EXAMPLE

Maintaining compatibility

Run-time changes

    compatibility => [ 0, 0, 0 ]

will restore all behaviors to the old style, while

    compatibility => [ 1, 0, 2 ]

will change only the designation of "odd/even" rows (element 1) to the old behavior, while leaving header repeat (element 0) and default padding (element 2) in the new behavior.

new()

    my $pdf_table = new PDF::Table;
       or
    my $pdf_table = PDF::Table->new();

Description

Creates a new instance of the class.

Parameters

There are no required parameters. You may pass $pdf, $page, $data, and %options; or can defer this until the table() method invocation (the usual technique).

Returns

Reference to the new instance

table()

    my ($final_page, $number_of_pages, $final_y) = table($pdf, $page, $data, %settings)

Description

Generates a multi-row, multi-column table into an existing PDF document, based on provided data set and settings.

Parameters

    $pdf      - a PDF::Builder instance representing the document being created
    $page     - a PDF::Builder::Page instance representing the current page of 
                the document
    $data     - an ARRAY reference to a 2D data structure that will be used 
                to build the table
    %settings - HASH with geometry and formatting parameters
    

For full %settings description see section "Table settings" below.

This method will add more pages to the PDF instance as required, based on the formatting options and the amount of data.

Returns

The return value is a 3 item list where

    $final_page - A PDF::Builder::Page instance that the table ends on
    $number_of_pages - The count of pages that the table spans
    $final_y - The Y coordinate of the table bottom, so that additional 
               content can be added on the same page ($final_page)
    

Example

    my $pdf  = new PDF::Builder;
    my $page = $pdf->page();
    my $data = [
        ['foo1','bar1','baz1'],
        ['foo2','bar2','baz2']
    ];
    my %settings = (
        'x' => 10,
        'w' => 570,
        'y' => 220,
        'h' => 180,
    );

    my ($final_page, $number_of_pages, $final_y) = 
        $pdftable->table( $pdf, $page, $data, %options );
    

Table settings

Unless otherwise specified, all dimensional and geometry units used are measured in points. Line counts are not used anywhere.

"Even" rows start with the first data (non-header) row. Think of this first row as number zero (an even number). Even rows alternate with odd rows. The odd/even flag is not reset when a table is split across pages. If a table fragment ends on an odd row, the next fragment (on the next page), starting the next row, will start with an even row. If a row is split across pages, it will resume with the same odd/even setting as on the previous page. If you desire to have the old (previous) odd/even behavior, see "COMPATIBILITY".

The name (key) of any table setting hash element may be given with or without a leading dash (hyphen). A leading dash is allowed for compatibility with older versions of PDF::Table, but is DEPRECATED! It is recommended that the dash be omitted in new code, and removed from old code before November 2022.

Note: if you use a deprecated setting name, or a setting beginning with a hyphen '-', PDF::Table will update the settings list with the preferred name. It does this by inserting the item using the preferred, non-hyphen name, and then deletes the deprecated one. Due to peculiarities in the way Perl copies arrays, hashes, and references; it is possible that your input settings hash may end up being modified! This normally will not be a cause for concern, but you should be aware of this behavior in case you wish to reuse all or part of a PDF::Table settings list (hash) for other purposes (or another table) -- it may have been slightly modified.

Note that any "Color specifier" is not limited to a name (e.g., 'black') or a 6-digit hex specification (e.g., '#3366CC'). See the PDF::Builder writeup on specifying colors for CMYK, L*a*b, HSV, and other methods.

Mandatory global settings

There are some mandatory parameters for setting table geometry and position on the first (initial) or only page of the table. It is up to you to tell PDF::Table where to start (upper left corner) the table, and its width and maximum height on this page.

x - X coordinate of upper left corner of the table.

The left edge of the sheet (media) is 0. Note that this "X" will be used for any spillover of the table to additional page(s), so you cannot have spillover (continuation) rows starting at a different "X".

