Generate PDF from XML

The following code snippet also work with Aspose.PDF.Drawing library.

Generating a PDF document from an XML document is not a trivial task because XML document can describes different content Aspose.PDF for .NET has several ways to genereate PDF based on XML document:

• using XSLT transformation
• using XSL-FO (XSL Formatting Objects) markup
• using own Aspose.PDF XML Schema

Generating PDF document using XSLT transformation

XSL (eXtensible Stylesheet Language) is a styling language for transforming XML documents into other XML documents or HTMLs. In our case we can use XML to HTML transformation and then create PDF based on HTML data.

Assume we have an XML file with simple CD catalog (see below).

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
<catalog>
  <cd>
    <title>Empire Burlesque</title>
    <artist>Bob Dylan</artist>
    <country>USA</country>
    <company>Columbia</company>
    <price>10.90</price>
    <year>1985</year>
  </cd>
  <cd>
    <title>Hide your heart</title>
    <artist>Bonnie Tyler</artist>
    <country>UK</country>
    <company>CBS Records</company>
    <price>9.90</price>
    <year>1988</year>
  </cd>
  <cd>
    <title>Greatest Hits</title>
    <artist>Dolly Parton</artist>
    <country>USA</country>
    <company>RCA</company>
    <price>9.90</price>
    <year>1982</year>
  </cd>
  <cd>
    <title>Still got the blues</title>
    <artist>Gary Moore</artist>
    <country>UK</country>
    <company>Virgin records</company>
    <price>10.20</price>
    <year>1990</year>
  </cd>
  <cd>
    <title>Eros</title>
    <artist>Eros Ramazzotti</artist>
    <country>EU</country>
    <company>BMG</company>
    <price>9.90</price>
    <year>1997</year>
  </cd>
  <cd>
    <title>One night only</title>
    <artist>Bee Gees</artist>
    <country>UK</country>
    <company>Polydor</company>
    <price>10.90</price>
    <year>1998</year>
  </cd>
  <cd>
    <title>Sylvias Mother</title>
    <artist>Dr.Hook</artist>
    <country>UK</country>
    <company>CBS</company>
    <price>8.10</price>
    <year>1973</year>
  </cd>
  <cd>
    <title>Maggie May</title>
    <artist>Rod Stewart</artist>
    <country>UK</country>
    <company>Pickwick</company>
    <price>8.50</price>
    <year>1990</year>
  </cd>
  <cd>
    <title>Romanza</title>
    <artist>Andrea Bocelli</artist>
    <country>EU</country>
    <company>Polydor</company>
    <price>10.80</price>
    <year>1996</year>
  </cd>
  <cd>
    <title>When a man loves a woman</title>
    <artist>Percy Sledge</artist>
    <country>USA</country>
    <company>Atlantic</company>
    <price>8.70</price>
    <year>1987</year>
  </cd>
  <cd>
    <title>Black angel</title>
    <artist>Savage Rose</artist>
    <country>EU</country>
    <company>Mega</company>
    <price>10.90</price>
    <year>1995</year>
  </cd>
  <cd>
    <title>1999 Grammy Nominees</title>
    <artist>Many</artist>
    <country>USA</country>
    <company>Grammy</company>
    <price>10.20</price>
    <year>1999</year>
  </cd>
  <cd>
    <title>For the good times</title>
    <artist>Kenny Rogers</artist>
    <country>UK</country>
    <company>Mucik Master</company>
    <price>8.70</price>
    <year>1995</year>
  </cd>
  <cd>
    <title>Big Willie style</title>
    <artist>Will Smith</artist>
    <country>USA</country>
    <company>Columbia</company>
    <price>9.90</price>
    <year>1997</year>
  </cd>
  <cd>
    <title>Tupelo Honey</title>
    <artist>Van Morrison</artist>
    <country>UK</country>
    <company>Polydor</company>
    <price>8.20</price>
    <year>1971</year>
  </cd>
  <cd>
    <title>Soulsville</title>
    <artist>Jorn Hoel</artist>
    <country>Norway</country>
    <company>WEA</company>
    <price>7.90</price>
    <year>1996</year>
  </cd>
  <cd>
    <title>The very best of</title>
    <artist>Cat Stevens</artist>
    <country>UK</country>
    <company>Island</company>
    <price>8.90</price>
    <year>1990</year>
  </cd>
  <cd>
    <title>Stop</title>
    <artist>Sam Brown</artist>
    <country>UK</country>
    <company>A and M</company>
    <price>8.90</price>
    <year>1988</year>
  </cd>
  <cd>
    <title>Bridge of Spies</title>
    <artist>T`Pau</artist>
    <country>UK</country>
    <company>Siren</company>
    <price>7.90</price>
    <year>1987</year>
  </cd>
  <cd>
    <title>Private Dancer</title>
    <artist>Tina Turner</artist>
    <country>UK</country>
    <company>Capitol</company>
    <price>8.90</price>
    <year>1983</year>
  </cd>
  <cd>
    <title>Midt om natten</title>
    <artist>Kim Larsen</artist>
    <country>EU</country>
    <company>Medley</company>
    <price>7.80</price>
    <year>1983</year>
  </cd>
  <cd>
    <title>Pavarotti Gala Concert</title>
    <artist>Luciano Pavarotti</artist>
    <country>UK</country>
    <company>DECCA</company>
    <price>9.90</price>
    <year>1991</year>
  </cd>
  <cd>
    <title>The dock of the bay</title>
    <artist>Otis Redding</artist>
    <country>USA</country>
    <company>Stax Records</company>
    <price>7.90</price>
    <year>1968</year>
  </cd>
  <cd>
    <title>Picture book</title>
    <artist>Simply Red</artist>
    <country>EU</country>
    <company>Elektra</company>
    <price>7.20</price>
    <year>1985</year>
  </cd>
  <cd>
    <title>Red</title>
    <artist>The Communards</artist>
    <country>UK</country>
    <company>London</company>
    <price>7.80</price>
    <year>1987</year>
  </cd>
  <cd>
    <title>Unchain my heart</title>
    <artist>Joe Cocker</artist>
    <country>USA</country>
    <company>EMI</company>
    <price>8.20</price>
    <year>1987</year>
  </cd>
</catalog>

