2025 Year of Code: November - PDF

Alyssa_Foley · November 10, 2025, 10:33pm

Hi everyone and welcome to month #11, the final month of the 2025 Year of Code! This is the thread to share your November project, which has the theme of PDF. I hope this broad topic leads to tons of fun and creative Xojo projects!

Xojo’s @Gabriel_Ludosanu is starting things off with a fun and practical project: a PDF Postcard Generator. His desktop app allows you to easily design personalized holiday postcards. It’s a fantastic way to see Xojo’s capabilities in handling graphics, file operations, and PDF creation, all within a simple, intuitive interface. What will you do for this final Year of Code Challenge?

More information about this is in the November Year of Code blog post

You can download it from the Github.

Remember: To be entered in the drawings for this month’s prize and the grand prize at the end, you need to share your code, preferably on GitHub. Refer to this blog post if you need help with getting your project on GitHub.

It’s the final month of our Year of Code project and we can’t wait to see your creations!

Jürg_Otter · November 12, 2025, 8:00pm

Sudoku Solver & Generator

For the Septgamer Challenge I have created a Sudoku App.
Meanwhile I have added quite some features, one of which is being able to print the Sudoku Puzzle or export it as PDF. And the repository now contains both a Desktop- and a WebApp.

This project shows some of Xojo’s x-platform strengths:

The Logic Class SudokuTool is used in both Desktop- and WebApp and available for all Build Platforms macOS/Windows/Linux
An instance of this Class represents the current state of the Sudoku Puzzle, and it’s Method .DrawInto(g As Graphics) is used for both Printing and creating a PDF using Xojo’s PDFDocument - for both Desktop- and WebApp, and all Build Targets

While it’s fun and super easy to be able to have a single code base for both Printing and PDF, and for both Desktop- and WebApp, this project has also shown to me that PDFDocument doesn’t seem to be quite production ready (in my humble opinion). Especially when used in a WebApp (running on a headless Linux machine) there are many issues regarding Text, Fonts, Positioning.
Just try yourself and compare the available Desktop- and WebApp. Look at the open source project and contribute to fix the issues - it’s also a good project for Xojo to see what should be improved regarding PDFDocument to make this feature even better.

Sudoku Solver & Generator

Create, generate, or solve Sudoku puzzles

Source Code: GitHub: jo-tools/sudoku
- Download built Binaries → click on Releases on the right-hand side
Web Application: https://sudoku.azure.jo-tools.ch
- Note: WebApp is running on a terribly limited VM, so don’t expect a great performance. It’s also not guaranteed to be online 24/7 or forever - but it should be available for a little while.
- Fun Fact: Did you notice that you can use the arrow keys to navigate within the Sudoku Grid?
  Find out yourself by looking at the code how that’s been implemented. You’ll see two working approaches in the Commit History: the first “easy one” by me, and the now-current one has been contributed by @Ricardo_Cruz - thanks again !

ScreenShot

Philip_Cumpston · November 15, 2025, 3:11am

CodeCleaner

I have written a desktop application that reads the files in a folder and generates a summary of unused methods, classes, and properties. It generates s flowchart as a .pdf in a number of formats, but of most use is the complexity mtrix summary in the PDF generated after the code analysis.

What the Numbers Mean

Complexity of 5 = Easy to understand, test, and maintain
Complexity of 15 = Getting tricky, consider refactoring
Complexity of 25+ = Hard to maintain, should refactor

There is also a summary of relationships

I used this application to refactor its own code.

The application code can be downloaded from https://github.com/supcumps/CodeCleaner

I have found this application useful, especially when adding methods and refactoring with redundant code lying around. It also helps identify methods that can be refactored. I hope others also find it of benefit.

Phil

Emile_Schwarz · November 15, 2025, 4:49am

Thank you Philip.

Text files probably because the xojo_binary_project are not selectable.

Also, the three images are referenced as .png, and are .xojo_image (or so) in the downloaded zip.

That said, I am still curious to read what my project default(s) it have to correct it/them.

Stefan_Watermann · November 15, 2025, 8:51am

PDF Template Engine and Editor

This project is an approach to separate the design of a PDF file from code instead of writing it completely in XOJO code. it consists of classes to render a PDF document from a text based template file (.ptf). The template defines what to be rendered into the PDF document at what position. Also a visual editor is included to create and edit PDF template files (.ptf).

