How to Create a PDF file in Cakephp 2.0 using Fpdf

Step 1: Download FPDF folder from http://www.fpdf.org/ .
Step 2: Unzip the downloaded Fpdf file and name it “fpdf” or however you require and make sure that you use the same name while calling it.
Step 3: Move the “fpdf” unzipped files to  your /app/Vendor directory within Cakephp. Now you should have the directory path as  /app/Vendor/fpdf.
Step 4: Create a new Cakephp layout file for the pdfs. We will use this layout when serving a pdf to the client. Create a file called pdf.ctp inside of /app/View/Layouts. Add the following code to /app/View/Layouts/pdf.ctp

Layout: /app/View/Layouts/pdf.ctp

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<?php     header('Content-Disposition: attachment; filename="downloaded.pdf"');     echo $content_for_layout; ?>

The header function above tells the browser that it is going to receive a file called download.pdf. If you want to change the name of the downloaded file, you can replace download.pdf above.

Step 5: Add the viewpdf function to the Controller /app/Controller/[controller_name]Controller.ctp

Controller: /app/Controller/Controller_name_Controller.ctp

PHP

public function viewpdf() { App::import('Vendor', 'Fpdf', array('file' => 'fpdf/fpdf.php')); $this->layout = 'pdf'; //this will use the pdf.ctp layout $this->set('fpdf', new FPDF('P','mm','A4')); $this->set('data', 'Hello, PDF world'); $this->render('pdf'); }

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public function viewpdf() {     App::import('Vendor', 'Fpdf', array('file' => 'fpdf/fpdf.php'));     $this->layout = 'pdf'; //this will use the pdf.ctp layout       $this->set('fpdf', new FPDF('P','mm','A4'));     $this->set('data', 'Hello, PDF world');       $this->render('pdf'); }

Add the above function to the controller of your choice. Below I included a duplicate of the code above with comments to help you understand each line:

Controller: /app/Controller/Controller_name_Controller.ctp

PHP

public function viewpdf() { //Import /app/Vendor/Fpdf App::import('Vendor', 'Fpdf', array('file' => 'fpdf/fpdf.php')); //Assign layout to /app/View/Layout/pdf.ctp $this->layout = 'pdf'; //this will use the pdf.ctp layout //Set fpdf variable to use in view $this->set('fpdf', new FPDF('P','mm','A4')); //pass data to view $this->set('data', 'Hello, PDF world'); //render the pdf view (app/View/[view_name]/pdf.ctp) $this->render('pdf'); }

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public function viewpdf() {     //Import /app/Vendor/Fpdf     App::import('Vendor', 'Fpdf', array('file' => 'fpdf/fpdf.php'));     //Assign layout to /app/View/Layout/pdf.ctp     $this->layout = 'pdf'; //this will use the pdf.ctp layout     //Set fpdf variable to use in view     $this->set('fpdf', new FPDF('P','mm','A4'));     //pass data to view     $this->set('data', 'Hello, PDF world');     //render the pdf view (app/View/[view_name]/pdf.ctp)     $this->render('pdf'); }

Step 6: Create the view /app/View/[view_name]/pdf.ctp

View: /app/View/View_name/pdf.ctp

PHP

<?php $fpdf->AddPage(); $fpdf->SetFont('Arial','B',16); $fpdf->Cell(40,10,$data); $fpdf->Output(); ?>

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<?php     $fpdf->AddPage();     $fpdf->SetFont('Arial','B',16);     $fpdf->Cell(40,10,$data);     $fpdf->Output(); ?>

Paste the above code in the View corresponding to the controller with the viewpdf function defined earlier and alter the section based on your requirement. Here we are just printing out the "Hello, PDF world" which is set from the Controller.

Step 7: View PDF via the url: [site_home]/[controller_name]/viewpdf
 If you are still having problems, try adding the below code to the /app/Config/routes.php file

Routes: /app/Config/routes.ctp

PHP

Router::parseExtensions('pdf');

1	Router::parseExtensions('pdf');