To convert this file to PDF we should create an XSL with HTML layout. Let’s render our data in table. The XSL file that will help us do this might look something like this:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<xsl:stylesheet version="1.0"
  xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform">
  <xsl:template match="/">
    <html>
      <body>
        <h2>My CD Collection</h2>
        <table border="1">
          <tr bgcolor="#9acd32">
            <th style="text-align:left">Title</th>
            <th style="text-align:left">Artist</th>
          </tr>
          <xsl:for-each select="catalog/cd">
            <tr>
              <td>
                <xsl:value-of select="title"/>
              </td>
              <td>
                <xsl:value-of select="artist"/>
              </td>
            </tr>
          </xsl:for-each>
        </table>
      </body>
    </html>
  </xsl:template>
</xsl:stylesheet>

So, we need to transform XML and load into PDF document. The following example shows this way:

.NET Core 3.1

// For complete examples and data files, visit https://github.com/aspose-pdf/Aspose.PDF-for-.NET

private static void ExampleXsltToPdf()
{
    // The path to the documents directory
    string dataDir = RunExamples.GetDataDir_AsposePdf();

    var XmlContent = File.ReadAllText(dataDir + "XMLFile1.xml");
    var XsltContent = File.ReadAllText(dataDir + "XSLTFile1.xslt");
    var options = new Aspose.Pdf.HtmlLoadOptions();

    // set page size to A5
    options.PageInfo.Height = 595;
    options.PageInfo.Width = 420;

    //Create pdf document
    using (var document = new Aspose.Pdf.Document(TransformXmlToHtml(XmlContent, XsltContent), options))
    {
        // Save output document
        document.Save(dataDir + "XSLT_out.pdf");
    }
}

public static MemoryStream TransformXmlToHtml(string inputXml, string xsltString)
{
    var transform = new XslCompiledTransform();

    using (var reader = XmlReader.Create(new StringReader(xsltString)))
    {
        transform.Load(reader);
    }

    var memoryStream = new MemoryStream();
    var results = new StreamWriter(memoryStream);

    using (var reader = XmlReader.Create(new StringReader(inputXml)))
    {
        transform.Transform(reader, null, results);
    }

    memoryStream.Position = 0;
    return memoryStream;
}

.NET 8

// For complete examples and data files, visit https://github.com/aspose-pdf/Aspose.PDF-for-.NET

private static void ExampleXsltToPDF()
{
    // The path to the documents directory
    string dataDir = RunExamples.GetDataDir_AsposePdf();

    var XmlContent = File.ReadAllText(dataDir + "XMLFile1.xml");
    var XsltContent = File.ReadAllText(dataDir + "XSLTFile1.xslt");
    var options = new Aspose.Pdf.HtmlLoadOptions();

    // set page size to A5
    options.PageInfo.Height = 595;
    options.PageInfo.Width = 420;

    //Create pdf document
    using var document = new Aspose.Pdf.Document(TransformXmlToHtml(XmlContent, XsltContent), options);

    // Save output document
    document.Save(dataDir + "XSLT_out.pdf");
}

public static MemoryStream TransformXmlToHtml(string inputXml, string xsltString)
{
    var transform = new XslCompiledTransform();

    using var reader1 = XmlReader.Create(new StringReader(xsltString));
    transform.Load(reader1);

    var memoryStream = new MemoryStream();
    var results = new StreamWriter(memoryStream);

    using var reader2 = XmlReader.Create(new StringReader(inputXml));
    transform.Transform(reader2, null, results);

    memoryStream.Position = 0;
    return memoryStream;
}

Generating PDF document using XSL-FO markup

XSL-FO is an XML-based markup language describing the formatting of XML data for output to screen, paper, or other media. Aspose.PDF has a special class which allows to applying XSL-FO markup and getting PDF document.

