How to Quickly Generate a PDF Using Document Template

Use case: you want to get a PDF printable version of the data stored on your document as properties.

You may want to use Nuxeo Platform Template Rendering add-on for this use case. That module will allow a much better control on the look&feel of your generated PDF, using MS Word or Open Office templating.

Method: You will use a FreeMarker template to generate an HTML document, then use the PDF converter operation to generate the PDF, and then the Download operation for letting the user getting it.

In Studio, create the FreeMarker template (Templates > Document template). You can use the following sample for instance.

<#list This as doc>

<h1>${doc.title}</h1>

<ul>

<li>${doc.dublincore.description}</li>

<li>${doc.dublincore.nature}</li>
</ul>
</#list>

Create a user action on the document (in the category you want).

Create the related automation chain (see How to Create an Automation Chain) with the following operations:

- Context.FetchDocument
- Render.Document:
    template: "template:MyDocumentTemplate"
    filename: output.ftl
    mimetype: text/html
    type: ftl
- Blob.ToPDF
- Seam.DownloadFile