Getting Started

Minimal Setup

Installation:

composer require 94noni/html2pdf-bundle

Enable the bundle in config/bundles.php:

Noni\Html2pdfBundle\NoniHtml2pdfBundle::class => ['all' => true],

First Use Case: Inject Html2pdfFactory into a service/controller and generate a PDF:

use Noni\Html2pdfBundle\Factory\Html2pdfFactory;

class InvoiceController extends AbstractController
{
    public function __construct(private Html2pdfFactory $factory) {}

    public function generatePdf(): Response
    {
        $html = $this->renderView('invoice/pdf.html.twig');
        $pdf = $this->factory->create()->fromHtml($html)->output();
        return new BinaryFileResponse($pdf, 200, ['Content-Type' => 'application/pdf']);
    }
}

Key Files:
- config/packages/noni_html2pdf.yaml (for customization)
- Twig templates (e.g., invoice/pdf.html.twig) for HTML content.

Implementation Patterns

Core Workflow

HTML Generation: Use Twig templates (*.html.twig) to structure PDF content. Example:

{# invoice/pdf.html.twig #}
<html>
    <body>
        <h1>Invoice #{{ invoice.number }}</h1>
        <table>
            {% for item in invoice.items %}
                <tr><td>{{ item.description }}</td><td>{{ item.price }}</td></tr>
            {% endfor %}
        </table>
    </body>
</html>

PDF Creation:

// Controller/Service
$html = $this->renderView('invoice/pdf.html.twig', ['invoice' => $invoice]);
$pdf = $this->factory
    ->create('P', 'A4', 'en', true, 'UTF-8', [10, 15, 10, 15])
    ->fromHtml($html)
    ->output();

Response Handling:

return new BinaryFileResponse(
    $pdf,
    200,
    ['Content-Disposition' => 'attachment; filename="invoice.pdf"']
);

Integration Tips

Dynamic Content: Pass data to Twig templates via controller/service methods.

Reusable Services: Create a dedicated PdfGenerator service to encapsulate logic:

class PdfGenerator
{
    public function __construct(private Html2pdfFactory $factory) {}

    public function generate(string $template, array $data, array $options = []): string
    {
        $html = $this->renderView($template, $data);
        $pdf = $this->factory->create(...$options)->fromHtml($html);
        return $pdf->output();
    }
}

Configuration Overrides: Use config/packages/noni_html2pdf.yaml to set defaults:

noni_html2pdf:
    orientation: 'L'  # Default landscape
    margin: [20, 20, 20, 20]

Gotchas and Tips

Pitfalls

Abandoned Package:
- No active maintenance; fork or extend locally if critical bugs arise.
- Monitor for breaking changes in underlying spipu/html2pdf.
CSS Limitations:
- Complex CSS (e.g., flexbox, grid) may render poorly. Use tables or inline styles for reliability.
- Test with html2pdf's CSS support docs.
Memory Issues:
- Large HTML content may cause timeouts. Optimize templates or chunk generation.
Dependency Conflicts:
- Ensure spipu/html2pdf (v6+) is installed as a dev dependency if extending:
```
composer require spipu/html2pdf --dev
```

Debugging

Log HTML: Output raw HTML before conversion to debug rendering:
```
file_put_contents('debug.html', $html);
```

Check Options: Validate Html2pdf options with:

$pdf = $this->factory->create('P', 'A4'); // Explicit defaults

Error Handling: Wrap PDF generation in try-catch:

try {
    $pdf = $this->factory->create()->fromHtml($html);
} catch (\Exception $e) {
    $this->addFlash('error', 'PDF generation failed: ' . $e->getMessage());
    return $this->redirectToRoute('home');
}

Extension Points

Custom Factories: Extend Html2pdfFactory to add project-specific defaults:

class CustomHtml2pdfFactory extends Html2pdfFactory
{
    protected function getDefaultOptions(): array
    {
        return array_merge(parent::getDefaultOptions(), [
            'defaultHeader' => $this->renderView('pdf/header.html.twig'),
            'defaultFooter' => $this->renderView('pdf/footer.html.twig'),
        ]);
    }
}

services:
    App\Service\CustomHtml2pdfFactory: '@noni_html2pdf.factory.custom'

Event Listeners: Hook into Symfony events (e.g., kernel.response) to auto-generate PDFs:

// src/EventListener/PdfListener.php
class PdfListener
{
    public function onKernelResponse(FilterResponseEvent $event): void
    {
        if ($event->getRequest()->attributes->get('pdf')) {
            $response = new BinaryFileResponse($this->generatePdf());
            $event->setResponse($response);
        }
    }
}

Twig Extensions: Add a Twig function for inline PDF generation:

// src/Twig/AppExtension.php
class AppExtension extends AbstractExtension
{
    public function getFunctions(): array
    {
        return [
            new TwigFunction('generate_pdf', [$this->factory, 'create']),
        ];
    }
}

Usage in Twig:

{{ generate_pdf('P', 'A4')->fromHtml(content).output() }}

Html2Pdf Bundle Laravel Package