RTF Generator Class

This script is written in PHP and uses no additional components (plugins or else). It works on Unix or Win32 platforms and require only PHP 4.x.x (or later) installed. As there is no plugins required for the script to work, it could be easily installed on server, or even be used in a local network to create some reports, or anything else.

The script uses special markup language which is HTML-based but not HTML itself. The language is very flexible and allow to create perfect-looking documents as there are a lot of options available to control document look.

With this script it is possible to create very complicated tables having full control over their look at the same time. It is possible to merge cells, change background color, control width and height of the cells.

The script supports images (.JPG and .PNG) which could be inserted into your RTF document. Besides it supports multiple pages layout with page numbering, headers and footers.

To generate RTF file you'll need just a few lines of PHP code. You should create RTF Class object, then pass marked text to it and receive ready RTF code. After that you could either pass this code to the user as a file stream or save it to disk for future use.

Here is the simplest example of using the script, in this example the file will be passed to user as a file stream:

This is very simple example of creation of an .xls file:

<?


   // including main script file:


   include "rtf_class.php";


   // this will be the name of our RTF file:


   $file_rtf = "Test.rtf";


   // HTTP headers saying that it is a file stream:


   Header("Content-type: application/octet-stream");


   // passing the name of the streaming file:


   Header("Content-Disposition: attachment; filename=$file_rtf");


   // here is the text of our RTF file:


   $html_text = "Hello <b>World!<b>";


   // creating class object and passing to it the path to configuration file:


   $rtf = new RTF("rtf_config.inc");


   // passing the text to the object:


   $rtf->parce_HTML($html_text);


   // getting RTF code:


   $fin = $rtf->get_rtf();


   // streaming the file to the user:


   echo $fin;


?>

Another example of the script shows how to save RTF file to disc:

<?


   // including main script file:


   include "rtf_class.php";


   // this will be the name of our RTF file:


   $file_rtf = "SimpleTest.rtf";


   // here is the text of our RTF file:


   $html_text = "Hello <b>World!</b>";


   // creating class object and passing to it the path to configuration file:


   $rtf = new RTF("rtf_config.inc");


   // passing the text to the object:


   $rtf->parce_HTML($html_text);


   // getting RTF code:


   $fin = $rtf->get_rtf();


   // saving the file to disk:


   $fp = fopen($file_rtf, "w");


   fwrite($fp, $fin);


    echo "Generated file <b>".$file_rtf."</b> was saved to disc.";


   @fclose($fp);





?>

1. Do not use crossed tags
   wrong: <font face=roman> some text <p> some text </font> some text
   correct: <font face=roman> some text </font><p><font face=roman> some text </font> some text
2. Do not try to use "impossible" tables. If table tags are placed incorrectly - the result is unpredictable.
3. Do not use "nested" tables - they are not supported

purpose: This tag is used to set font parameters of the text
usage: <font [size] [face] [color]>any text</font>

It is possible to control the size, face and color of the font. Size should be in points. Font color should be only in #XXXXXX format, no color names like "black", "red" or alike.

• face=symbol - Symbols
• face=arial - Arial
• face=arial - Arial
• face=roman - Times New Roman
• face=cur - Courier
• face=courier - Courier New
• face=seriff - Microsoft Sans Serif
• face=garamond - Garamond
• face=verdana - Verdana
• face=helvetica - Helvetica

example:

<font size=14 face=roman color=#FF0000>

This text will be 14 point in size and have face Times New Roman and the text will be red 

</font>

purpose: This tag is used to set paragraph formatting
usage: <p [align] [before] [after] [lines] [lindent] [rindent] [findent] [lead] [tsize]>Paragraph text

This tag doesn't require end tag, so - you don't have to insert any </p> after the end of the paragraph. Paragraph ends just where the next paragraph starts.

• align= - paragraph alignment
  • right - right aligned
  • left - left aligned
  • center - centered
  • justify - justified
• before= - space before(mm)
• after= - space after(mm)
• lines= - space between lines(mm), if 0 - minimal is taken
• lindent= - left indent (mm)
• rindent= - right indent (mm)
• findent= - first line indent (mm)

Below are the tabulation controls, they are used to control position and the filling of the tabulations <tab>

• lead= - determines the filling for the tabulation, if there are several tabulations within the paragraph, the leadings values should be divided by ","
  • dot
  • mdot
  • hyph
  • ul
  • th
  • eq
• tsize= - tabulation sizes (mm) - if there are several tabulations within the paragraph, the sizes values should be devided by ","

tabulation example:

<p lead=dot,dot tsize=50,100>Name<tab>price1<tab>price2

<p lead=dot,dot tsize=50,100>Customer 1<tab>23<tab>56

<p lead=dot,dot tsize=50,100>Customer 2<tab>40<tab>60

paragraph example:

<p align=right before=10 after=0 lines=0 lindent=10 rindent=0 findent=-5>

This paragraph will be right-aligned, the space before the paragraph will be 10 millimeters, 

the space after the paragraph will be minimal, space between lines - minimal, 

the paragraph will be indented from left margin by 10 millimeters, from right margin - 

by 0 millimeters and the first line of the paragraph protrudes by 5 millimeters. 

purpose: This tag is used to images into your RTF document
usage: <img src= width= height= [border] [wrap] [align] [anchor] [left] [top] [script]>

With the help of this tag you can insert images into your RFT documents. The script supports two image formats - .JPG and .PNG. The images can be inserted either from a local disk or from World Wide Web. The full control over image size, position and alignment. Besides special option is introduced to control text wrapping. In the configuration file there is a possibility to limit the maximum image size.