Value: can be any number satisfying "0 ≤ X < PageWidth"

Default: No default value

    'x' => 10,
    

y - Y coordinate of upper left corner of the table on the initial page.

Value: can be any number satisfying "0 < y < PageHeight" (depending on space availability when embedding a table)

Default: No default value

    'y' => 327,
    

Deprecated name: start_y (will go away in the future!)

w - width of the table starting from "x".

Note that this "width" will be used for any spillover of the table to additional page(s), so you cannot have spillover (continuation) rows with a different "width".

Value: can be any number satisfying "0 < w < PageWidth - x"

Default: No default value

    'w'  => 570,
    

NOTE: If PDF::Table finds that the table width needs to be increased to accommodate the requested text and formatting, it will output a warning. This could lead to undesired results. Possible solutions to keep the table from being widened include:

    1) Increase table width (w)
    2) Decrease font size (font_size)
    3) Choose a narrower font
    4) Decrease "max_word_length" parameter, so long words are split into
        shorter chunks
    5) Rotate media to landscape (if it is portrait)
    6) Use a larger (wider) media size
    

h - Height of the table on the initial (current) page.

Think of this as the maximum height (Y dimension) of the start of the table on this page. This would be the current "Y" location less any bottom margin. Normally you would let as much as possible fit on the page, but it's possible that you might want to split the table at an earlier point, to put more on the next (spill) page.

Value: can be any number satisfying "0 < h < PageHeight - Current Y position"

Default: No default value

    'h' => 250,
    

Deprecated name: start_h (will go away in the future!)

Optional settings

These are settings which are not absolutely necessary, although their use may result in a much more pleasing appearance for the table. They all have a "reasonable" default (or inheritance from another setting).

Optional Global Settings

These settings apply only to the entire table, and cannot be used to specify cell, column, or row properties. A global setting may only occur once.

next_h - Height of the table on any additional page.

Think of this as the maximum height (Y dimension) of any overflow (spill) table portions on following pages. It is highly recommended that you explicitly specify this setting as the full (body content) height of a page, rather than having PDF::Table try to figure out a good value and give a warning.

Value: can be any number satisfying "0 < next_h < PageHeight - y"

You need to leave a non-negative amount of space at the bottom of the page.

Default: Media height * 80% (80% of the paper height) You will receive a warning if "next_h" is needed for a spill page and you did not provide it!

    'next_h'  => 700,
    

next_y - Y coordinate of upper left corner of the table at any additional page.

Think of this as the starting "Y" position of any overflow (spill or continuation) table portions on following pages. It is highly recommended that you explicitly specify this setting to be at the top of the body content of a page, rather than having PDF::Table try to figure out a good value and give a warning.

Value: can be any number satisfying "0 < next_y < PageHeight"

Default: Media height * 90% (10% down from the top of the paper) You will receive a warning if "next_y" is needed for a spill page and you did not provide it!

    'next_y'  => 750,
    

new_page_func - CODE reference to a function that returns a PDF::Builder::Page instance. See section "New Page Function Hook" below.

    'new_page_func'  => $code_ref,
    

cell_render_hook - CODE reference to a function called with the current cell coordinates. See section "Cell Render Hook" below.

    'cell_render_hook'  => $code_ref,
    

header_props - HASH reference to specific settings for the Header row of the table. See section "Header Row Properties" below.

    'header_props' => $hdr_props,
    

row_props - HASH reference to specific settings for each row of the table. See section "Row Properties" below.

    'row_props' => $my_row_props,
    

column_props - HASH reference to specific settings for each column of the table. See section "Column Properties" below.

    'column_props' => $col_props,
    

cell_props - HASH reference to specific settings for each column of the table. See section "Cell Properties" below.

    'cell_props' => $cell_props,
    

border_w - Width of table border lines.

h_border_w - Width of horizontal border lines (top and bottom of the table). Overrides 'border_w' value for horizontal usage. Note that if the table spills over onto following pages, only the very first top and very last bottom table border will be full width. Dividers on row boundaries will be 1pt wide ($border_w_default) solid lines, and where a row is divided within its content, a dashed (pattern $dashed_rule_default) 1pt wide line is used.

v_border_w - Width of vertical border lines. Overrides 'border_w' value for vertical usage.