Let’s take an example. Here is an XML file with sample data of employees.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
<employees>
    <companyname>ABC Inc.</companyname>
    <employee>
        <id>101</id>
        <name>Andrew</name>
        <designation>Manager</designation>
    </employee>

    <employee>
        <id>102</id>
        <name>Eduard</name>
        <designation>Executive</designation>
    </employee>

    <employee>
        <id>103</id>
        <name>Peter</name>
        <designation>Executive</designation>
    </employee>
</employees>

Let’s create yet another file - the XSL-FO markup file to transform employees’ data into the table.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<xsl:stylesheet version="1.1" xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform"
    xmlns:fo="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Format" exclude-result-prefixes="fo">
    <xsl:template match="employees">
        <fo:root xmlns:fo="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Format">
            <fo:layout-master-set>
                <fo:simple-page-master master-name="simpleA4" page-height="29.7cm" page-width="21cm" margin-top="2cm" margin-bottom="2cm" margin-left="2cm" margin-right="2cm">
                    <fo:region-body/>
                </fo:simple-page-master>
            </fo:layout-master-set>
            <fo:page-sequence master-reference="simpleA4">
                <fo:flow flow-name="xsl-region-body">
                    <fo:block font-size="16pt" font-weight="bold" space-after="5mm">
                        Company Name: <xsl:value-of select="companyname"/>
                    </fo:block>
                    <fo:block font-size="10pt">
                        <fo:table table-layout="fixed" width="100%" border-collapse="separate">
                            <fo:table-column column-width="4cm"/>
                            <fo:table-column column-width="4cm"/>
                            <fo:table-column column-width="5cm"/>
                            <fo:table-body>
                                <xsl:apply-templates select="employee"/>
                            </fo:table-body>
                        </fo:table>
                    </fo:block>
                </fo:flow>
            </fo:page-sequence>
        </fo:root>
    </xsl:template>
    <xsl:template match="employee">
        <fo:table-row>
            <xsl:if test="designation = 'Manager'">
                <xsl:attribute name="font-weight">bold</xsl:attribute>
            </xsl:if>
            <fo:table-cell>
                <fo:block>
                    <xsl:value-of select="id"/>
                </fo:block>
            </fo:table-cell>

            <fo:table-cell>
                <fo:block>
                    <xsl:value-of select="name"/>
                </fo:block>
            </fo:table-cell>
            <fo:table-cell>
                <fo:block>
                    <xsl:value-of select="designation"/>
                </fo:block>
            </fo:table-cell>
        </fo:table-row>
    </xsl:template>
</xsl:stylesheet>

Aspose.PDF has a special XslFoLoadOptions class that allows to apply XSL-FO tranformation. The following snippet shows how to use this class with the sample files described above.

.NET Core 3.1

// For complete examples and data files, visit https://github.com/aspose-pdf/Aspose.PDF-for-.NET

public static void Example_Xslfo_to_Pdf()
{
    // The path to the documents directory
    string dataDir = RunExamples.GetDataDir_AsposePdf();

    // Instantiate XslFoLoadOption object
    var options = new Aspose.Pdf.XslFoLoadOptions(dataDir + "employees.xslt");

    // Create Document object
    using (var document = new Aspose.Pdf.Document(dataDir + "employees.xml", options))
    {
        // Save output document
        document.Save(dataDir + "XSLFO_out.pdf");
    }
}

.NET 8

// For complete examples and data files, visit https://github.com/aspose-pdf/Aspose.PDF-for-.NET

public static void Example_Xslfo_to_Pdf()
{
    // The path to the documents directory
    string dataDir = RunExamples.GetDataDir_AsposePdf();

    // Instantiate XslFoLoadOption object
    var options = new Aspose.Pdf.XslFoLoadOptions(dataDir + "employees.xslt");

    // Create Document object
    using var document = new Aspose.Pdf.Document(dataDir + "employees.xml", options);

    // Save output document
    document.Save(dataDir + "XSLFO_out.pdf");
}

Generating PDF document using XSL-FO markup and XSL params

Sometimes we need to use XSL:param. The <xsl:param> element establishes a parameter by name and, optionally, a default value for that parameter.

Let’s take the same example as in the previous case, but with minor changes (adding params). The XML file with sample data stays untouched, …

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
<employees>
    <companyname>ABC Inc.</companyname>
    <employee>
        <id>101</id>
        <name>Andrew</name>
        <designation>Manager</designation>
    </employee>

    <employee>
        <id>102</id>
        <name>Eduard</name>
        <designation>Executive</designation>
    </employee>

    <employee>
        <id>103</id>
        <name>Peter</name>
        <designation>Executive</designation>
    </employee>
</employees>

but in XSL-FO markup file we will add parameter: <xsl:param name="isBoldName"></xsl:param> add will apply it to the Name column.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<xsl:stylesheet version="1.1" xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform"
    xmlns:fo="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Format" exclude-result-prefixes="fo">

 <xsl:param name="isBoldName"></xsl:param>

 <xsl:template match="employees">
  <fo:root xmlns:fo="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Format">
   <fo:layout-master-set>
    <fo:simple-page-master master-name="simpleA4" page-height="29.7cm" page-width="21cm" margin-top="2cm" margin-bottom="2cm" margin-left="2cm" margin-right="2cm">
     <fo:region-body/>
    </fo:simple-page-master>
   </fo:layout-master-set>
   <fo:page-sequence master-reference="simpleA4">
    <fo:flow flow-name="xsl-region-body">
     <fo:block font-size="16pt" font-weight="bold" space-after="5mm">
      Company Name: <xsl:value-of select="companyname"/>
     </fo:block>
     <fo:block font-size="10pt">
      <fo:table table-layout="fixed" width="100%" border-collapse="separate">
              <fo:table-column column-width="4cm"/>
       <fo:table-column column-width="4cm"/>
       <fo:table-column column-width="5cm"/>
       <fo:table-body>
        <xsl:apply-templates select="employee"/>
       </fo:table-body>
      </fo:table>
     </fo:block>
    </fo:flow>
   </fo:page-sequence>
  </fo:root>
 </xsl:template>
 <xsl:template match="employee">
  <fo:table-row>
   <xsl:if test="designation = 'Manager'">
    <xsl:attribute name="font-weight">bold</xsl:attribute>
   </xsl:if>
   <fo:table-cell>
    <fo:block>
     <xsl:value-of select="id"/>
    </fo:block>
   </fo:table-cell>

