Build XML to PDF Converter with BI Publisher

Niclas Wagenknecht

Summary

Build XML to PDF Converter with BI Publisher

Content

Hello together,

 

I was given a task that I shall solve with BI publisher. As I am an absolute beginner with that tool, I need your support.

The task is to build some sort of XML to PDF Converter. As a test I was reading in an example XML file and I used the Layout editor to pull fields to the right position for finally creating the PDF report.

 

The point is that this should happen automatically in the end for further XML files. The problem here could be that there needn't be all fields in all XML files.

 

Let me give you an example. I have a XML file with the following fields:

- name: Peter

- birthday: 01.01.1990

- nationality: german

 

I am pulling these fields onto the sheet in the layout editor.

 

Now I receiver another XML file, that only contains <name: Thomas> and <nationality: french>.

I want to call some function that gives me a PDF File with the fields <name: Thomas>, <birthday: > and <nationality: french> with the same layout as before. Is it possible to create such a function? How can I call that function? I just want to give the new XML file to it and say "Do it in the same way as before".

 

 

Second problem: There are some parts in the XML files that can be there more than just once. For example a part "Addresses": Sometimes there is just one address and sometimes there are 20 addresses. Is it feasible to repeat parts depending on the XML input? How can I achieve that?

 

Thanks in advance

pN

Niclas Wagenknecht

Okay second problem is gone. So there is just the question remaining whether what I do for problem 1 is correct.

Can I use what I created with the layout editor for further XML Files later?