Value: can be any positive number. When set to 0, it will disable border lines. This is the line thickness for drawing a border.

Default: 1 ($border_w_default)

The border is the outside frame around the table. It does not enter into table height or width calculations, so be sure to set your "x" and "w" settings to allow for the width of vertical borders, and your "y" or "next_y" and "h" or "next_h" settings to allow for the width (thickness or height) of the horizontal borders, especially if you make them more than a Point or two in thickness (line width).

    'border_w'     => 3,     # border width is 3
    'h_border_w'   => 1,     # horizontal borders will be 1, overriding 3
    'v_border_w'   => undef, # vertical borders will be 3, as it will 
                             # fall back to 'border_w'
    

Note that both borders and rules overlay the exact boundary between two cells (i.e., the centerline). That is, one half of a rule or border will overlay the adjoining cells. Rules do not expand the size of the table, although borders will (by a total of their thickness/width). If you set particularly thick (wide) rules, pay attention to adding some padding on the appropriate side(s), so that valuable content is not overlaid. For cells along the outer border, one half the width of a border will overlay the cell, so account for this in the padding specification.

Deprecated names: border (now 'border_w'), horizontal_borders (now 'h_border_w'), and vertical_borders (now 'v_border_w'); will go away in the future!

border_c - Border color for all borders.

Value: Color specifier as 'name' or '#rrggbb'

Default: 'black' ($fg_color_default)

    'border_c' => 'red',
    

Deprecated name: border_color (will go away in the future!)

The same color is used for both the horizontal and vertical borders.

Optional Cell, Column, Row, or Global Settings

These settings can be specified to apply to the entire table, or more narrowly applied to the header row (in header_props hash), one or more rows (in row_props array), one or more columns (in column_props array), or one or more individual cells (in cell_props hash).

If a setting is specified in more than one place, the order of precedence is as follows: a header property (header row only), followed by a cell property, followed by a column property, followed by a row property, followed by a global setting, and finally, any hard-coded default value (if required).

A global setting may only occur once (although it may be overridden by cell, column, or row usage of the same setting).

default_text - A string to use if no content (text) is defined for a cell.

Value: any string (can be a blank)

Default: '-' ($empty_cell_text)

max_word_length - Breaks long words

It may be necessary to break up long words (like serial numbers, hashes, etc.) to fit within a column, by adding a space after every Nth symbol, unless a space (x20) is found already in the text.

Note that this does not add a hyphen (dash)! It merely ensures that there will be no runs of non-space characters longer than N characters, reducing the chance of forcing an overly wide column.

Value: can be any positive integer number (character count)

Default: 20

    'max_word_length' => 25,    # Will add a space after every 25 symbols
                                # unless there is a natural break (space)
    

padding - Padding applied to every cell

padding_top - top cell padding, overrides 'padding'

padding_right - right cell padding, overrides 'padding'

padding_left - left cell padding, overrides 'padding'

padding_bottom - bottom padding, overrides 'padding'

Value: can be any non-negative number (≥ 0)

Default padding: 2. ($padding_default)

See "COMPATIBILITY" for returning to the old value of 0.

Default padding_* 'padding'

    'padding'        => 5,     # all sides cell padding
    'padding_top'    => 8,     # top cell padding, overrides 'padding'
    'padding_right'  => 6,     # right cell padding, overrides 'padding'
    'padding_left'   => 2,     # left cell padding, overrides 'padding'
    'padding_bottom' => undef, # bottom padding will be 5, as it will fall
                               # back to 'padding' value
    

font - instance of PDF::Builder::Resource::Font defining the font to be used in the table (or a subsection of it).

