Print Forms as PDF

The invoice, the delivery note, the certificate: most systems already have the form, built as an Adobe Form years ago and printed from a SAP GUI transaction. A browser app has no spool dialog and usually no printer - what the user wants is the PDF, to look at, download, mail or print from the browser. The form itself stays as it is; only the output changes.

The worked example is Z2UI5_CL_SMPS_APP_024 in abap2UI5/samples-stack (package 14). It renders any form whose name is typed in, and downloads one PDF or a ZIP of several. It needs Standard ABAP and Adobe Document Services (ADS).

The Shape of the App

Step	What happens
Find the function module	FP_FUNCTION_MODULE_NAME returns the name the form generated on this system
Open the job	FP_JOB_OPEN with getpdf and nodialog - the PDF comes back instead of going to a printer
Render	The generated function module, with the form's data, returns the PDF in /1BCDWB/FORMOUTPUT
Close the job	FP_JOB_CLOSE, in every case
Hand it over	download_b64_file, or a ZIP with cl_abap_zip for several forms

Step 1: Ask for the Function Module

An Adobe Form generates a function module, and its name differs from system to system. Never write it down; ask for it:

TRY.
    CALL FUNCTION 'FP_FUNCTION_MODULE_NAME'
      EXPORTING
        i_name     = CONV fpname( form )
      IMPORTING
        e_funcname = function.
  CATCH cx_fp_api INTO DATA(api_error).
    error = api_error->get_text( ).
    RETURN.
ENDTRY.

Step 2: Render Into a PDF, Not a Printer

Two output parameters make the difference between printing and returning the file: getpdf hands the PDF back, nodialog suppresses the print dialog, which a browser app has no SAP GUI to show in:

outputpar-getpdf   = abap_true.
outputpar-nodialog = abap_true.

CALL FUNCTION 'FP_JOB_OPEN'
  CHANGING
    ie_outputparams = outputpar
  EXCEPTIONS
    OTHERS          = 1.

Then the generated function module. In a real app you call it with the parameters of your form's interface - the order, the customer, the items - plus /1BCDWB/DOCPARAMS in and /1BCDWB/FORMOUTPUT out. The sample does not know the form in advance, so it calls it with a parameter table that holds only those two; a form whose interface wants more says so in the result list.

CALL FUNCTION function
  EXPORTING
    /1bcdwb/docparams  = docparams
    is_order           = s_order          " your form's own parameters
  IMPORTING
    /1bcdwb/formoutput = output.

output-pdf is the file.

Step 3: Close the Job, Always

Call FP_JOB_CLOSE whether the rendering worked or not. An open job makes the next FP_JOB_OPEN of the same session fail, and the user sees an error for a form that would render fine.

Step 4: Hand the PDF Over

One file goes to the browser as a download:

client->follow_up_action(
    val   = client->cs_event-download_b64_file
    t_arg = VALUE #( ( |data:application/pdf;base64,{ cl_http_utility=>encode_x_base64( pdf ) }| )
                     ( |{ to_lower( form ) }.pdf| ) ) ).

Several go into one ZIP, so the browser asks once instead of once per file:

DATA(zip) = NEW cl_abap_zip( ).
LOOP AT t_pdf INTO DATA(s_pdf).
  zip->add( name    = |{ to_lower( s_pdf-form ) }.pdf|
            content = s_pdf-pdf ).
ENDLOOP.
DATA(zip_file) = zip->save( ).

To show the PDF inside the app rather than download it, put it into a PDFViewer - see PDF. To send it, it is the attachment of Send by Mail.

What the System Needs

• ADS. Adobe Document Services do the rendering; the system reaches them through the RFC destination ADS in SM59. When FP_JOB_OPEN fails right away, this is the first thing to check - the sample says so in its error.
• ABAP Cloud. The classic runtime with FP_JOB_OPEN is not released there. Forms are rendered by the Forms Service by Adobe through cl_fp_ads_util, with the form template and the data as XML; the shape of the app - render in the handler, hand the PDF to the browser - stays the same.
• Many forms. Rendering takes a noticeable moment per form. A few at a time are fine in a roundtrip; for a whole month of invoices, render in a background job and offer the result for download when it is done.

Related

• PDF - showing a PDF in the view.
• Upload, Download - the download action and the data URL types it refuses.
• Send by Mail - the PDF as an attachment.

Working Samples

Complete apps from the sample catalog that use what this page describes. Each is a single class in abap2UI5/samples unless its row names another of the three sample repositories — pull that repository with abapGit and start the class with ?app_start=<class>.

Sample	Class
Render to PDF, Download One or a ZIP — Renders Adobe Forms of the system to PDF with FP_JOB_OPEN and the generated function module - one form as a PDF download, several at once as one ZIP file	Z2UI5_CL_SMPS_APP_024 · samples-stack, branch 14-adobe-forms