htmlpdfparsingpdf-generationdhtml

Dynamic HTML to PDF


I need to be able to convert dynamic HTML (html that is rendered on page load by javascript) to a PDF. I know there are plenty of HTML to PDF converters but none of the ones I have found thus far cope with dynamic HTML.

The given tool should be able to successfully convert the following page - http://www.simile-widgets.org/timeline/

Cheers Anthony

UPDATE:

I don't need the JavaScript functionality here... i.e. i don't need to be able to interact screen... I just want the finial rendering of the screen to be captured in the PDF - like taking a photo after the page is loaded. And in the example I provided the javascript is only rendering divs to the screen so its nothing that it shouldn't be able to handle as long as it "lets" the "page" render first.


Solution

  • There is no way it can be done. The interfaces available for scripts in PDF are extremely limited compared to the full DOM and BOM access you enjoy in a web browser. Such interaction as you can achieve in PDF is not readily translatable from how it works in a browser and would almost certainly need hand authoring.

    Your example page has many effects that PDF, as an essentially static document layout format, simply cannot reproduce at all.

    Edit:

    I just want the finial rendering of the screen to be captured in the PDF

    Ah, OK, that's a far easier and more common problem then.

    In that case you'll have to use and automate a real web browser (like Firefox), or a toolkit that provides all the logic of a web browser (like WebKit), then either:

    See these questions for some discussion of browser snapshotting.