Value: can be any PDF::Builder::Resource::* type of font

Default: 'Times' core font with latin1 encoding

    'font' => $pdf->corefont("Helvetica", -encoding => "latin1"),
    

CAUTION: Only TrueType and OpenType fonts (ttfont call) can make use of multibyte encodings such as 'utf8'. Errors will result if you attempt to use 'utf8', etc. with corefont, psfont, etc. font types! For these, you must only specify a single-byte encoding.

font_size - Size of the font that will be used in the table (or a subsection of it).

Value: can be any positive number

Default: 12 ($font_size_default)

    'font_size' => 16,
    

fg_color - Font color for all text.

bg_color - Background color for all text.

Value: Color specifier as 'name' or '#rrggbb' (or other suitable color specification format)

Default: 'black' text on (transparent) background. In other words, there is no default background color. The exception is for any header row, where the default colors are "#000066" (dark blue, $h_fg_color_default) on "#FFFFAA" (light yellow, $h_bg_color_default).

    'fg_color'      => '#333333',
    

Deprecated names: font_color, background_color (both will go away in the future!)

fg_color_odd - Font color for odd rows (override "fg_color").

fg_color_even - Font color for even rows (override "fg_color").

bg_color_odd - Background color for odd rows (override "bg_color").

bg_color_even - Background color for even rows (override "bg_color").

Value: Color specifier as 'name' or '#rrggbb' (or other suitable color specification format)

    'fg_color_odd'  => 'purple',
    'fg_color_even' => '#00FF00',
    'bg_color_odd'  => 'gray',
    'bg_color_even' => 'lightblue',
    

Deprecated names: font_color_odd, font_color_even, background_color_odd, background_color_even (all will go away in the future!)

Note that *_color_odd/even usually make the most sense as global settings, although it is possible to use them within columns (see chess.pl example), and even rows and cells, but not header rows.

underline - Underline specifications for text in the table.

Value: 'auto', integer of distance (below baseline), or arrayref of distance & thickness (more than one pair will provide multiple underlines). Negative distance gives strike-through. "[]" ('none' also works for PDF::Builder) gives no underline.

Note that it is unwise to underline all content in the table! It should be used selectively to emphasize important text, such as header content, or certain cells. Unfortunately, there is currently no way to turn underlining off and on within a cell.

Default: none

Deprecated name: font_underline (will go away in the future!)

min_rh - Desired minimum row height.

This setting will be honored only if "min_rh > font_size + padding_top + padding_bottom" (i.e., it is taller than the calculated minimum value).

This setting doesn't usually make sense when used in a column_props or a cell_props, but it is possible to do, and may be useful in certain situations.

Value: can be any positive number

Default: "font_size + padding_top + padding_bottom"

    'min_rh' => 24,
    

Deprecated name: row_height (will go away in the future!)

justify - Alignment of text in a cell.

Value: One of 'left', 'right', 'center'

Default: 'left'

min_w - Minimum width of this cell or column.

PDF::Table will set a cell (and the column it's in) minimum width to fit the longest word (after splitting on "max_word_length") found in the text. This amount may be increased to "min_w". A column should be no narrower than its widest minimum width, but could be larger in order to fill out the table width.

Value: can be any number satisfying "0 < min_w < w"

Default: Auto calculated

Note that "min_w" is usually used for a column_props to set the column minimum width. If used in a row_props, it will act as a global setting; if used in a cell_props, that will force the minimum width for the cell's column.

max_w - Maximum width of this column.

PDF::Table will set a cell (and the column it's in) maximum width to fit the total length of the text content. This will seldom be actually used, but "max_w" may be used to reduce this maximum. When columns are being widened in order to meet the desired table width, it will try to honor the maximum width setting and avoid adding any width to a column already at its maximum width (but this cannot be guaranteed).

Value: can be any number satisfying "0 < min_w ≤ max_w < w"

Default: Auto calculated

rule_w - Width of table rule lines (internal table dividers).

h_rule_w - Width of horizontal rules (bottom of a cell). Overrides 'rule_w' value for horizontal usage.

v_rule_w - Width of vertical rules (left side of a cell). Overrides 'rule_w' value for vertical usage.

