A table represents information or data in the form of horizontal rows and vertical columns. Creating tables is often more efficient than describing the data in the paragraph text, especially when the data is numerical or large. The tabular data presentation makes it easier to read and understand. In this article, you will learn how to create tables in a PDF document in Java using Spire.PDF for Java.
Spire.PDF for Java offers the PdfTable and the PdfGrid class to work with the tables in a PDF document. The PdfTable class is used to quickly create simple, regular tables without too much formatting, while the PdfGrid class is used to create more complex tables.
The table below lists the differences between these two classes.
| PdfTable | PdfGrid | |
| Formatting | ||
| Row | Can be set through events. No API support. | Can be set through API. |
| Column | Can be set through API. | Can be set through API. |
| Cell | Can be set through events. No API support. | Can be set through API. |
| Others | ||
| Column span | Not support. | Can be set through API. |
| Row span | Can be set through events. No API support. | Can be set through API. |
| Nested table | Can be set through events. No API support. | Can be set through API. |
| Events | BeginCellLayout, EndCellLayout, BeginRowLayout, EndRowLayout, BeginPageLayout, EndPageLayout. | BeginPageLayout, EndPageLayout. |
The following sections demonstrate how to create a table in PDF using the PdfTable class and the PdfGrid class, respectively.
Install Spire.PDF for Java
First of all, you're required to add the Spire.Pdf.jar file as a dependency in your Java program. The JAR file can be downloaded from this link. If you use Maven, you can easily import the JAR file in your application by adding the following code to your project's pom.xml file.
<repositories>
<repository>
<id>com.e-iceblue</id>
<name>e-iceblue</name>
<url>https://repo.e-iceblue.com/nexus/content/groups/public/</url>
</repository>
</repositories>
<dependencies>
<dependency>
<groupId>e-iceblue</groupId>
<artifactId>spire.pdf</artifactId>
<version>10.10.7</version>
</dependency>
</dependencies>
Create a Table in PDF Using PdfTable Class
The following are the steps to create a table using the PdfTable class using Spire.PDF for Java.
- Create a PdfDocument object.
- Add a page to it using PdfDocument.getPages().add() method.
- Create a Pdftable object.
- Set the table style using the methods under PdfTableStyle object which is returned by PdfTable.getTableStyle() method.
- Insert data to table using PdfTable.setDataSource() method.
- Set row height and row color through BeginRowLayout event.
- Draw table on the PDF page using PdfTable.draw() method.
- Save the document to a PDF file using PdfDocument.saveToFile() method.
- Java
import com.spire.data.table.DataTable;
import com.spire.pdf.PdfDocument;
import com.spire.pdf.PdfPageBase;
import com.spire.pdf.PdfPageSize;
import com.spire.pdf.graphics.*;
import com.spire.pdf.tables.*;
import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.geom.Point2D;
public class CreateTable {
public static void main(String[] args) {
//Create a PdfDocument object
PdfDocument doc = new PdfDocument();
//Add a page
PdfPageBase page = doc.getPages().add(PdfPageSize.A4, new PdfMargins(40));
//Create a PdfTable object
PdfTable table = new PdfTable();
//Set font for header and the rest cells
table.getStyle().getDefaultStyle().setFont(new PdfTrueTypeFont(new Font("Times New Roman", Font.PLAIN, 12), true));
table.getStyle().getHeaderStyle().setFont(new PdfTrueTypeFont(new Font("Times New Roman", Font.BOLD, 12), true));
//Define data
String[] data = {"ID;Name;Department;Position;Level",
"1; David; IT; Manager; 1",
"3; Julia; HR; Manager; 1",
"4; Sophie; Marketing; Manager; 1",
"7; Wickey; Marketing; Sales Rep; 2",
"9; Wayne; HR; HR Supervisor; 2",
"11; Mia; Dev; Developer; 2"};
String[][] dataSource = new String[data.length][];
for (int i = 0; i < data.length; i++) {
dataSource[i] = data[i].split("[;]", -1);
}
//Set data as the table data
table.setDataSource(dataSource);
//Set the first row as header row
table.getStyle().setHeaderSource(PdfHeaderSource.Rows);
table.getStyle().setHeaderRowCount(1);
//Show header(the header is hidden by default)
table.getStyle().setShowHeader(true);
//Set font color and background color of header row
table.getStyle().getHeaderStyle().setBackgroundBrush(PdfBrushes.getGray());
table.getStyle().getHeaderStyle().setTextBrush(PdfBrushes.getWhite());
//Set text alignment in header row
table.getStyle().getHeaderStyle().setStringFormat(new PdfStringFormat(PdfTextAlignment.Center, PdfVerticalAlignment.Middle));
//Set text alignment in other cells
for (int i = 0; i < table.getColumns().getCount(); i++) {
table.getColumns().get(i).setStringFormat(new PdfStringFormat(PdfTextAlignment.Center, PdfVerticalAlignment.Middle));
}
//Register with BeginRowLayout event
table.beginRowLayout.add(new BeginRowLayoutEventHandler() {
public void invoke(Object sender, BeginRowLayoutEventArgs args) {
Table_BeginRowLayout(sender, args);
}
});
//Draw table on the page
table.draw(page, new Point2D.Float(0, 30));
//Save the document to a PDF file
doc.saveToFile("output/PdfTable.pdf");
}
//Event handler
private static void Table_BeginRowLayout(Object sender, BeginRowLayoutEventArgs args) {
//Set row height
args.setMinimalHeight(20f);
//Alternate color of rows except the header row
if (args.getRowIndex() == 0) {
return;
}
if (args.getRowIndex() % 2 == 0) {
args.getCellStyle().setBackgroundBrush(PdfBrushes.getLightGray());
} else {
args.getCellStyle().setBackgroundBrush(PdfBrushes.getWhite());
}
}
}
Create a Table in PDF Using PdfGrid Class
Below are the steps to create a table in PDF using the PdfGrid class using Spire.PDF for Java.