   <fo:table-cell>
    <xsl:if test="$isBoldName='yes'">
     <xsl:attribute name="font-weight">bold</xsl:attribute>
    </xsl:if>
    <fo:block>
     <xsl:value-of select="name"/>
    </fo:block>
   </fo:table-cell>
   <fo:table-cell>
    <fo:block>
     <xsl:value-of select="designation"/>
    </fo:block>
   </fo:table-cell>
  </fo:table-row>
 </xsl:template>
</xsl:stylesheet>

To add XSL params we need to create own XsltArgumentList and set as property in XslFoLoadOptions. The following snippet shows how to use this class with the sample files described above.

.NET Core 3.1

// For complete examples and data files, visit https://github.com/aspose-pdf/Aspose.PDF-for-.NET

public static void Example_Xslfo_to_Pdf_Param_21_7()
{
    // The path to the documents directory
    string dataDir = RunExamples.GetDataDir_AsposePdf();

    string xmlInputFile = dataDir + "employees.xml";
    string xsltInputFile = dataDir + "employees.xslt";

    // Instantiate XslFoLoadOption object
    var options = new Aspose.Pdf.XslFoLoadOptions(xsltInputFile);

    options.XsltArgumentList = new XsltArgumentList();
    options.XsltArgumentList.AddParam("isBoldName", "", "yes");

    // Create Document object
    using (var document = new Aspose.Pdf.Document(xmlInputFile, options))
    {
        // Save output document
        document.Save(dataDir + "XSLFO_out.pdf");
    }
}

.NET 8

// For complete examples and data files, visit https://github.com/aspose-pdf/Aspose.PDF-for-.NET

public static void Example_Xslfo_to_Pdf_Param_21_7()
{
    // The path to the documents directory
    string dataDir = RunExamples.GetDataDir_AsposePdf();

    string xmlInputFile = dataDir + "employees.xml";
    string xsltInputFile = dataDir + "employees.xslt";

    // Instantiate XslFoLoadOption object
    var options = new Aspose.Pdf.XslFoLoadOptions(xsltInputFile);

    options.XsltArgumentList = new XsltArgumentList();
    options.XsltArgumentList.AddParam("isBoldName", "", "yes");

    // Create Document object
    using var document = new Aspose.Pdf.Document(xmlInputFile, options);

    // Save output document
    document.Save(dataDir + "XSLFO_out.pdf");
}

If you use version earlier than 21.7, please use following technique:

.NET Core 3.1

// For complete examples and data files, visit https://github.com/aspose-pdf/Aspose.PDF-for-.NET

public static void Example_Xslfo_to_Pdf_Param_21_6()
{
    // The path to the documents directory
    string dataDir = RunExamples.GetDataDir_AsposePdf();

    var xmlContent = File.ReadAllText(dataDir + "employees.xml");
    var xsltContent = File.ReadAllText(dataDir + "employees.xslt");

    var options = new Aspose.Pdf.XslFoLoadOptions();

    // Create Document object
    using (var document = new Aspose.Pdf.Document(TransformXsl(xmlContent, xsltContent), options))
    {
        // Save output document
        document.Save(dataDir + "XSLFO_out.pdf");
    }
}

public static MemoryStream TransformXsl(string inputXml, string xsltString)
{
    var transform = new XslCompiledTransform();

    //Create own XsltArgumentList
    var argsList = new XsltArgumentList();
    argsList.AddParam("isBoldName", "", "no");

    using (var reader = XmlReader.Create(new StringReader(xsltString)))
    {
        transform.Load(reader);
    }

    var memoryStream = new MemoryStream();
    var results = new StreamWriter(memoryStream);

    using (var reader = XmlReader.Create(new StringReader(inputXml)))
    {
        transform.Transform(reader, argsList, results);
    }

    memoryStream.Position = 0;
    return memoryStream;
}

.NET 8

// For complete examples and data files, visit https://github.com/aspose-pdf/Aspose.PDF-for-.NET

public static void Example_Xslfo_to_Pdf_Param_21_6()
{
    // The path to the documents directory
    string dataDir = RunExamples.GetDataDir_AsposePdf();

    var xmlContent = File.ReadAllText(dataDir + "employees.xml");
    var xsltContent = File.ReadAllText(dataDir + "employees.xslt");

    var options = new Aspose.Pdf.XslFoLoadOptions();

    // Create Document object
    using var document = new Aspose.Pdf.Document(TransformXsl(xmlContent, xsltContent), options);

    // Save output document
    document.Save(dataDir + "XSLFO_out.pdf");
}

public static MemoryStream TransformXsl(string inputXml, string xsltString)
{
    var transform = new XslCompiledTransform();

    //Create own XsltArgumentList
    var argsList = new XsltArgumentList();
    argsList.AddParam("isBoldName", "", "no");

    using var reader1 = XmlReader.Create(new StringReader(xsltString));
    transform.Load(reader1);

    var memoryStream = new MemoryStream();
    var results = new StreamWriter(memoryStream);

    using var reader2 = XmlReader.Create(new StringReader(inputXml));
    transform.Transform(reader2, argsList, results);

    memoryStream.Position = 0;
    return memoryStream;
}

Generating PDF document based on Aspose.PDF XML Schema

Another way to create a PDF document from XML is using the Aspose.PDF XML Schema. Using this diagram, you can describe the page layout in the same way as if you were using a table layout in HTML. Let’s consider the work of this method in more detail.

