Rails 2.3.8 Render a html as pdf - ruby-on-rails

Question

I am using Prawn pdf library however i am doing a complex design, So I need a quick solution as to convert a html to pdf file.
Thanks in advance

Answer 1

I would use wkhtmltopdf shell tool
together with the wicked_pdf ruby gem, its free, and uses qtwebkit to render your html to pdf. Also executes javascript as well, for charts for example. You can find more info about installation: https://github.com/mileszs/wicked_pdf

Answer 2

I have one Rails app that's been using PrinceXML in production for a few years. It is pricey - around $4K for a server license - but does a very good job of rendering HTML+CSS in PDF files. I haven't looked at newer solutions since this one is paid for and working quite well.
For what it's worth, here's some code I adapted from Subimage Interactive to make the conversion simple:
lib/prince.rb
# Prince XML Ruby interface.
# http://www.princexml.com
#
# Library by Subimage Interactive - http://www.subimage.com
#
#
# USAGE
# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
# prince = Prince.new()
# html_string = render_to_string(:template => 'some_document')
# send_data(
# prince.pdf_from_string(html_string),
# :filename => 'some_document.pdf'
# :type => 'application/pdf'
# )
#
class Prince
attr_accessor :exe_path, :style_sheets, :log_file
# Initialize method
#
def initialize()
# Finds where the application lives, so we can call it.
#exe_path = '/usr/local/bin/prince'
case Rails.env
when 'production', 'staging'
# use default hard-coded path
else
if File.exist?(#exe_path)
# use default hard-coded path
else
#exe_path = `which prince`.chomp
end
end
#style_sheets = ''
#log_file = "#{::Rails.root}/log/prince.log"
end
# Sets stylesheets...
# Can pass in multiple paths for css files.
#
def add_style_sheets(*sheets)
for sheet in sheets do
#style_sheets << " -s #{sheet} "
end
end
# Returns fully formed executable path with any command line switches
# we've set based on our variables.
#
def exe_path
# Add any standard cmd line arguments we need to pass
#exe_path << " --input=html --server --log=#{#log_file} "
#exe_path << #style_sheets
return #exe_path
end
# Makes a pdf from a passed in string.
#
# Returns PDF as a stream, so we can use send_data to shoot
# it down the pipe using Rails.
#
def pdf_from_string(string)
path = self.exe_path()
# Don't spew errors to the standard out...and set up to take IO
# as input and output
path << ' --silent - -o -'
# Show the command used...
#logger.info "\n\nPRINCE XML PDF COMMAND"
#logger.info path
#logger.info ''
# Actually call the prince command, and pass the entire data stream back.
pdf = IO.popen(path, "w+")
pdf.puts(string)
pdf.close_write
output = pdf.gets(nil)
pdf.close_read
return output
end
end
lib/pdf_helper.rb
module PdfHelper
require 'prince'
private
def make_pdf(template_path, pdf_name, stylesheets = [], skip_base_pdf_stylesheet = false)
# application notices should never be included in PDFs, pull them from session here
notices = nil
if !flash.now[:notice].nil?
notices = flash.now[:notice]
flash.now[:notice] = nil
end
if !flash[:notice].nil?
notices = '' if notices.nil?
notices << flash[:notice]
flash[:notice] = nil
end
prince = Prince.new()
# Sets style sheets on PDF renderer.
stylesheet_base = "#{::Rails.root}/public/stylesheets"
prince.add_style_sheets(
"#{stylesheet_base}/application.css",
"#{stylesheet_base}/print.css"
)
prince.add_style_sheets("#{stylesheet_base}/pdf.css") unless skip_base_pdf_stylesheet
if 0 < stylesheets.size
stylesheets.each { |s| prince.add_style_sheets("#{stylesheet_base}/#{s}.css") }
end
# Set RAILS_ASSET_ID to blank string or rails appends some time after
# to prevent file caching, messing up local - disk requests.
ENV['RAILS_ASSET_ID'] = ''
html_string = render_to_string(:template => template_path, :layout => 'application')
# Make all paths relative, on disk paths...
html_string.gsub!("src=\"", "src=\"#{::Rails.root}/public")
html_string.gsub!("src=\"#{::Rails.root}/public#{::Rails.root}", "src=\"#{::Rails.root}")
# re-insert any application notices into the session
if !notices.nil?
flash[:notice] = notices
end
return prince.pdf_from_string(html_string)
end
def make_and_send_pdf(template_path, pdf_name, stylesheets = [], skip_base_pdf_stylesheet = false)
send_data(
make_pdf(template_path, pdf_name, stylesheets, skip_base_pdf_stylesheet),
:filename => pdf_name,
:type => 'application/pdf'
)
end
end
sample controller action
include PdfHelper
def pdf
index
make_and_send_pdf '/ads/index', "#{filename}.pdf"
end

Answer 3

You can directly convert your existing HTML to PDF using acts_as_flying_saucer library.For header and footer you can refer
https://github.com/amardaxini/acts_as_flying_saucer/wiki/PDF-Header-Footer