Pdfmake: Example of working with PDFMake in a Firebase Cloud Function context

[sarbogast]

Right now, I'm using pdfkit to generate a PDF and write it to Firebase Storage in a Firebase Cloud Function. But pdfkit is really limited and it's imperative. I would love to be able to use pdfmake's declarative syntax and table support but I can't figure out how to use it properly in a Firebase Cloud Function context and in conjunction with Firebase Storage. The only element I could find is this question on StackOverflow, and it doesn't say a lot about storing the document.

Would it be possible to add a small example showing how this would work?

[liborm85]

I do not know much about Firebase. But pdfmake is builded on pdfkit so it should do the same.

This generates a PDF document:

var fonts = {
    Roboto: {
        normal: 'fonts/Roboto-Regular.ttf',
        bold: 'fonts/Roboto-Medium.ttf',
        italics: 'fonts/Roboto-Italic.ttf',
        bolditalics: 'fonts/Roboto-MediumItalic.ttf'
    }
};

var PdfPrinter = require('pdfmake');
var printer = new PdfPrinter(fonts);

var docDefinition = {
    content: [
        'First paragraph',
        'Another paragraph, this time a little bit longer to make sure, this line will be divided into at least two lines'
    ]
};

var pdfDoc = printer.createPdfKitDocument(docDefinition);

And in variable pdfDoc is same object as returns pdfkit, therefore, acquisition of pdf document should be same as in pdfkit.

[szymont]

Is there any example of printing images from Firebase Storage on PDF?

[haitrungpham]

Hi guys, I follow the above guide from liborm85. However when I deploy the functions, I get following error 'no such file or directory'. I've tried to put the fonts folder, which contains the 4 font files, in different places (in root, in functions folder or in node_modules) but I always get the same error! Did I miss something?

[kyleabens]

@haitrungpham I'm running into the same issue right now. Did you ever figure this out?

[haitrungpham]

Hi Keleabens,
You can find a full example here https://medium.com/@luigibynight/generate-a-pdf-with-google-cloud-functions-e153c815be5d

I've tried the following steps and it works.

• create a folder name 'fonts' that contains the 4 font files which are Roboto-Regular.ttf, Roboto-Italic.ttf, Roboto-BoldItalic.ttf and Roboto-Bold.ttf
• put the folder 'fonts' in the folder 'functions' (generated by using firebase CLI command when you want to use firebase's cloud function)
• add following code in the index.js file found in folder 'functions'

const functions = require('firebase-functions');
const {Storage} = require('@google-cloud/storage');
const BUCKET = 'gs://xxxxxxx.appspot.com'; //link found in Storage from Firebase console

// Import and initialize the Firebase Admin SDK.
const admin = require('firebase-admin');
admin.initializeApp();

const PdfPrinter = require('pdfmake/src/printer');

function createPDF() {
// Return a new promise.
return new Promise(function(resolve, reject) {
let pdfCreation = false;
var docDefinition = {
pageSize: 'A4',
pageMargins: [ 40, 60, 40, 60 ],
content: [
'First paragraph',
'Another paragraph, this time a little bit longer to make sure, this line will be divided into at least two lines'
]
};
const fontDescriptors = {
Roboto: {
normal: './fonts/Roboto-Regular.ttf',
bold: './fonts/Roboto-Bold.ttf',
italics: './fonts/Roboto-Italic.ttf',
bolditalics: './fonts/Roboto-BoldItalic.ttf',
}
};
const printer = new PdfPrinter(fontDescriptors);
const pdfDoc = printer.createPdfKitDocument(docDefinition);
const storage = new Storage({
projectId: 'projectIdName', //found in firebase console: click on Setting then on Project parameters
});
let file_name = 'facture.pdf';
const myPdfFile = storage.bucket(BUCKET).file(file_name);

pdfDoc.pipe(myPdfFile.createWriteStream())
.on('finish', function (){
  console.log('Pdf successfully created!');
  resolve(file_name);
})
.on('error', function(err){
  console.log('Error during the wirtestream operation in the new file');
  reject('Error: something goes wrong ! '+ err);
});

pdfDoc.end();

}
);
}

//following test function will be triggered when you add a file in storage. You can add a file manually from firebase console: select Storage then click on 'import a file'
exports.generatePdf = functions.storage.object().onFinalize((object) => {
return createPDF()
.then(function(file_name){
console.log("The request was successfully authorized and pdf generated.n You can find your pdf in the cloud storage " + file_name);
})
.catch( function(error) {
console.error("Failed!" + error);

});

[Microenergymonitor]

Hello All, Trying to get the example to work but getting
Failed!TypeError: Cannot read property 'advanceWidth' of null
Any idea how to resolve this ??

[daddywoodland]

Hi guys, I follow the above guide from liborm85. However when I deploy the functions, I get following error 'no such file or directory'. I've tried to put the fonts folder, which contains the 4 font files, in different places (in root, in functions folder or in node_modules) but I always get the same error! Did I miss something?

Not sure if this helps but I ended up using the inbuilt fonts to get past this problem.

https://pdfmake.github.io/docs/fonts/standard-14-fonts/

[balasubrahmanyams]

Is there any example of printing images from Firebase Storage on PDF?

@szymont did you find the solutions