For years, I have been using Google Cloud Print to print labels in our laboratories on campus (to standardize) using a Google Apps Script custom HtmlService form.
Now that GCP is becoming depreciated, I am in on a search for a solution. I have found a few options but am struggling to get the file to convert to a pdf as would be needed with these other vendors.
Currently, when you submit a text/html blob to the GCP servers in GAS, the backend converts the blob to application/pdf (as evidenced by looking at the job details in the GCP panel on Chrome under 'content type').
That said, because these other cloud print services require pdf printing, I have tried for some time now to have GAS change the file to pdf format before sending to GCP and I always get a strange result. Below, I'll show some of the strategies that I have used and include pictures of one of our simple labels generated with the different functions.
The following is the base code for the ticket and payload that has worked for years with GCP
//BUILD PRINT JOB FOR NARROW TAPES
var ticket = {
version: "1.0",
print: {
color: {
type: "STANDARD_COLOR",
vendor_id: "Color"
},
duplex: {
type: "NO_DUPLEX"
},
copies: {copies: parseFloat(quantity)},
media_size: {
width_microns: 27940,
height_microns:40960
},
page_orientation: {
type: "LANDSCAPE"
},
margins: {
top_microns:0,
bottom_microns:0,
left_microns:0,
right_microns:0
},
page_range: {
interval:
[{start:1,
end:1}]
},
}
};
var payload = {
"printerid" : QL710,
"title" : "Blank Template Label",
"content" : HtmlService.createHtmlOutput(html).getBlob(),
"contentType": 'text/html',
"ticket" : JSON.stringify(ticket)
};
This generates the expected following printout:
When trying to convert to pdf using the following code:
The following is the code used to transform to pdf:
var blob = HtmlService.createTemplate(html).evaluate().getContent();
var newBlob = Utilities.newBlob(html, "text/html", "text.html");
var pdf = newBlob.getAs("application/pdf").setName('tempfile');
var file = DriveApp.getFolderById("FOLDER ID").createFile(pdf);
var payload = {
"printerid" : QL710,
"title" : "Blank Template Label",
"content" : pdf,//HtmlService.createHtmlOutput(html).getBlob(),
"contentType": 'text/html',
"ticket" : JSON.stringify(ticket)
};
an unexpected result occurs:
This comes out the same way for direct coding in the 'content' field with and without .getBlob():
"content" : HtmlService.createHtmlOutput(html).getAs('application/pdf'),
note the createFile line in the code above used to test the pdf. This file is created as expected, of course with the wrong dimensions for label printing (not sure how to convert to pdf with the appropriate margins and page size?): see below
I have now tried to adopt Yuri's ideas; however, the conversion from html to document loses formatting.
var blob = HtmlService.createHtmlOutput(html).getBlob();
var docID = Drive.Files.insert({title: 'temp-label'}, blob, {convert: true}).id
var file = DocumentApp.openById(docID);
file.getBody().setMarginBottom(0).setMarginLeft(0).setMarginRight(0).setMarginTop(0).setPageHeight(79.2).setPageWidth(172.8);
This produces a document looks like this (picture also showing expected output in my hand).
Does anyone have insights into:
How to format the converted pdf to contain appropriate height, width
and margins.
How to convert to pdf in a way that would print correctly.