• src= - image URL or local path (obligatory)
• width= - image width in mm (obligatory)
• height= - image height in mm (obligatory)
• wrap= - text wrap type
  • no - none (wrap as if image isn't present) - no wrap, image is behind the text
  • around - wrap tightly around shape
  • updown - wrap around top and bottom of shape (no text allowed beside shape)
• align= - image align
  • center - centered
  • right - right aligned
  • left - left aligned
• border= - image border
  • 0 - no image border
  • 1 - the image will have border
• anchor= - image anchor
  • para - anchor is linked to the current paragraph
  • page - anchor is linked to the current page
  • margin - anchor is linked to the margins of the page
  • INCELL - this anchor is used to place an image within a table cell.
• left= - position of shape from the left of the anchor in mm
• right= - position of shape from top of the anchor in mm
• script= - ***this option is for images that are generated dynamically by scripts.
  • jpg - set this parameter if the generated image is JPG format
  • png - set this parameter if the generated image is PNG format

* mm - means millimeters, don't try to use pixels as in HTML the page have certain size in millimeters and all the measurements should be in millimeters.
** obligatory - means that this option must be present in this tag to guarantee correct image representation.
*** if you are using script-generated images - make sure that you are using 'http://' call, because the script first should be excecuted by server and generate an imge, and after that this image will be ready by Generator.

example:

1. <img src=logo.png width=60 height=14 wrap=around align=left border=1 anchor=page>

2. <img src=http://your_server.com/get_image.php?get_var=345 script=jpg width=60 height=14 wrap=around align=left border=1 anchor=page>

purpose: This tag is used to images into your RTF document
usage: <table [border] [align] [valign] [width] [bgcolor] [bord_color] [color] [rowkeep] [tablekeep]>


<table width=100 border=1>

   <tr>

      <td colspan=2 bgcolor=30 valign=top>First cell</td>

   </tr>

   <tr>

      <td align=left color=#ff0000>next cells</td><td align=right>another one</td>

   </tr>

</table>

purpose: to start new page
usage: <new page>

The latest feature of the script is document sections. The point is that you can handle different sections within one RTF file. Every section can have its own page numbering, headers and footers. The section tag is much like page break tag - so they should not be put together, or you'll get an empty page within your document.

usage: <new section [pn_start] [pn_align] [nobreak] [landscape] [columns]>

• pn_start= - beginning page number
• pn_align= - [left / center / right] horisontal alignment of the page numbers
• nobreak= - [yes] applying new section without starting a new page
• landscape= - [yes] landscape page orientation within the section (default is portrait)
• columns= - [number of columns] the number of columns to divide the text within the section

To create headers and footers for the section, just place appropriate tags after the section tag. The vertical alignment of the page numbers through the whole document is set in the configuration file.

purpose: Hyperlinks can be used for providing navigation within and outside the document

Navigation within the document:
usage: <a local=go_to_this_id>any text</a>

<?


//    CONFIGURATION FILE FOR RTF GENERATOR CLASS


//    SOME OF THESE SETTINGS COULD BE OVERWRITTEN BY USING SPECIAL TAGS


//    IN CASE OF OMMITTING THE TAGS, TEXT IS FORMATTED USING THESE SETTINGS





/////


// ATTENTION!


// all measurements are given in millemeters, but you can use the following units:


//  'cm'   : //centimeters 


//  'mm'   : //millimeters 


//  'q'    : //alias of 'kyu'


//  'kyu'  : //Q/kyu 


//  'in'   : //inches


//  'pt'   : //alias of 'pts' (points)


//  'pts'  : //points


//  'picas': //picas 


//  'twips': //twips 


/////





// ALSO - you can set special units everywhere, example:


//  $pg_height="12in"; // will mean 12 inches


//  <table width=2cm> // will set table width to 2 cm


// and alike.








$default_units = "mm"; // default measurement units 





//---------------------------------------------------


// DEFAULT PAGE SETTINGS


//---------------------------------------------------


$pg_width=210; // page width (mm)


$pg_height=297; // page height (mm)


$mar_left=19; // left margin width (mm)


$mar_right=19; // right margin width (mm)


$mar_top=19; // top margin height (mm)


$mar_bott=19; // bottom margin height (mm)





$page_orientation = "portrait"; // portrait or landscape


//$page_orientation = "landscape"; // portrait or landscape





$header_align = "left"; // default header align - "left", "right", "center"


$footer_align = "left"; // default footer align - "left", "right", "center"


$head_y=1; // space between the top edge of the page and the top header (mm)


$foot_y=10; // space between the bottom edge of the page and the bottom footer (mm)





$page_numbers = 1; // page numbers, if  < 0 - no page numbers; if >= 0 page numbers start from the specified number


$page_numbers_valign = "bottom"; // vertical alignment of the page numbers ("top" or "bottom")


$page_numbers_align = "center"; // horisontal alignment of the page numbers ("left", "center", "right")





$page_numbers_autoinsert = "0"; // 0 = disable, 1 = enable autoinsertion. 