Defining page

Let’s define the page with default parameters. Our page will have an A4 page size and contain only one piece of text.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
<Document xmlns="Aspose.Pdf">
  <Page>
    <TextFragment>
      <TextSegment>Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Nulla odio lorem, luctus in lorem vitae, accumsan semper lectus. Cras a auctor leo, et tincidunt lacus.</TextSegment>
    </TextFragment>
  </Page>
</Document>

To generate PDF document we will use BindXml method.

.NET Core 3.1

// For complete examples and data files, visit https://github.com/aspose-pdf/Aspose.PDF-for-.NET

private static void ExampleXmlToPdf()
{
    // The path to the documents directory
    string dataDir = RunExamples.GetDataDir_AsposePdf();

    // Create Document object
    using (var document = new Aspose.Pdf.Document())
    {
        //Bind XML file to the document
        document.BindXml(dataDir + "aspose_pdf_demo.xml");

        // Save output document
        document.Save(dataDir + "XML_out.pdf");
    }
}

.NET 8

// For complete examples and data files, visit https://github.com/aspose-pdf/Aspose.PDF-for-.NET

private static void ExampleXmlToPdf()
{
    // The path to the documents directory
    string dataDir = RunExamples.GetDataDir_AsposePdf();

    // Create Document object
    using var document = new Aspose.Pdf.Document();

    //Bind XML file to the document
    document.BindXml(dataDir + "aspose_pdf_demo.xml");

    // Save output document
    document.Save(dataDir + "XML_out.pdf");
}

To define a new page size we should add a PageInfo element. In the following example, we were set A5 page size and margins 25mm and 10mm.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
<Document xmlns="Aspose.Pdf">
  <Page>
    <PageInfo IsLandscape="true" Height="595" Width="420">
      <Margin Top="70.8661" Bottom="70.8661" Left="28.3465" Right="28.3465" />
    </PageInfo>
    <TextFragment>
      <TextSegment>Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Nulla odio lorem, luctus in lorem vitae, accumsan semper lectus. Cras a auctor leo, et tincidunt lacus.</TextSegment>
    </TextFragment>
  </Page>
</Document>

Adding HtmlFragment element in XML file

As HTML contains tags similar to XML, so when you write HTML inside any XML tag, the parser treats it as XML markups and they simply cannot be recognized as XML tags. The issue can be overcome by using “CDATA” Section in XML. The CDATA Section contains text which is not parsed by the parser or in other words, it is not treated as XML markups. Following sample XML template shows how to add HtmlFragment inside XML markups by using CDATA.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
<Document xmlns="Aspose.Pdf">
  <Page id="mainSection">
    <HtmlFragment>
      <![CDATA[
        <font style="font-family:Tahoma; font-size:40px;">This is Html String.</font>
        ]]>
    </HtmlFragment>
  </Page>
</Document>

Adding Table element in XML file

The elements Table, Row, Cell are used to describe tables. The following snippet shows using a simple table. In this example some cells have Alignment attribute and this attribute has numeric value:

