieldData.m_sTextColor.m_dBlue=0.1;
sTextFieldData.m_bAllowRichText=true;
sTextFieldData.m_pcRichTextValue="<?xml version=\"1.0\"?><body   \
    xfa:APIVersion=\"Acroform:2.7.0.0\" xfa:spec=\"2.1\"   \
    xmlns=\"http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml\"   \
    xmlns:xfa=\"http://www.xfa.org/schema/xfa-data/1.0/\"><p   \
    style=\"margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;text-align:center;  \
    text-valign:middle;font-family:Arial;font-size:18pt;color:#0000ff\">  \
    <i><b>Hello world?</b></i></p></body>";

Rich text strings are defined in the PDF specification (see 12.7.3.4, “Rich Text Strings” in the section “Document management — Portable document format — Part 1: PDF 1.7”).

Inserting a Scroll Table

A scroll table is a table that can be scrolled using a vertical scroll bar. HOOPS Publish has a simplified interface for inserting scroll tables. This function will implement the logic of populating the table rows as the user scrolls the table.

../../_images/slide_table_scroll_bar.png

A scroll table is a high level widget. The widget is first created and inserted on a page as other entities, then the data and interactivity is defined following data model rules. A scroll table is bound to a A3DPDFDataTable data table. Finally, the interaction of the scroll table with other widgets must be explicitly set with function A3DPDFWidgetSetTargetBehaviour.

For a complete example, see the samples/publish/publishsource/PDFWithBOMAndCarousel.cpp sample included with the HOOPS Publish package. The function of interest is stAddScrollTable.

A3DPDFScrollTableData sScrollTableData;
A3D_INITIALIZE_DATA(A3DPDFScrollTableData, sScrollTableData);
sScrollTableData.m_iGridNbRows = iNbRowsInFrame;
sScrollTableData.m_iGridNbCols = (int)aiWidthCols.size();
sScrollTableData.m_iGridHeightCells = iHeightRows;
sScrollTableData.m_piGridWidthCells = (A3DInt32 *)malloc(sScrollTableData.m_iGridNbCols*sizeof(A3DInt32));
for (size_t ic=0; ic<aiWidthCols.size(); ic++)
    sScrollTableData.m_piGridWidthCells[ic]=aiWidthCols[ic];
sScrollTableData.m_iSliderWidth = iSliderWidth;
A3DPDFScrollTable* pScrollTable = NULL;
iRet = A3DPDFScrollTableCreate(pDoc, &sScrollTableData, &pScrollTable);
iRet = A3DPDFPageInsertScrollTable(pPage, pScrollTable, iPosLeft, iPosTop);
const A3DInt32 piMapColumns[] = { 0, 1, 2 };
iRet = A3DPDFScrollTableBindToTable(pScrollTable, pDataTable,  sizeof(piMapColumns)/sizeof(A3DInt32), piMapColumns );
iRet = A3DPDFWidgetSetTargetBehaviour(pScrollTable, p3DNodeScene, kA3DPDFDataHighlight);

Table Colors

To add custom background and border colors to our scroll table, let’s use the m_pCellFormat of the sScrollTableData object defined in the example above:

A3DPDFTextFieldData sCellFormatData;
A3D_INITIALIZE_DATA(A3DPDFTextFieldData, sCellFormatData);
sCellFormatData.m_bHasFillColor = true;
sCellFormatData.m_sFillColor.m_dBlue = 0.9;
sCellFormatData.m_sFillColor.m_dGreen = 0.7;
sCellFormatData.m_sFillColor.m_dRed = 0.7;
sCellFormatData.m_bHasBorder = true;
sCellFormatData.m_sBorderColor.m_dBlue = 0.7;
sCellFormatData.m_sBorderColor.m_dGreen = 0.9;
sCellFormatData.m_sBorderColor.m_dRed = 0.7;
sCellFormatData.m_eThicknessBorder = kA3DPDFThin;
sScrollTableData.m_pCellFormat = &sCellFormatData;

There isn’t much to it: Just toggle the border and fill color members to true, set your desired RGB values, select a border thickness, and apply the changes to the sScrollTableData object.

Color settings can be applied to individual cells as well as to the table as a whole.