Value: can be any positive number. When set to 0, it will disable rules. This is the line thickness for drawing a rule.

Default: 1 (corresponding border value)

A rule is a line bordering a cell in the table. While it does not enter into table height or width calculations, be sure to set your "padding" settings to allow sufficient clearance of cell content, especially if you make the rules more than a Point or two in thickness (line width). Note that a cell only defines and draws its left and bottom rules -- the top rule is defined in the cell or row above, and the right rule is defined in the cell or column to the right of this one.

    'rule_w'     => 3,     # rule width is 3
    'h_rule_w'   => 1,     # horizontal rules will be 1, overriding 3
    'v_rule_w'   => undef, # vertical rules will be 3, as it will 
                           # fall back to 'rule_w'
    

Note that both borders and rules overlay the exact boundary between two cells (i.e., the centerline). That is, one half of a rule or border will overlay the adjoining cells. Rules do not expand the size of the table. If you set particularly thick (wide) rules, pay attention to adding some padding on the appropriate side(s), so that valuable content is not overlaid. For cells along the outer border, a border will be drawn instead of a rule.

Cell rules inherit thickness and color from the border settings, so if you want no internal rules, you need to set

    'rule_w'     => 0,     # no rules
    

rule_c - Rule color for all rules.

h_rule_c - Rule color for horizontal (bottom) rules, overriding "rule_c" for this usage.

v_rule_c - Rule color for vertical (left) rules, overriding "rule_c" for this usage.

Value: Color specifier as 'name' or '#rrggbb'

Default: 'black' (corresponding border value)

    'rule_c' => 'red',
    

New Page Function Hook

new_page_func is a CODE reference to a function that returns a PDF::Builder::Page instance.

If used, the parameter '"new_page_func"' must be a function reference which, when executed, will create a new page and will return the object to the module. For example, you can use it to put Page Title, Page Frame, Page Numbers and other content that you need. Also if you need a different paper size and orientation than the default US-Letter, e.g., B2-Landscape, you can use this function ref to set it up for you. For more info about creating pages, refer to PDF::Builder PAGE METHODS Section. Don't forget that your function must return a page object created with the PDF::Builder page() method. $code_ref can be something like "\&new_page".

    'new_page_func'  => $code_ref,

The $code_ref may be an inline sub definition (as show below), or a regular named "sub" (e.g., 'new_page()') referenced as "\&new_page". The latter may be cleaner than inlining, if the routine is quite long.

An example of reusing a saved PDF page as a template:

    my $pdf      = PDF::API2->new();
    my $template = PDF::API2->open('pdf/template.pdf');
    my $new_page_func = sub { return $pdf->import_page($template, 1); }

    table(
        ...
        new_page_func => $new_page_func,
        ...

This will call a function to grab a copy of a template PDF's page 1 and insert it as the new last page of the PDF, as the starting point for the next overflow (continuation) page of the table, if needed. Note that the "$template->openpage(1)" call is unsuitable for this purpose, as it does not insert the page into the current PDF.

You can also create a blank page and prefill it with desired content:

    my $pdf      = PDF::API2->new();
    my $new_page_func = sub { 
        my $page = $pdf->page(); # so far, no difference from default behavior
        $page->mediaBox(...);  # set page size/orientation, etc.
        my $text = $page->text();
        # set font, placement, etc.
        $text->text(...);  # write header, footer, etc.
        ...
        return $page;
    }

    table(
        ...
        new_page_func => $new_page_func,
        ...

If "new_page_func" is not defined, PDF::Table will simply call "$pdf->page()" to generate a new, blank, "next" page.

Note that this function is not called for the first page of a table. That one uses the current $page parameter passed to the "table()" call. It is only called when needed for overflow ("next_y" and "next_h") pages, where it replaces the $page parameter with a new page framework. You may want to consider using the same function to create your other (non-table) pages, assuming you want the same format (PDF content) across all pages of the table.

