Chapters in iText 7

Question

I'm looking to create a pdf file with chapters and sub chapters with iText 7. I've found examples for previous versions of iText using the Chapter class. However this class does not seem to be included in iText 7.

How is that functionality implemented in iText7?

Bruno Lowagie Bruno Lowagie · Accepted Answer · 2016-10-27T13:48:27

The Chapter and Section class in iText 5 were problematic. Already with iText 5, we advised people to use PdfOutline.

For an example on how to create chapters, and more specifically, the corresponding outlines in the bookmarks panel, please take a look at the iText 7: Building Blocks tutorial. This tutorial has a recurring theme: the novel "The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde."

We use that text and a database with movies based on this novel to explain how iText 7 works. If you don't have the time to read it, please jump to Chapter 6.

In this chapter, we create a document that looks like this:

You can download the full sample code here: TOC_OutlinesDestinations

BufferedReader br = new BufferedReader(new FileReader(SRC));
String name, line;
Paragraph p;
boolean title = true;
int counter = 0;
PdfOutline outline = null;
while ((line = br.readLine()) != null) {
    p = new Paragraph(line);
    p.setKeepTogether(true);
    if (title) {
        name = String.format("title%02d", counter++);
        outline = createOutline(outline, pdf, line, name);
        p.setFont(bold).setFontSize(12)
            .setKeepWithNext(true)
            .setDestination(name);
        title = false;
        document.add(p);
    }
    else {
        p.setFirstLineIndent(36);
        if (line.isEmpty()) {
            p.setMarginBottom(12);
            title = true;
        }
        else {
            p.setMarginBottom(0);
        }
        document.add(p);
    }
}

In this example, we loop over a text file that contains titles and chapters. Every time we encounter a title, we create a name (title01, title02, and so on), and we use this named as named destination for the title paragraph: setDestination(name).

We create the outlines using the PdfOutline object for which we define a named destination like this: PdfDestination.makeDestination(new PdfString(name))

public PdfOutline createOutline(PdfOutline outline, PdfDocument pdf, String title, String name) {
    if (outline ==  null) {
        outline = pdf.getOutlines(false);
        outline = outline.addOutline(title);
        outline.addDestination(PdfDestination.makeDestination(new PdfString(name)));
        return outline;
    }
    PdfOutline kid = outline.addOutline(title);
    kid.addDestination(PdfDestination.makeDestination(new PdfString(name)));
    return outline;
}

There are other ways to achieve this result, but using named destinations is the most simple way. Just try the example, you'll discover that most of the complexity of this example is caused by the fact that we turn a simple text file into a document with chapter titles and chapter content.

Chapters in iText 7

1 Answers