I need to print an HTML web page to a pdf file with no human involvement. Completely in code. I spent a great deal of trying with the posts I found on the the forum with no luck.
Perplexity AI gave me the code below to do so but I can't even get to the first step which is finding the jar files. Any have some ideas of how to proceed or a better approach?
Perplexity AI gave me the code below to do so but I can't even get to the first step which is finding the jar files. Any have some ideas of how to proceed or a better approach?
Code:
To implement the ConvertHTMLToPDF method in your B4J application, you'll need to add a Java HTML-to-PDF conversion library to your project. Here's a complete implementation using the Flying Saucer library with iText:
Adding Required Libraries
First, add these JAR files to your project:
text
#AdditionalJar: core-renderer.jar
#AdditionalJar: itext.jar
#AdditionalJar: xml-apis-xerces.jar
Method Implementation
Add this method to your code:
text
Sub ConvertHTMLToPDF(htmlFilePath As String, pdfFilePath As String) As Boolean
Try
' Create Java objects
Dim htmlFile As JavaObject
htmlFile.InitializeNewInstance("java.io.File", Array(htmlFilePath))
Dim pdfFile As JavaObject
pdfFile.InitializeNewInstance("java.io.File", Array(pdfFilePath))
' Set up the renderer
Dim renderer As JavaObject
renderer.InitializeNewInstance("org.xhtmlrenderer.pdf.ITextRenderer", Null)
' Get the URI from the HTML file
Dim uri As JavaObject = htmlFile.RunMethod("toURI", Null)
Dim url As String = uri.RunMethod("toString", Null)
' Set document
renderer.RunMethod("setDocument", Array(url))
' Create the PDF output stream
Dim os As JavaObject
os.InitializeNewInstance("java.io.FileOutputStream", Array(pdfFile))
' Layout and create PDF
renderer.RunMethod("layout", Null)
renderer.RunMethod("createPDF", Array(os))
os.RunMethod("close", Null)
LogAction("HTML successfully converted to PDF: " & pdfFilePath)
Return True
Catch
LogAction("Error converting HTML to PDF: " & LastException.Message)
Log("Error converting HTML to PDF: " & LastException.Message)
Return False
End Try
End Sub
Alternative Using iText Directly
If you prefer a simpler approach with just iText (for basic conversion):
text
Sub ConvertHTMLToPDF(htmlFilePath As String, pdfFilePath As String) As Boolean
Try
' Read HTML content
Dim htmlContent As String = File.ReadString(File.GetFileParent(htmlFilePath), File.GetName(htmlFilePath))
' Create document and writer
Dim document As JavaObject
document.InitializeNewInstance("com.itextpdf.text.Document", Null)
Dim outputStream As JavaObject
outputStream.InitializeNewInstance("java.io.FileOutputStream", Array(pdfFilePath))
Dim writer As JavaObject = document.RunMethodJO("getInstance", Array(document, outputStream))
document.RunMethod("open", Null)
Dim htmlWorker As JavaObject
htmlWorker.InitializeNewInstance("com.itextpdf.text.html.simpleparser.HTMLWorker", Array(document))
Dim stringReader As JavaObject
stringReader.InitializeNewInstance("java.io.StringReader", Array(htmlContent))
htmlWorker.RunMethod("parse", Array(stringReader))
document.RunMethod("close", Null)
LogAction("HTML successfully converted to PDF: " & pdfFilePath)
Return True
Catch
LogAction("Error converting HTML to PDF: " & LastException.Message)
Log("Error converting HTML to PDF: " & LastException.Message)
Return False
End Try
End Sub
Usage in Your Print Function
Update your print function to use this conversion method:
text
Sub PrintInvoice(filePath As String)
Try
Dim pdfFile As String = filePath.Replace(".html", ".pdf")
If ConvertHTMLToPDF(filePath, pdfFile) Then
Dim desktop As JavaObject
desktop.InitializeStatic("java.awt.Desktop")
Dim dt As JavaObject = desktop.RunMethod("getDesktop", Null)
Dim fileObj As JavaObject
fileObj.InitializeNewInstance("java.io.File", Array(pdfFile))
dt.RunMethod("print", Array(fileObj))
End If
Catch
Log("Printing error: " & LastException)
End Try
End Sub
This implementation should resolve your issue by converting HTML invoices to PDF before printing them, avoiding the "No application is associated with the specified file" error.