1. Left alignment
2. Center alignment
3. Right alightmnet.
4. Justify alignment. Text will be aligned on both left and right margins.
5. Full justify. Similar to ‘Justify’ alignment, except that the very last line will only be left-aligned in ‘Justify’ mode, while in ‘FullJustify’ mode all lines will be left- and right-aligned.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
<Document xmlns="Aspose.Pdf">
  <Page>
    <PageInfo IsLandscape="false" Height="595" Width="420">
      <Margin Top="71" Bottom="71" Left="28" Right="28" />
    </PageInfo>
    <HtmlFragment>
      <![CDATA[
        <h1 style="font-family:Tahoma; font-size:16pt;">TIMETABLES ON GREENTOWN-BLUEBERG ROUTE</h1>
        ]]>
    </HtmlFragment>
    <TextFragment>
      <TextSegment>4.1.-28.3.2021 | GREENTOWN → BLUEBERG</TextSegment>
    </TextFragment>
    <Table ColumnAdjustment="AutoFitToWindow" ColumnWidths ="10 10 10 10">
      <DefaultCellPadding Top="5" Left="0" Right="0" Bottom="5" />
      <Border>
        <Top Color="Black"></Top>
        <Bottom Color="Black"></Bottom>
        <Left Color="Black"></Left>
        <Right Color="Black"></Right>
      </Border>
      <Margin Top="15" />
      <Row BackgroundColor="LightGray" MinRowHeight="20">
        <Border>
          <Bottom Color="Black"></Bottom>
        </Border>
        <Cell Alignment="2">
          <TextFragment>
            <TextSegment>Departure</TextSegment>
          </TextFragment>
        </Cell>
        <Cell>
          <TextFragment>
            <TextSegment>Arrival</TextSegment>
          </TextFragment>
        </Cell>
        <Cell>
          <TextFragment>
            <TextSegment>Weekday</TextSegment>
          </TextFragment>
        </Cell>
        <Cell>
          <TextFragment>
            <TextSegment>Ship</TextSegment>
          </TextFragment>
        </Cell>
      </Row>
      <Row>
        <Cell Alignment="2">
          <TextFragment>
            <TextSegment>07.30</TextSegment>
          </TextFragment>
        </Cell>
        <Cell>
          <TextFragment>
            <TextSegment>09.30</TextSegment>
          </TextFragment>
        </Cell>
        <Cell>
          <TextFragment>
            <TextSegment>Mon-Sat</TextSegment>
          </TextFragment>
        </Cell>
        <Cell>
          <TextFragment>
            <TextSegment>Star</TextSegment>
          </TextFragment>
        </Cell>
      </Row>
      <Row>
        <Cell Alignment="2">
          <TextFragment>
            <TextSegment>10.30</TextSegment>
          </TextFragment>
        </Cell>
        <Cell>
          <TextFragment>
            <TextSegment>12.30</TextSegment>
          </TextFragment>
        </Cell>
        <Cell>
          <TextFragment>
            <TextSegment>every day</TextSegment>
          </TextFragment>
        </Cell>
        <Cell>
          <TextFragment>
            <TextSegment>Megastar</TextSegment>
          </TextFragment>
        </Cell>
      </Row>
      <Row>
        <Cell Alignment="2">
          <TextFragment>
            <TextSegment>13.30</TextSegment>
          </TextFragment>
        </Cell>
        <Cell>
          <TextFragment>
            <TextSegment>15.30</TextSegment>
          </TextFragment>
        </Cell>
        <Cell>
          <TextFragment>
            <TextSegment>every day</TextSegment>
          </TextFragment>
        </Cell>
        <Cell>
          <TextFragment>
            <TextSegment>Star</TextSegment>
          </TextFragment>
        </Cell>
      </Row>
      <Row>
        <Cell Alignment="2">
          <TextFragment>
            <TextSegment>16.30</TextSegment>
          </TextFragment>
        </Cell>
        <Cell>
          <TextFragment>
            <TextSegment>18.30</TextSegment>
          </TextFragment>
        </Cell>
        <Cell>
          <TextFragment>
            <TextSegment>every day</TextSegment>
          </TextFragment>
        </Cell>
        <Cell>
          <TextFragment>
            <TextSegment>Megastar</TextSegment>
          </TextFragment>
        </Cell>
      </Row>
      <Row>
        <Cell Alignment="2">
          <TextFragment>
            <TextSegment>19.30</TextSegment>
          </TextFragment>
        </Cell>
        <Cell>
          <TextFragment>
            <TextSegment>21.30</TextSegment>
          </TextFragment>
        </Cell>
        <Cell>
          <TextFragment>
            <TextSegment>every day</TextSegment>
          </TextFragment>
        </Cell>
        <Cell>
          <TextFragment>
            <TextSegment>Star</TextSegment>
          </TextFragment>
        </Cell>
      </Row>
      <Row>
        <Cell Alignment="2">
          <TextFragment>
            <TextSegment>22.30</TextSegment>
          </TextFragment>
        </Cell>
        <Cell>
          <TextFragment>
            <TextSegment>00.30</TextSegment>
          </TextFragment>
        </Cell>
        <Cell>
          <TextFragment>
            <TextSegment>Mon-Fri, Sun</TextSegment>
          </TextFragment>
        </Cell>
        <Cell>
          <TextFragment>
            <TextSegment>Megastar</TextSegment>
          </TextFragment>
        </Cell>
      </Row>
    </Table>
  </Page>
</Document>

