- Can I use jonasarts/opentbs-bundle in a Laravel application?
- No. jonasarts/opentbs-bundle is a Symfony bundle: its bundle class, DI service wiring, and Configuration tree do not load in Laravel. For Laravel, adopt tinybutstrong/opentbs directly behind a small service provider or wrapper and treat this bundle only as a reference pattern.
- What is jonasarts/opentbs-bundle used for?
- It integrates OpenTBS into Symfony applications so you can generate DOCX, XLSX, PPTX, ODT, ODS, and ODP files from pre-designed templates. You define [field] tags and repeating blocks in the template, merge arrays of data at runtime, and download or store the result. It is aimed at invoice, report, contract, and export generation where the template is the layout spec.
- How do I install jonasarts/opentbs-bundle?
- In a Symfony app you install it with Composer, enable the bundle, and configure its settings, then use the OpenTBS service to load templates and merge data. In Laravel there is no installation path because the bundle is not framework-agnostic. If you only need the engine, require tinybutstrong/opentbs and write the container binding yourself.
- Does jonasarts/opentbs-bundle support Laravel 10 or Laravel 11?
- It does not support Laravel 10, Laravel 11, or any Laravel version. The package targets Symfony and will not boot in a Laravel application. Laravel version support is therefore irrelevant; use the upstream OpenTBS library instead.
- What are the alternatives to jonasarts/opentbs-bundle for Laravel?
- For Laravel, the practical alternative is tinybutstrong/opentbs wrapped in your own service provider, which keeps the template-as-layout model without Symfony wiring. Programmatic builders like PhpWord or PhpSpreadsheet are alternatives when engineering owns layout, but they are weaker when finance or legal teams own the template. A LibreOffice sidecar or a commercial document API are other options, though they add operational weight.
- Is jonasarts/opentbs-bundle maintained and safe for production?
- Treat the bundle as unmaintained by default: it has zero adoption signal, one maintainer, and no evidence of production use. The upstream OpenTBS engine is small-team but real, so the safer path is to skip the Symfony wrapper and integrate the engine directly. The bundle is MIT-licensed, while OpenTBS and TinyButStrong ship LGPL-2.1, so get legal review before committing.
- How do I test OpenTBS document generation in Laravel?
- Use golden-file tests: merge a fixed data array into a versioned template, unzip the generated Office file, and assert the XML contains expected values and no unreplaced tags such as [client.name]. Also verify the file opens in Word or Excel and that Excel formula recalculation is handled with fullCalcOnLoad. Keep templates versioned and reviewed so tests catch layout regressions as well as data bugs.
- What security risks come with OpenTBS template merging?
- The template trust boundary is the critical risk: TinyButStrong supports onload handlers and parameter modifiers that can reach PHP and the filesystem, so never render user-uploaded templates. Treat templates as trusted, reviewed code and keep a versioned template workflow. Because OpenTBS expands ZIPs and parses XML, also guard against zip bombs and entity expansion, and ensure ext-zip exists in every worker image.
- Does OpenTBS recalculate Excel formulas in generated XLSX files?
- No, OpenTBS does not recalculate Excel formulas, so generated XLSX files can carry stale cached values unless you set fullCalcOnLoad. Pivot tables, some charts and conditional formats, and content-control-heavy DOCX files are known rough edges. Validate generated outputs and include formula behavior in your golden-file tests.
- Can jonasarts/opentbs-bundle generate PDFs, or should I use PhpWord or PhpSpreadsheet instead?
- OpenTBS generates Office formats such as DOCX, XLSX, and PPTX; it does not produce PDFs as its core output. If PDF is sufficient for your use case, this is the wrong engine and you should look at a PDF-oriented tool or a LibreOffice conversion step. PhpWord and PhpSpreadsheet are better compared when engineering owns layout; OpenTBS wins when business users own the template.