Here is a minimal code to get a better sense of context https://script.google.com/d/1yP3Jyr_r_FIlt6_aGj_zIf7HnVGEOPBKI0MpjEGHRFAWztGzcWKCJrD0/edit?usp=sharing
I've made the template (80 x 40 mm -- sorry, I don't know your size):
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1vA93FxGXcWLIEZBuQwec0n23cWGddyLoey-h0WR9weY/edit?usp=sharing
And there is the script:
function myFunction() {
// input data
var matName = '<b>testing this to <u>see</u></b> if it <i>actually</i> works <i>e.coli</i>'
var disposeWeek = 'end of semester'
var prepper = 'John Ruppert';
var className = 'Cell and <b>Molecular</b> Biology <u>Fall 2020</u> a few exercises a few exercises a few exercises a few exercises';
var hazards = 'Lots of hazards';
// make a temporary Doc from the template
var copyFile = DriveApp.getFileById('1vA93FxGXcWLIEZBuQwec0n23cWGddyLoey-h0WR9weY').makeCopy();
var doc = DocumentApp.openById(copyFile.getId());
var body = doc.getBody();
// replace placeholders with data
body.replaceText('{matName}', matName);
body.replaceText('{disposeWeek}', disposeWeek);
body.replaceText('{prepper}', prepper);
body.replaceText('{className}', className);
body.replaceText('{hazards}', hazards);
// make Italics, Bold and Underline
handle_tags(['<i>', '</i>'], body);
handle_tags(['<b>', '</b>'], body);
handle_tags(['<u>', '</u>'], body);
// save the temporary Doc
doc.saveAndClose();
// make a PDF
var docblob = doc.getBlob().setName('Label.pdf');
DriveApp.createFile(docblob);
// delete the temporary Doc
copyFile.setTrashed(true);
}
// this function applies formatting to text inside the tags
function handle_tags(tags, body) {
var start_tag = tags[0].toLowerCase();
var end_tag = tags[1].toLowerCase();
var found = body.findText(start_tag);
while (found) {
var elem = found.getElement();
var start = found.getEndOffsetInclusive();
var end = body.findText(end_tag, found).getStartOffset()-1;
switch (start_tag) {
case '<b>': elem.setBold(start, end, true); break;
case '<i>': elem.setItalic(start, end, true); break;
case '<u>': elem.setUnderline(start, end, true); break;
}
found = body.findText(start_tag, found);
}
body.replaceText(start_tag, ''); // remove tags
body.replaceText(end_tag, '');
}
The script just changes the {placeholders} with the data and saves the result as a PDF file (Label.pdf). The PDF looks like this:
There is one thing, I'm not sure if it's possible -- to change a size of the texts dynamically to fit them into the cells, like it's done in your 'autosize.html'. Roughly, you can take a length of the text in the cell and, in case it is bigger than some number, to make the font size a bit smaller. Probably you can use the jquery texfill function from the 'autosize.html' to get an optimal size and apply the size in the document.
I'm not sure if I got you right. Do you need make PDF and save it on Google Drive? You can do in Google Docs.
As example:
Make a new document with your table and text. Something like this
Add this script into your doc:
function myFunction() {
var copyFile = DriveApp.getFileById(ID).makeCopy();
var newFile = DriveApp.createFile(copyFile.getAs('application/pdf'));
newFile.setName('label');
copyFile.setTrashed(true);
}
Every time you run this script it makes the file 'label.pdf' on your Google Drive.
The size of this pdf will be the same as the page size of your Doc. You can make any size of page with add-on: Page Sizer https://webapps.stackexchange.com/questions/129617/how-to-change-the-size-of-paper-in-google-docs-to-custom-size
If you need to change the text in your label before generate pdf or/and you need change the name of generated file, you can do it via script as well.
Here is a variant of the script that changes a font size in one of the cells if the label doesn't fit into one page.
function main() {
// input texts
var text = {};
text.matName = '<b>testing this to <u>see</u></b> if it <i>actually</i> works <i>e.coli</i>';
text.disposeWeek = 'end of semester';
text.prepper = 'John Ruppert';
text.className = 'Cell and <b>Molecular</b> Biology <u>Fall 2020</u> a few exercises a few exercises a few exercises a few exercises';
text.hazards = 'Lots of hazards';
// initial max font size for the 'matName'
var size = 10;
var doc_blob = set_text(text, size);
// if we got more than 1 page, reduce the font size and repeat
while ((size > 4) && (getNumPages(doc_blob) > 1)) {
size = size-0.5;
doc_blob = set_text(text, size);
}
// save pdf
DriveApp.createFile(doc_blob);
}
// this function takes texts and a size and put the texts into fields
function set_text(text, size) {
// make a copy
