Dynamics 365 PDF Document Generation

Introduction

Options:

Export sales records to PDF

This is a OOTB option.

• Step 1: Use Word templates to create standardized documents
• Step 2: Export sales records to PDF

Limitations

• Cannot cope with complex data structures and calculations
• Does not support auto-generation of documents

Generate PDF programmatically

Select.HtmlToPdf

Select.HtmlToPdf is a free .NET library that can be used to convert any web page or HTML to PDF. The community edition is free and can generate PDFs up to 5 pages long.

Here is the Select.HtmlToPdf nuget package.

IronPDF

IronPDF is another commercial .NET library that can be used to convert HTML to PDF.

DocumentsCorePack

DocumentsCorePack is a commercial solution that can be used to generate documents in Dynamics 365. It comes with its own document designer.

Generate PDF programmatically > Build Your Own HTML to PDF Converter Library

Building a production-ready, fully-featured HTML to PDF converter from scratch is a significant undertaking. At a high level, the things you need to consider are:

Yes, I can definitely guide you through the core concepts of building a basic HTML to PDF converter from scratch in .NET. Here’s an outline of the process and things to keep in mind:

1. HTML Parsing

• Library: You could use a library like AngleSharp (https://github.com/AngleSharp/AngleSharp) which is specifically designed for parsing HTML in .NET.
• Parsing Process: Load your HTML string into a parser and build a DOM (Document Object Model) tree representation.

2. Layout Engine

• Challenges: This is the most complex part. You need to calculate the positioning and dimensions of HTML elements based on CSS rules.
• Simplified Approach: For a basic converter, you could start with simpler CSS rules like block-level elements, basic font styles, colors, etc.
• Advanced Features: A full-fledged layout engine is quite complex and would involve handling intricate CSS like floats, complex positioning, and more.

3. PDF Generation

• Library: Use a PDF generation library like iTextSharp (https://itextpdf.com/en) or similar.
• Mapping: Map the elements from your parsed HTML DOM and calculated layout into corresponding PDF objects (text, images, rectangles, etc.)

Key Considerations

• Scope: Building a production-ready, fully-featured HTML to PDF converter from scratch is a significant undertaking. It’s better to start with a basic version and iteratively expand on its capabilities.
• CSS Complexity: Fully replicating a browser’s rendering behavior is extremely challenging. You’ll need to decide which subset of CSS you’ll support.
• Tradeoffs: Creating your own engine offers maximum control, but it’s time-consuming. Using existing libraries often provides a faster development path.

Example: Very Basic Structure (Conceptual)

class SimpleHtmlToPdfConverter
{
    public void Convert(string html, string outputPath)
    {
        var document = AngleSharp.Html.Parser.Default.ParseDocument(html);
        // ... (simplified layout calculation) ...

        using (var pdfDoc = new PdfDocument()) 
        {
            // Add pages to pdfDoc

            foreach (var element in document.Body.Children)
            {
                // ... (Handle different element types and map to PDF objects) ...
            }

            pdfDoc.Save(outputPath);
        }
    }
}