Cell Render Hook

cell_render_hook is a CODE reference to a function called with the current cell coordinates. If used, the parameter "cell_render_hook" must be a function reference. It is most useful for creating special items within a text block, such as a URL link inside of a cell. The following example adds a link in the first column of each non-header row:

    'cell_render_hook'  => sub {
        my ($page, $first_row, $row, $col, $x, $y, $w, $h) = @_;

        # Do nothing except for first column (and not a header row)
        return unless ($col == 0);
        return if ($first_row);

        # Create link
        my $value = $list_of_vals[$row-1];
        my $url = "https://${hostname}/app/${value}";

        my $annot = $page->annotation();
        $annot->url( $url, -rect => [$x, $y, $x+$w, $y+$h] );
    },

Header Row Properties

If the 'header_props' parameter is used, it should be a hashref. Passing an empty HASH will trigger a header row initialized with Default values. There is no 'data' variable for the content, because the module asumes that the first table row will become the header row. It will copy this row and put it on every new page if the 'repeat' parameter is set.

repeat - Flag showing if header row should be repeated on every new page.

Value: 0,1 1-Yes/True, 0-No/False

Default: 1 ($repeat_default)

See "COMPATIBILITY" if you wish to change it back to the old behavior of 0.

    my $hdr_props = {
        'font'       => $pdf->corefont("Helvetica", -encoding => "latin1"),
        'font_size'  => 18,
        'fg_color'   => '#004444',
        'bg_color'   => 'yellow',
        'repeat'     => 0,
        'justify'    => 'center',
    };
    

Row Properties

If the 'row_props' parameter is used, it should be an arrayref of hashrefs, with one hashref for each row of the table. The rows are counted from top to bottom, so the hash reference at $row_props[0] will hold properties for the first row (from top to bottom). If you DO NOT want to give properties for a row, but to give for another, just insert an empty hash reference into the array for the row that you want to skip. This will cause the counting to proceed as expected and the properties to be applied at the right rows.

Each hashref can contain any of the keys shown below:

    my $row_props = [
        # This is an empty hash to indicate default properties for first row
        {},
        # the next hash will hold the properties for the second row from 
        # top to bottom.
        {
            'min_rh'    => 75,        # Minimum row height of 75
            'justify'   => 'right',   # Right text alignment
            'font'      => $pdf->corefont("Helvetica", 
                                          -encoding => "latin1"),
            'font_size' => 10,
            'fg_color'  => 'blue',
            'bg_color'  => '#FFFF00',
        },
        # etc.
    ];

Column Properties

If the 'column_props' parameter is used, it should be an arrayref of hashrefs, with one hashref for each column of the table. The columns are counted from left to right, so the hash reference at $col_props[0] will hold properties for the first column (from left to right). If you DO NOT want to give properties for a column, but to give for another, just insert an empty hash reference into the array for the column that you want to skip. This will cause the counting to proceed as expected and the properties to be applied at the right columns.

Each hashref can contain any of the keys shown below:

    my $col_props = [
        # This is an empty hash to indicate default properties for first col.
        {},
        # the next hash will hold the properties for the second column from 
        # left to right.
        {
            'min_w'     => 100,       # Minimum column width of 100
            'max_w'     => 150,       # Maximum column width of 150
            'justify'   => 'right',   # Right text alignment
            'font'      => $pdf->corefont("Helvetica", 
                                          -encoding => "latin1"),
            'font_size' => 10,
            'fg_color'  => 'blue',
            'bg_color'  => '#FFFF00',
        },
        # etc.
    ];

NOTE: If 'min_w' and/or 'max_w' parameter is used in 'col_props', keep in mind that it may be overridden by the calculated minimum/maximum cell width so that the table can be created. When this happens, a warning will be issued with some suggestions on what can be done. In cases of a conflict between column formatting and odd/even row formatting, 'col_props' will override odd/even.

Cell Properties

If the 'cell_props' parameter is used, it should be an arrayref with arrays of hashrefs (of the same dimension as the data array) with one hashref for each cell of the table.