var copyFile = DriveApp.getFileById('1vA93FxGXcWLIEZBuQwec0n23cWGddyLoey-h0WR9weY').makeCopy();
var doc = DocumentApp.openById(copyFile.getId());
var body = doc.getBody();
// replace placeholders with data
body.replaceText('{matName}', text.matName);
body.replaceText('{disposeWeek}', text.disposeWeek);
body.replaceText('{prepper}', text.prepper);
body.replaceText('{className}', text.className);
body.replaceText('{hazards}', text.hazards);
// set font size for 'matName'
body.findText(text.matName).getElement().asText().setFontSize(size);
// make Italics, Bold and Underline
handle_tags(['<i>', '</i>'], body);
handle_tags(['<b>', '</b>'], body);
handle_tags(['<u>', '</u>'], body);
// save the doc
doc.saveAndClose();
// delete the copy
copyFile.setTrashed(true);
// return blob
return docblob = doc.getBlob().setName('Label.pdf');
}
// this function formats the text beween html tags
function handle_tags(tags, body) {
var start_tag = tags[0].toLowerCase();
var end_tag = tags[1].toLowerCase();
var found = body.findText(start_tag);
while (found) {
var elem = found.getElement();
var start = found.getEndOffsetInclusive();
var end = body.findText(end_tag, found).getStartOffset()-1;
switch (start_tag) {
case '<b>': elem.setBold(start, end, true); break;
case '<i>': elem.setItalic(start, end, true); break;
case '<u>': elem.setUnderline(start, end, true); break;
}
found = body.findText(start_tag, found);
}
body.replaceText(start_tag, '');
body.replaceText(end_tag, '');
}
// this funcion takes saved doc and returns the number of its pages
function getNumPages(doc) {
var blob = doc.getAs('application/pdf');
var data = blob.getDataAsString();
var pages = parseInt(data.match(/ \/N (\d+) /)[1], 10);
Logger.log("pages = " + pages);
return pages;
}
It looks rather awful and hopeless. It turned out that Google Docs has no page number counter. You need to convert your document into a PDF and to count pages of the PDF file. Gross!
Next problem, even if you managed somehow to count the pages, you have no clue which of the cells was overflowed. This script takes just one cell, changes its font size, counts pages, changes the font size again, etc. But it doesn't granted a success, because there can be another cell with long text inside. You can reduce font size of all the texts, but it doesn't look like a great idea as well.
I am currently uploading files to an Amazon S3 using MediaConvert via Lambda functions. However part of my processing is to create thumbnail images from uploaded videos. To do this I am using the AmazonMediaConvetClient and creating a job request.
However the files that are generated have a suffix applied to them of 0000000 which from what I can gather is in reference to the frame captured.
However I do not want this suffix on the filename. Is there anyway to ensure that the filename created from a video thumbnail is what I specify with no suffix?
var jpgOutput = new Output
{
NameModifier = $"-Medium",
ContainerSettings = new ContainerSettings { Container = ContainerType.RAW },
Extension = "jpg",
VideoDescription = new VideoDescription
{
CodecSettings = new VideoCodecSettings()
{
Codec = VideoCodec.FRAME_CAPTURE,
FrameCaptureSettings = new FrameCaptureSettings()
{
MaxCaptures = 1, Quality = 100
}
},
Height = thumbnail.Height,
Width = thumbnail.Width
}
};
In the code snippet above the file is created as 1-Medium.000000.jpg but I want 1-Medium.jpg
I searched around the web & Stack Overflow but didn't find a solution. What I try to do is the following: I get certain attachments via mail that I would like to have as (Plain) text for further processing. My script looks like this:
function MyFunction() {
var threads = GmailApp.search ('label:templabel');
var messages = GmailApp.getMessagesForThreads(threads);
for (i = 0; i < messages.length; ++i)
{
j = messages[i].length;
var messageBody = messages[i][0].getBody();
var messageSubject = messages [i][0].getSubject();
var attach = messages [i][0].getAttachments();
var attachcontent = attach.getContentAsString();
GmailApp.sendEmail("mail", messageSubject, "", {htmlBody: attachcontent});
}
}
Unfortunately this doesn't work. Does anybody here have an idea how I can do this? Is it even possible?
Thank you very much in advance.
Best, Phil
Edit: Updated for DriveApp, as DocsList deprecated.
I suggest breaking this down into two problems. The first is how to get a pdf attachment from an email, the second is how to convert that pdf to text.
As you've found out, getContentAsString() does not magically change a pdf attachment to plain text or html. We need to do something a little more complicated.