Tables are used for layout of documents. For example, we can customize a page header. In this case, table were used to divide the header into 2 columns.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
<Document xmlns="Aspose.Pdf">
  <Page>
    <PageInfo IsLandscape="false" Height="595" Width="420">
      <Margin Top="71" Bottom="71" Left="28" Right="28" />
    </PageInfo>
    <Header>
        <Margin Top="20" />
        <Table ColumnAdjustment="AutoFitToWindow">
            <Row>
                <Cell Alignment="1">
                    <TextFragment>
                        <TextSegment>Date: 01/01/2021</TextSegment>
                    </TextFragment>
                </Cell>
                <Cell Alignment="3">
                    <TextFragment>
                        <TextSegment>Page $p / $P</TextSegment>
                    </TextFragment>
                </Cell>
            </Row>
        </Table>
    </Header>
    <HtmlFragment>
      <![CDATA[
        <h1 style="font-family:Tahoma; font-size:16pt;">TIMETABLES ON GREENTOWN-BLUEBERG ROUTE</h1>
        ]]>
    </HtmlFragment>
    <TextFragment>
      <TextSegment>4.1.-28.3.2021 | GREENTOWN → BLUEBERG</TextSegment>
    </TextFragment>
    <Table ColumnAdjustment="AutoFitToWindow" ColumnWidths ="10 10 10 10">
      <DefaultCellPadding Top="5" Left="0" Right="0" Bottom="5" />
      <Border>
        <Top Color="Black"></Top>
        <Bottom Color="Black"></Bottom>
        <Left Color="Black"></Left>
        <Right Color="Black"></Right>
      </Border>
      <Margin Top="15" />
      <Row BackgroundColor="LightGray" MinRowHeight="20">
        <Border>
          <Bottom Color="Black"></Bottom>
        </Border>
        <Cell Alignment="2">
          <TextFragment>
            <TextSegment>Departure</TextSegment>
          </TextFragment>
        </Cell>
        <Cell>
          <TextFragment>
            <TextSegment>Arrival</TextSegment>
          </TextFragment>
        </Cell>
        <Cell>
          <TextFragment>
            <TextSegment>Weekday</TextSegment>
          </TextFragment>
        </Cell>
        <Cell>
          <TextFragment>
            <TextSegment>Ship</TextSegment>
          </TextFragment>
        </Cell>
      </Row>
      <Row>
        <Cell Alignment="2">
          <TextFragment>
            <TextSegment>07.30</TextSegment>
          </TextFragment>
        </Cell>
        <Cell>
          <TextFragment>
            <TextSegment>09.30</TextSegment>
          </TextFragment>
        </Cell>
        <Cell>
          <TextFragment>
            <TextSegment>Mon-Sat</TextSegment>
          </TextFragment>
        </Cell>
        <Cell>
          <TextFragment>
            <TextSegment>Star</TextSegment>
          </TextFragment>
        </Cell>
      </Row>
      <Row>
        <Cell Alignment="2">
          <TextFragment>
            <TextSegment>10.30</TextSegment>
          </TextFragment>
        </Cell>
        <Cell>
          <TextFragment>
            <TextSegment>12.30</TextSegment>
          </TextFragment>
        </Cell>
        <Cell>
          <TextFragment>
            <TextSegment>every day</TextSegment>
          </TextFragment>
        </Cell>
        <Cell>
          <TextFragment>
            <TextSegment>Megastar</TextSegment>
          </TextFragment>
        </Cell>
      </Row>
      <Row>
        <Cell Alignment="2">
          <TextFragment>
            <TextSegment>13.30</TextSegment>
          </TextFragment>
        </Cell>
        <Cell>
          <TextFragment>
            <TextSegment>15.30</TextSegment>
          </TextFragment>
        </Cell>
        <Cell>
          <TextFragment>
            <TextSegment>every day</TextSegment>
          </TextFragment>
        </Cell>
        <Cell>
          <TextFragment>
            <TextSegment>Star</TextSegment>
          </TextFragment>
        </Cell>
      </Row>
      <Row>
        <Cell Alignment="2">
          <TextFragment>
            <TextSegment>16.30</TextSegment>
          </TextFragment>
        </Cell>
        <Cell>
          <TextFragment>
            <TextSegment>18.30</TextSegment>
          </TextFragment>
        </Cell>
        <Cell>
          <TextFragment>
            <TextSegment>every day</TextSegment>
          </TextFragment>
        </Cell>
        <Cell>
          <TextFragment>
            <TextSegment>Megastar</TextSegment>
          </TextFragment>
        </Cell>
      </Row>
      <Row>
        <Cell Alignment="2">
          <TextFragment>
            <TextSegment>19.30</TextSegment>
          </TextFragment>
        </Cell>
        <Cell>
          <TextFragment>
            <TextSegment>21.30</TextSegment>
          </TextFragment>
        </Cell>
        <Cell>
          <TextFragment>
            <TextSegment>every day</TextSegment>
          </TextFragment>
        </Cell>
        <Cell>
          <TextFragment>
            <TextSegment>Star</TextSegment>
          </TextFragment>
        </Cell>
      </Row>
      <Row>
        <Cell Alignment="2">
          <TextFragment>
            <TextSegment>22.30</TextSegment>
          </TextFragment>
        </Cell>
        <Cell>
          <TextFragment>
            <TextSegment>00.30</TextSegment>
          </TextFragment>
        </Cell>
        <Cell>
          <TextFragment>
            <TextSegment>Mon-Fri, Sun</TextSegment>
          </TextFragment>
        </Cell>
        <Cell>
          <TextFragment>
            <TextSegment>Megastar</TextSegment>
          </TextFragment>
        </Cell>
      </Row>
    </Table>
  </Page>
</Document>

Updating content dynamically

BindXML() method offers the feature to load XML file contents and Document.save() method can be used to save the output in PDF format. However during conversion, we can also access individual elements inside XML and use XML as template. The following code snippet shows the steps to access TextSegments from XML file.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
<Document xmlns="Aspose.Pdf">
  <Page id="mainSection">
    <TextFragment>
      <TextSegment id="boldHtml">segment1</TextSegment>
    </TextFragment>
    <TextFragment>
      <TextSegment id="strongHtml">segment2</TextSegment>
    </TextFragment>
  </Page>
</Document>

.NET Core 3.1

// For complete examples and data files, visit https://github.com/aspose-pdf/Aspose.PDF-for-.NET

private static void CreateDocument()
{
    // The path to the documents directory
    string dataDir = RunExamples.GetDataDir_AsposePdf_DocumentConversion();