                                // Use <cpagenum> to insert pagenumber when disabled. 


                                // Valign and align only work in enabled mode








//---------------------------------------------------


// DEFAULT HYPER LINK SETTINGS


//---------------------------------------------------


$h_link_color = "#009900"; // default color for hyper links


$h_link_fontf = "garamond"; // default link font face [arial,roman,sym,courier,seriff,garamond]


$h_link_fonts = "12"; // default link font size in pt


$h_link_fontd = "i"; // default link decoration [ul - underline, i - italic, b - old]





//---------------------------------------------------


// DEFAULT FONT AND PARAGRAPH SETTINGS


//---------------------------------------------------





$font_face = "arial"; // default font face [arial,roman,sym,courier,seriff,garamond]


$font_size = "10";  // font size in pt


$def_par_before = "0"; // space before paragraph (mm) (better set to 0, when using tables and set by tag)


$def_par_after = "0"; // space after paragraph (mm) (better set to 0, when using tables and set by tag)


$def_par_align = "left"; // default paragraph align. 


                                     // "left", "right", "center", "justify"





$def_par_lines = 0; // space between lines (mm). if 0 - minimal is taken


$def_par_lindent = "0"; // paragraph left indent (mm) (better set by tag)


$def_par_rindent = "0"; // paragraph right indent (mm) (better set by tag)


$def_par_findent = "0"; // first line indent (mm) (better set by tag)





//---------------------------------------------------


// DEFAULT TABLE SETTINGS


//---------------------------------------------------


$tbl_def_border = 1; // table border (1 - yes; 0 - no) or string value:


                     //   "t,b,r,l" - means: top,bottom,right,left borders


                     //   you can vary these letters to get the result you need


$tbl_def_width = "100%"; // table width (in mm or in % from page width)


$tbl_def_cellpadding = 0; // default cellpadding (mm)


$tbl_def_align = "left"; // default table align on the page (center, right, left)


$tbl_def_valign = "top";// default vertical text align for all the cells (top, middle, bottom)


$tbl_def_bgcolor = "0"; // table background (0 - no, or % from black)


$row_def_align = "left"; // default horizontal text align for all the cells (center, right, left)





//---------------------------------------------------


// DEFAULT IMAGE SETTINGS


//---------------------------------------------------


$image_size = 500; // maximum allowed image size in kb





$img_def_border = 0; // image border (1 - yes; 0 - no)


$img_def_src = "";  // default image src (used when no, or a bad source specified)


$img_def_width = 20; // default image width (mm)


$img_def_height = 20; // default image height (mm)


$img_def_left = 0; // space between the anchor and image left edge (mm)


$img_def_top = 0; // space between the anchor and image top edge (mm)


$img_def_space = 5; // space between the image and the text (mm)


$img_def_align = "left"; // image align on the page (center, right, left)


$img_def_wrap = "around"; // type of text wrapping for image (no, updown, around)


$img_def_anchor = "par"; // linking anchor for image


                         // para = image is linked to the current paragraph


                         // page = image is linked to the current page (top left page corner)


                         // margin = image is linked to margin (top left page corner including margins)














////  FONT CHARACTER SET 





//$default_charset = 238; // sets default character set 


$default_charset = 130; // sets default character set 


/*


ANSI                   = 0


Default                = 1


Symbol                 = 2


Invalid                = 3


Mac                    = 77


Shift Jis              = 128


Hangul                 = 129


Johab                  = 130


GB2312                 = 134


Big5                   = 136


Greek                  = 161


Turkish                = 162


Vietnamese             = 163


Hebrew                 = 177


Arabic                 = 178


Arabic Traditional     = 179


Arabic user            = 180


Hebrew user            = 181


Baltic                 = 186


Russian                = 204


Thai                   = 222


238Eastern European    = 238


PC 437                 = 254


OEM                    = 255


*/








?>

I receive different questions about the aspects of using the script, some of them I've included into this FAQ. But before you decide to ask any question - study this manual carefully, may be the answer is already listed here.

If you have any idea of how to improve the script, have an idea of the script/program which could be of the great help for people or if you need some special script - I'll be ready to help.

If you buy RTF Generator you can use it as you like it and anywhere you will need it. You can do what ever you want with it except selling the script itself. If you're going to include my script into some commercial project for selling, you should include the script price into the budget and every of your customer should together with your software buy the license for my script. It is also possible to buy a distribution license for the script. If you have other plans - we can discuss them.