First, we'll get the attachment as a Blob, a utility class used by several Services to exchange data.
var blob = attachments[0].getAs(MimeType.PDF);
So with the second problem separated out, and maintaining the assumption that we're interested in only the first attachment of the first message of each thread labeled templabel, here is how myFunction() looks:
/**
* Get messages labeled 'templabel', and send myself the text contents of
* pdf attachments in new emails.
*/
function myFunction() {
var threads = GmailApp.search('label:templabel');
var threadsMessages = GmailApp.getMessagesForThreads(threads);
for (var thread = 0; thread < threadsMessages.length; ++thread) {
var message = threadsMessages[thread][0];
var messageBody = message.getBody();
var messageSubject = message.getSubject();
var attachments = message.getAttachments();
var blob = attachments[0].getAs(MimeType.PDF);
var filetext = pdfToText( blob, {keepTextfile: false} );
GmailApp.sendEmail(Session.getActiveUser().getEmail(), messageSubject, filetext);
}
}
We're relying on a helper function, pdfToText(), to convert our pdf blob into text, which we'll then send to ourselves as a plain text email. This helper function has a variety of options; by setting keepTextfile: false, we've elected to just have it return the text content of the PDF file to us, and leave no residual files in our Drive.
pdfToText()
This utility is available as a gist. Several examples are provided there.
A previous answer indicated that it was possible to use the Drive API's insert method to perform OCR, but it didn't provide code details. With the introduction of Advanced Google Services, the Drive API is easily accessible from Google Apps Script. You do need to switch on and enable the Drive API from the editor, under Resources > Advanced Google Services.
pdfToText() uses the Drive service to generate a Google Doc from the content of the PDF file. Unfortunately, this contains the "pictures" of each page in the document - not much we can do about that. It then uses the regular DocumentService to extract the document body as plain text.
/**
* See gist: https://gist.github.com/mogsdad/e6795e438615d252584f
*
* Convert pdf file (blob) to a text file on Drive, using built-in OCR.
* By default, the text file will be placed in the root folder, with the same
* name as source pdf (but extension 'txt'). Options:
* keepPdf (boolean, default false) Keep a copy of the original PDF file.
* keepGdoc (boolean, default false) Keep a copy of the OCR Google Doc file.
* keepTextfile (boolean, default true) Keep a copy of the text file.
* path (string, default blank) Folder path to store file(s) in.
* ocrLanguage (ISO 639-1 code) Default 'en'.
* textResult (boolean, default false) If true and keepTextfile true, return
* string of text content. If keepTextfile
* is false, text content is returned without
* regard to this option. Otherwise, return
* id of textfile.
*
* #param {blob} pdfFile Blob containing pdf file
* #param {object} options (Optional) Object specifying handling details
*
* #returns {string} id of text file (default) or text content
*/
function pdfToText ( pdfFile, options ) {
// Ensure Advanced Drive Service is enabled
try {
Drive.Files.list();
}
catch (e) {
throw new Error( "To use pdfToText(), first enable 'Drive API' in Resources > Advanced Google Services." );
}
// Set default options
options = options || {};
options.keepTextfile = options.hasOwnProperty("keepTextfile") ? options.keepTextfile : true;
// Prepare resource object for file creation
var parents = [];
if (options.path) {
parents.push( getDriveFolderFromPath (options.path) );
}
var pdfName = pdfFile.getName();
var resource = {
title: pdfName,
mimeType: pdfFile.getContentType(),
parents: parents
};
// Save PDF to Drive, if requested
if (options.keepPdf) {
var file = Drive.Files.insert(resource, pdfFile);
}
// Save PDF as GDOC
resource.title = pdfName.replace(/pdf$/, 'gdoc');
var insertOpts = {
ocr: true,
ocrLanguage: options.ocrLanguage || 'en'
}
var gdocFile = Drive.Files.insert(resource, pdfFile, insertOpts);
// Get text from GDOC
var gdocDoc = DocumentApp.openById(gdocFile.id);
var text = gdocDoc.getBody().getText();
// We're done using the Gdoc. Unless requested to keepGdoc, delete it.