- Create a PdfDocument object.
- Add a page to it using PdfDocument.getPages().add() method.
- Create a PdfGrid object.
- Set the table style using the methods under the PdfGridStyle object which is returned by PdfGrid.getStyle() method.
- Add rows and columns to the table using PdfGrid.getRows().add() method and PdfGrid.getColumns().add() method.
- Insert data to specific cells using PdfGridCell.setValue() method.
- Span cells across columns or rows using PdfGridCell.setRowSpan() method or PdfGridCell.setColumnSpan() method.
- Set the formatting of a specific cell using PdfGridCell.setStringFormat() method and the methods under PdfGridCellStyle object.
- Draw table on the PDF page using PdfGrid.draw() method.
- Save the document to a PDF file using PdfDocument.saveToFile() method.
- Java
import com.spire.pdf.*;
import com.spire.pdf.graphics.*;
import com.spire.pdf.grid.PdfGrid;
import com.spire.pdf.grid.PdfGridRow;
import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.geom.Point2D;
public class CreateGrid {
public static void main(String[] args) {
//Create a PdfDocument object
PdfDocument doc = new PdfDocument();
//Add a page
PdfPageBase page = doc.getPages().add(PdfPageSize.A4,new PdfMargins(40));
//Create a PdfGrid
PdfGrid grid = new PdfGrid();
//Set cell padding
grid.getStyle().setCellPadding(new PdfPaddings(1, 1, 1, 1));
//Set font
grid.getStyle().setFont(new PdfTrueTypeFont(new Font("Times New Roman", Font.PLAIN, 13), true));
//Add rows and columns
PdfGridRow row1 = grid.getRows().add();
PdfGridRow row2 = grid.getRows().add();
PdfGridRow row3 = grid.getRows().add();
PdfGridRow row4 = grid.getRows().add();
grid.getColumns().add(4);
//Set column width
for (int i = 0; i < grid.getColumns().getCount(); i++) {
grid.getColumns().get(i).setWidth(120);
}
//Write data into specific cells
row1.getCells().get(0).setValue("Order and Payment Status");
row2.getCells().get(0).setValue("Order number");
row2.getCells().get(1).setValue("Date");
row2.getCells().get(2).setValue ("Customer");
row2.getCells().get(3).setValue("Paid or not");
row3.getCells().get(0).setValue("00223");
row3.getCells().get(1).setValue("2022/06/02");
row3.getCells().get(2).setValue("Brick Lane Realty");
row3.getCells().get(3).setValue("Yes");
row4.getCells().get(0).setValue("00224");
row4.getCells().get(1).setValue("2022/06/03");
row4.getCells().get(3).setValue("No");
//Span cell across columns
row1.getCells().get(0).setColumnSpan(4);
//Span cell across rows
row3.getCells().get(2).setRowSpan(2);
//Set text alignment of specific cells
row1.getCells().get(0).setStringFormat(new PdfStringFormat(PdfTextAlignment.Center));
row3.getCells().get(2).setStringFormat(new PdfStringFormat(PdfTextAlignment.Left, PdfVerticalAlignment.Middle));
//Set background color of specific cells
row1.getCells().get(0).getStyle().setBackgroundBrush(PdfBrushes.getOrange());
row4.getCells().get(3).getStyle().setBackgroundBrush(PdfBrushes.getLightGray());
//Format cell border
PdfBorders borders = new PdfBorders();
borders.setAll(new PdfPen(new PdfRGBColor(Color.ORANGE), 0.8f));
for (int i = 0; i < grid.getRows().getCapacity(); i++) {
PdfGridRow gridRow = grid.getRows().get(i);
gridRow.setHeight(20f);
for (int j = 0; j < gridRow.getCells().getCount(); j++) {
gridRow.getCells().get(j).getStyle().setBorders(borders);
}
}
//Draw table on the page
grid.draw(page, new Point2D.Float(0, 30));
//Save the document to a PDF file
doc.saveToFile("output/PdfGrid.pdf");
}
}
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