    // Instantiate Document object
    using (var document = new Aspose.Pdf.Document())
    {
        // Bind source XML file
        document.BindXml(dataDir + "log.xml");

        // Get reference of page object from XML
        var page = (Aspose.Pdf.Page)document.GetObjectById("mainSection");

        // Get reference of first TextSegment with ID boldHtml
        var segment = (Aspose.Pdf.Text.TextSegment)document.GetObjectById("boldHtml");

        // Get reference of second TextSegment with ID strongHtml
        segment = (Aspose.Pdf.Text.TextSegment)document.GetObjectById("strongHtml");

        // Save output document
        document.Save(dataDir + "XMLToPDF_out.pdf");
    }
}

.NET 8

// For complete examples and data files, visit https://github.com/aspose-pdf/Aspose.PDF-for-.NET

private static void CreateDocument()
{
    // The path to the documents directory
    string dataDir = RunExamples.GetDataDir_AsposePdf_DocumentConversion();

    // Instantiate Document object
    using var document = new Aspose.Pdf.Document();

    // Bind source XML file
    document.BindXml(dataDir + "log.xml");

    // Get reference of page object from XML
    var page = (Aspose.Pdf.Page)document.GetObjectById("mainSection");

    // Get reference of first TextSegment with ID boldHtml
    var segment = (Aspose.Pdf.Text.TextSegment)document.GetObjectById("boldHtml");

    // Get reference of second TextSegment with ID strongHtml
    segment = (Aspose.Pdf.Text.TextSegment)document.GetObjectById("strongHtml");

    // Save output document
    document.Save(dataDir + "XMLToPDF_out.pdf");
}

Adding graphics elements to the page

We can add other additionital elements to XML document: Image or Graph objects. The following snippet shows how to add those elements to the document

<Graph Width="20" Height="20">
  <Circle PosX="30" PosY="30" Radius="10">
    <GraphInfo Color="Red" FillColor="Blue"></GraphInfo>
  </Circle>
</Graph>

<Image File="logo.png" Id = "testImg"></Image>

Set Image Path While Converting XML to PDF

Following XML template contains an <Image> tag in it with an ID “testImg”. In case you want to set image path from your code, you can access Image element from XML template during conversion process and set path to your desired address for image.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
<Document xmlns="Aspose.Pdf">
 <Page id="mainSection">
    <PageInfo IsLandscape="true">
        <Margin Left="20" Right="20" Top="10" Bottom="30" />
    </PageInfo>
    <Header>
        <Margin Top="20" />
        <Table ColumnAdjustment="AutoFitToWindow">
            <Row>
                <Cell Alignment="1">
                    <Image File="logo.png" Id = "testImg"></Image>
                </Cell>
                <Cell Alignment="3">
                    <TextFragment>
                        <TextSegment>Page $p / $P</TextSegment>
                    </TextFragment>
                </Cell>
            </Row>
        </Table>
    </Header>
    <Table ColumnAdjustment="AutoFitToWindow" ColumnWidths="8 10">
    <DefaultCellPadding Top="0" Left="0" Right="0" Bottom="0" />
    <Margin Top="15" />
    <Row>
        <Cell Alignment="1">
        <!--Logo-->
            <TextFragment>
                <TextSegment> Request ID</TextSegment>
                <TextState FontSize="14" ForegroundColor="#0e4f9c" FontStyle="1" />
            </TextFragment>
            <TextFragment>
                <TextSegment></TextSegment>
            </TextFragment>
            <TextFragment>
                <TextSegment id="boldtext">Some Bold Text</TextSegment>
                <TextState FontSize="14" FontStyle="1"></TextState>
            </TextFragment>
        </Cell>
    </Row>
    </Table>
 </Page>
</Document>

Code to set image path in XML template is as follows:

.NET Core 3.1

// For complete examples and data files, visit https://github.com/aspose-pdf/Aspose.PDF-for-.NET

private static void CreateDocument()
{
    // The path to the documents directory
    string dataDir = RunExamples.GetDataDir_AsposePdf_DocumentConversion();

    string inXml = dataDir + "input.xml";
    string inFile = dataDir + "aspose-logo.jpg";
    string outFile = dataDir + "output_out.pdf";

    // Create Document object
    using (var document = new Aspose.Pdf.Document())
    {
        // Bind source XML file
        document.BindXml(inXml);

        // Get reference of Image with ID testImg
        var image = (Aspose.Pdf.Image)document.GetObjectById("testImg");

        // Set image file
        image.File = inFile;

        // Save output document
        document.Save(outFile);
    }
}

.NET 8

// For complete examples and data files, visit https://github.com/aspose-pdf/Aspose.PDF-for-.NET

private static void CreateDocument()
{
    // The path to the documents directory
    string dataDir = RunExamples.GetDataDir_AsposePdf_DocumentConversion();

    string inXml = dataDir + "input.xml";
    string inFile = dataDir + "aspose-logo.jpg";
    string outFile = dataDir + "output_out.pdf";

    // Create Document object
    using var document = new Aspose.Pdf.Document();

    // Bind source XML file
    document.BindXml(inXml);

    // Get reference of Image with ID testImg
    var image = (Aspose.Pdf.Image)document.GetObjectById("testImg");

    // Set image file
    image.File = inFile;

    // Save output document
    document.Save(outFile);
}