if (!options.keepGdoc) {
Drive.Files.remove(gdocFile.id);
}
// Save text file, if requested
if (options.keepTextfile) {
resource.title = pdfName.replace(/pdf$/, 'txt');
resource.mimeType = MimeType.PLAIN_TEXT;
var textBlob = Utilities.newBlob(text, MimeType.PLAIN_TEXT, resource.title);
var textFile = Drive.Files.insert(resource, textBlob);
}
// Return result of conversion
if (!options.keepTextfile || options.textResult) {
return text;
}
else {
return textFile.id
}
}
The conversion to DriveApp is helped with this utility from Bruce McPherson:
// From: http://ramblings.mcpher.com/Home/excelquirks/gooscript/driveapppathfolder
function getDriveFolderFromPath (path) {
return (path || "/").split("/").reduce ( function(prev,current) {
if (prev && current) {
var fldrs = prev.getFoldersByName(current);
return fldrs.hasNext() ? fldrs.next() : null;
}
else {
return current ? null : prev;
}
},DriveApp.getRootFolder());
}
I have a piece of code I am testing, in an attempt to learn how to convert a spreadsheet into a pdf using Google UI Apps Script. The code creates and writes to the spreadsheet but the pdf attachment is blank. Would appreciate any help to get this to work. Thanks.
var newSpreadsheet = SpreadsheetApp.create("My Test Sheet");
var columnNames = ["First Name", "Last Name", "Department"];
newSpreadsheet.getSheetByName('Sheet1').activate();
var headersRange = newSpreadsheet.getActiveSheet().getRange(1, 1, 1, columnNames.length);
headersRange.setValues([columnNames]);
var pdf = DocsList.getFileById(newSpreadsheet.getId()).getAs('application/pdf').getBytes();
var attach = {fileName:'My Test PDF.pdf',content:pdf, mimeType:'application/pdf'};
// Send email
MailApp.sendEmail("myemail#email.com", "subject", "message", {attachments:[attach]});
You should not use DocList anymore. Use DriveApp instead. Below a solution with little modifications of your code:
function toPdf(id){
SpreadsheetApp.flush();
// var ssDoc = DriveApp.getFileById(SpreadsheetApp.getActiveSpreadsheet().getId());
var ssDoc = DriveApp.getFileById(id);
var pdf = DriveApp.createFile(ssDoc.getAs(MimeType.PDF));
return pdf.getBlob().getBytes();
}
function user2943227(){
var newSpreadsheet = SpreadsheetApp.create("My Test Sheet");
var columnNames = ["First Name", "Last Name", "Department"];
// newSpreadsheet.getSheetByName('Sheet1').activate();
var headersRange = newSpreadsheet.getActiveSheet().getRange(1, 1, 1, columnNames.length);
headersRange.setValues([columnNames]);
// var pdf = DocsList.getFileById(newSpreadsheet.getId()).getAs('application/pdf').getBytes();
var pdf = toPdf(newSpreadsheet.getId());
var attach = {fileName:'My Test PDF.pdf',content:pdf, mimeType:'application/pdf'};
// Send email
MailApp.sendEmail("myemail#email.com", "subject", "message", {attachments:[attach]});
}
Can anyone suggest how to show value stored in SQL in HTML form to word file. I am using open xml tool to generate my word from my asp.net MVC application and it works fine but now I am stuck in one point where there is a bullet points entry stored in my DB field and I have to show it in my table cell text property?
actual value stored in DB field: "<ul><li>tapan</li><li>gupta</li></ul><p> </p>"
Run run362 = new Run();
RunProperties runProperties358 = new RunProperties();
RunFonts runFonts851 = new RunFonts() { Hint = FontTypeHintValues.EastAsia, Ascii = "Helvetica", HighAnsi = "Helvetica", ComplexScript = "Arial" };
FontSize fontSize833 = new FontSize() { Val = "20" };
Languages languages772 = new Languages() { EastAsia = "zh-HK" };
runProperties358.Append(runFonts851);
runProperties358.Append(fontSize833);
runProperties358.Append(languages772);
Text text299 = new Text() { Space = SpaceProcessingModeValues.Preserve };
text299.Text = **my field value**
run362.Append(runProperties358);
run362.Append(text299);
Try Html to Open XML.
Refer Here : http://html2openxml.codeplex.com/
Hope this helps!