Each hashref can contain any of the keys shown below:

colspan - Span this cell over multiple columns to the right.

Value: can be any positive number less than the number of columns to the right of the current column

Default: undef

NOTE: If you want to have regular columns after a colspan, you have to provide "undef" for the columns that should be spanned

NOTE: If you use "colspan" to span a column, but provide data for it, your table will be mangled: the spanned-but-data-provided-column will be rendered! But, as HTML works the same way, we do not consider this a bug.

Example:

    # row0 col1 should span 2 cols:
    @data = ( [ 'r1c1', 'r1c2', 'r1c3' ], ['r2c1+',undef,'r2c3'] );
    $tab->table( $pdf, $page, \@data, %TestData::required,
      'cell_props' => [
          [],
          [{'colspan' => 2}]
      ]
    );
    

See the file "examples/colspan.pl" for detailed usage.

Example:

    my $cell_props = [
        [ # This array is for the first row (0). 
          # If header_props is defined, it will override these settings.
            {    # Row 0 cell 0
                'bg_color'  => '#AAAA00',
                'fg_color'  => 'yellow',
                'underline' => [ 2, 2 ],
            },

            # etc.
        ],
        [ # Row 1 (first data row, if header_props given)
            {    # Row 1 cell 0
                'bg_color' => '#CCCC00',
                'fg_color' => 'blue',
            },
            {    # Row 1 cell 1
                'bg_color' => '#BBBB00',
                'fg_color' => 'red',
            },
            # etc.
        ],
        [ # Row 2
            {    # Row 2 cell 0 span cell 1
                'colspan' => 2
            },
            # etc.
        ],
        # etc.
    ];

    OR

    my $cell_props = [];
    $cell_props->[1][0] = {
        # Row 2 cell 1
        'bg_color' => '#CCCC00',
        'fg_color' => 'blue',
    };

text_block()

    my ($width_of_last_line, $ypos_of_last_line, $left_over_text) = 
        text_block( $txt, $data, %settings)

Description

Utility method to create a block of text. The block may contain multiple paragraphs (input $data separated by implicit or explicit newlines "\n"). It is mainly used internally, but you can use it from outside for placing formatted text anywhere on the sheet.

NOTE: This method will NOT add more pages to the PDF instance if the space is not enough to place the string inside the block. Leftover text will be returned and has to be handled by the caller - i.e., add a new page and a new block with the leftover.

Parameters

    $txt  - a PDF::Builder::Page::Text instance representing the text tool.
    $data - a string that will be placed inside the block, broken up into
            lines that fit within the indicated width.
    %settings - HASH with geometry and formatting parameters. Note that
                several parameters are mandatory.
    

Returns

The return value is a 3 item list where

    $width_of_last_line - Width of last line in the block
    $final_y - The Y coordinate of the block bottom so that additional 
               content can be added after it
    $left_over_text - Text that did not fit in the provided box geometry.
    

Example

    # PDF::Builder objects
    my $page = $pdf->page();
    my $txt  = $page->text();

    my %settings = (
        # MANDATORY position and table size
        'x' => 10,
        'y' => 570,
        'w' => 220,
        'h' => 180,

        # OPTIONAL PARAMETERS
        'leading'  => $font_size*1.15 | $distance_between_lines,
        'align'    => "left|right|center|justify|fulljustify",
                        default: left
        'max_word_length' => $optional_max_word_chars_between_splits
                        default: 20
        'parspace' => $optional_vertical_space_before_paragraph,
                        default: 0 extra vertical space

        # Only one of the following parameters can be given.
        # They override each other, in the order given. C<hang> is the 
        # highest weight.
        'hang'     => $optional_hanging_text_to_lead_a_paragraph,
        'flindent' => $optional_indent_of_first_line,
        'fpindent' => $optional_indent_of_first_paragraph,
        'indent'   => $optional_indent_of_text_to_every_non_first_line,
    );

    my ( $width_of_last_line, $final_y, $left_over_text ) = 
         $pdftable->text_block( $txt, $data, %settings );