SV Reports Save as PDF - Get User specified File Name?

1

Hello -

I’m using SV C11 standard report template and using the functionality to save report(s) to PDF. When saving the report to PDF, output name is selected at Runtime by the User.

I need to save the PDF output name selected by the user when the PDF generation is completed. PDFReportGenerator.IReportGenerator.AskProperties method is storing Filename, but I’m unable to retrieve this value. When I call this method: PDFReporter.Output.GetFileName(), it’s always blank.

Any suggestion how can I get PDF filename that was selected by the user at runtime?

Thanks,
-Rex

2

So in abprpdf.clw the method PDFReportGenerator.IReportGenerator.AskProperties is using a local variable to store the filename Loc:Filename.

If you follow the code past the filedialog it passes the loc:filename to another method called
SELF.Output.SetFileName(LOC:FileName)
If you search for
.SetFilename

you’ll find the method

PDFGeneratorClass.SetFileName              PROCEDURE(STRING pFileName)
 CODE
    SELF.Output.SetOriginalFileName(pFileName)

so now you need to search for
.SetOriginalFileName

This should lead you to abprtarg.clw which is Output in abprpdf.inc

PDFGeneratorClass        CLASS,MODULE('ABPRPDF.CLW'),TYPE,LINK('ABPRPDF.CLW',_ABCLinkMode_),DLL(_ABCDllMode_)
    Output               &PDFTargetGenerator

In the clw

TargetGenerator.SetOriginalFileName  PROCEDURE (STRING TargetFileName)
  CODE
  SELF.OriginalTargetFileName = TargetFileName
  SELF.SetFileName (TargetFileName)
  RETURN

So loading up abprtarg.inc which contains a list of the methods and properties (variables) I can see the property

OriginalTargetFileName CSTRING(FILE:MaxFileName),PROTECTED

Its protected so its basically ReadOnly to you but not the classes, but I also see in the inc file

TargetFileName       CSTRING(FILE:MaxFileName),PROTECTED
SourceFileName       CSTRING(FILE:MaxFileName),PROTECTED

You can see what these properties contain by watching them in the debugger and see if they contain the expected values.

3

Thanks Richard. I see the value is present when stepping through debugger but I’m probably using wrong embed to get the value.

Any suggestion what would be correct embed to get this value?

4

I wouldnt know off the top of my head, I havent touched the reporting side of things in years and I dont have any of my old apps because my systems kept being hacked so I’ve ditched loads of backups and computers in a bid to get rid of the hacking on my computers. They even managed to set a bios pwd on of my machines. There is a lot of big organised crime around!

However you might have to add your own embed and I wouldnt shy away from that if you have to. :wink:

I know I did it in the past as I’m sure the hackers who hacked my system know I did, but I wouldnt like to guess at this time. :grinning:

5

If the user is going to inform the name of the PDF file, put the LOC:FileName field on the screen for him to type the name of the PDF file.
LOC:FileName must be informed in “File Name” in the General tab of the Report to PDF properties.
LOC:FileName can only contain the filename “file.pdf”
or the path + the filename “C:\App\Arquivo.pdf”.

6

Hi,

I just updated C:\Clarion11.1\LibSrc\win\abprI2pdf.clw / line 247 like that

 IF NOT CLIP(SELF.Output.GetFileName()) OR Force THEN
    LOC:FileName = CLIP(SELF.Output.GetFileName()) !LOC:FileName = ''

now, if developer gives any name, that filename automatically showing to user. You can also do that changes in PNG, TXT, HTML, XML templates.

1 Like
7

I encountered the same issue when generating PDFs. While generating the file name, the client could select it, but during the export process, I couldn’t retrieve the entered value to display it in a “Save As” dialog.

@SerhatSatir solution works perfectly when the “force” parameter is set to 1. I’m sharing the complete code for the AskProperties method. I only added a small fix where, if the file name contains a “.”, it saves the PDF with the incorrect extension.

PDFReportGenerator.IReportGenerator.AskProperties       PROCEDURE(BYTE Force)
ReturnValue  BYTE
LOC:FileName CSTRING(FILE:MaxFilePath+1),AUTO
LExt         CSTRING(128),AUTO
    CODE
    ReturnValue = Level:Benign
    SELF.Init()
    ! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    ! NEW IMPLEMENTATION                                        ! ORIGINAL SV CODE                          !
    ! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    IF NOT CLIP(SELF.Output.GetFileName()) OR Force THEN        ! IF NOT CLIP(SELF.Output.GetFileName()) THEN
        LOC:FileName = CLIP(SELF.Output.GetFileName())          !     LOC:FileName = ''
     
        IF NOT FILEDIALOG('Save PDF File',LOC:FileName,'PDF|*.PDF|All|*.*',FILE:LongName+FILE:Save+FILE:KeepDir) THEN
            ReturnValue = Level:Notify
        ELSE
			Lext=''
			PathSplit(LOC:FileName, , , , Lext)
            ! -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
            ! NEW IMPLEMENTATION                                ! ORIGINAL SV CODE                          !
            ! -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
			if Lext <> '.pdf'                                   ! IF NOT Lext THEN
				LOC:FileName = LOC:FileName & '.pdf'            !   LOC:FileName=LOC:FileName&'.PDF'
			end !* if *
			
            SELF.Output.SetFileName(LOC:FileName)
        END !* if +
    END !* if *
    
    RETURN ReturnValue
2 Likes