ByteScout PDF SDK – C# – Convert XML to PDF

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ByteScout PDF SDK – C# – Convert XML to PDF

printable version:
ByteScout-PDF-SDK-C-sharp-Convert-XML-to-PDF.pdf

How to convert XML to PDF in C# and ByteScout PDF SDK

How to code in C# to convert XML to PDF with this step-by-step tutorial

The code below will help you to implement an C# app to convert XML to PDF. ByteScout PDF SDK is the SDK for pdf documents generation, modification and updates. Can also generate and fill PDF forms. Provides support for text (fonts, style, size, font family), layers, pdf form fields, vector and raster drawings and you can use it to convert XML to PDF with C#.

This code snippet below for ByteScout PDF SDK works best when you need to quickly convert XML to PDF in your C# application. In order to implement the functionality, you should copy and paste this code for C# below into your code editor with your app, compile and run your application. Implementing C# application typically includes multiple stages of the software development so even if the functionality works please test it with your data and the production environment.

Free trial version of ByteScout PDF SDK is available on our website. Documentation and source code samples are included.

On-demand (REST Web API) version:
Web API (on-demand version)

On-premise offline SDK for Windows:
60 Day Free Trial (on-premise)

Program.cs

      using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Diagnostics;
using System.Xml;
using Bytescout.PDF;

namespace ConvertXmlToPdfExample
{
    /// <summary>
    /// This example demonstrates how to create table from some XML data.
    /// Since your XML file has different structure the example just shows technique of XML data reading 
    //  and PDF table creation.
    /// </summary>
    class Program
    {
        static void Main()
        {
            // Load XML document
            XmlDocument xmlDocument = new XmlDocument();
            xmlDocument.Load(@"sample.xml");

            // Read columns information from XML data
            List<string> columns = new List<string>();
            XmlNodeList columnNodeList = xmlDocument.SelectNodes("/Report/Columns/Column");
            foreach (XmlNode node in columnNodeList)
                columns.Add(node.Attributes["Name"].Value);

            // Read row nodes from XML data
            XmlNodeList rowNodeList = xmlDocument.SelectNodes("/Report/ReportData");
            

            // Create new PDF document
            Document pdfDocument = new Document();
            pdfDocument.RegistrationName = "demo";
            pdfDocument.RegistrationKey = "demo";
            // Add page
            Page page = new Page(PaperFormat.A4);
            pdfDocument.Pages.Add(page);
            
            DeviceColor lightGrayColor = new ColorGray(200);
            DeviceColor whiteColor = new ColorGray(255);


            // Create PDF table
            Table table = new Table();
            table.BackgroundColor = lightGrayColor;

            // Add columns
            for (int c = 0; c < columns.Count; c++)
            {
                TableColumn column = new TableColumn(columns, columns);
                // Set column width
                column.Width = (c == 0)? 100 : 60;
                table.Columns.Add(column);
            }

            // Add rows
            foreach (XmlNode rowNode in rowNodeList)
            {
                // Create new row and set its background color
                TableRow row = table.NewRow();
                row.BackgroundColor = whiteColor;
                
                // Get cell values from XML data
                foreach (XmlNode childNode in rowNode.ChildNodes)
                {
                    // Get cell info from XML data
                    string columnName = childNode.Name;
                    int columnIndex = columns.IndexOf(childNode.Name);
                    string cellValue = childNode.InnerText;

                    // Set cell text
                    row[columnName].Text = cellValue;
                    // Set cell text alignment
                    row[columnName].TextFormat.HorizontalAlign = (columnIndex == 0) ? HorizontalAlign.Left : HorizontalAlign.Right;
                }

                // Add the row to the table
                table.Rows.Add(row);
            }

            // Draw the table on canvas
            page.Canvas.DrawTable(table, 20, 20);


            // Save document to file
            pdfDocument.Save("result.pdf");

            // Cleanup 
            pdfDocument.Dispose();

            // Open result document in default associated application (for demo purpose)
            ProcessStartInfo processStartInfo = new ProcessStartInfo("result.pdf");
            processStartInfo.UseShellExecute = true;
            Process.Start(processStartInfo);
        }
    }
}