I’ve started this project a couple of month ago because I needed to dynamically create Invoice documents. I found it hard to design a PDF document in code, because it required me to run the whole project each time I change anything to the document layout. Also I had to redeploy the whole project again after if I fixed a small typo or added a static text to the document. With this project I now can position all elements like static text, images or simple lines on a raster-based page and save the definition of all this elements to a simple text file (the .ptf template file). The template-file will then be used by my invoice app to generate the PDF invoice documents.

This project contains not a fully featured app and framework but it is useable for simple purposes and may be enhanced in the future as need. Currently one can design single page DIN A4 PDF templates using the visual editor and generate PDF documents using the TemplateEngine classes.

Project on github: GitHub - stefanwatermann/XojoPdfTemplateEngine: Classes to render PDF files from a text based template file and a visual editor to design PDF template files.

This is how the visual editor looks like:

And this is how to render the PDF from code and inject parameters that will replace the variables starting with %:

Private Function CreateCustomerInvoice(params as dictionary) As PDFDocument
  Using PdfTemplate
  
  Var pdfSvc As New PdfService
  pdfSvc.Load(Self.PdfTemplateFolder.Child("customerinvoice.ptf"))
  
  Var helper As New PdfHelper
  helper.CreateA4PdfDoc
  helper.DrawElements(pdfSvc.CanvasElements, params)
  
  Return helper.PdfDoc
End Function

There are two projects in the repository, the first one is the visual editor (Desktop App) and the second one is an example Web-App to demonstrate how to use a template file to render a PDF document using the TemplateEngine classes. A sample template file can be found in the Web-App project (customerinvoice.pft).

Beatrix_Willius · November 15, 2025, 11:12am

PDF Manual Generator

Even in 2025 my users want a manual for printing. Because I use a website as manual I made a little project to create a PDF out of the website for each new version.

macOS only and needs MBS plugins!!!

What You Typically Change

1. Default URLs: Modify the `Open` event:

Sub Open()
me.AddRow("https://your-site.com/page1.html")
me.AddRow("https://your-site.com/page2.html")
End Sub

2. PDF title: Change kPDFName.

3. Company metadata: Edit globals.Company.

Limitations

1. A4 Only

Output PDF size is fixed at:

- Width: 595 points

- Height: 842 points

To use a different paper format (e.g., Letter), update:

- kPageWidth

- kPageHeight

2. Website Must Have a Print CSS

The tool prints the webpage as a browser would.

The website must provide a print stylesheet that hides:

- Menus

- Navigation bars

- Headers/footers

- Cookie banners

- Other interface elements

Without a good print CSS, those elements will appear in the PDF.

https://www.mothsoftware.com/downloads/pdfmanualgenerator.zip

Philip_Cumpston · November 19, 2025, 6:53am

I have added parameter complexity analysis to the application I wrote to analyse code in .xojo_code format

Parameter Count Thresholds:

Parameters	Status	Action
0-3	Excellent	Ideal range
4-5	Acceptable	Monitor closely
6-7	Warning	Should refactor
8+	Critical	Must refactor

Beatrix_Willius · November 19, 2025, 7:10am

I accidentally tried your app on an xml project with 670 external items and the code had some hang for StringOpsClassic.

Philip_Cumpston · November 19, 2025, 10:15am

Sorry, I haven’t had time to take into account every kind of application. Feel free to extend it however you like.

Beatrix_Willius · November 19, 2025, 10:26am

I complained about the hang and not me being stupid.

Emile_Schwarz · November 19, 2025, 11:29am

@Beatrix: You just do not read the above. (Or do not realize Philip was talking about .xojo_code format

Philip_Cumpston · November 19, 2025, 7:16pm

Hi Beatrix, I have always appreciated your comments and would like to know more about the problem you found. Most likely my application can be improved as I often miss areas that cause issues.
Phil

Philip_Cumpston · November 20, 2025, 1:05am

I have now added a section that generates refactoring suggestions.

1. Deep Nesting Detection

Method: AnalyzeDeepNesting and CalculateNestingDepth
Metric: Counts the maximum nesting level in a method
Thresholds:
- HIGH priority: ≥ 6 levels of nesting
- MEDIUM priority: 4-5 levels of nesting
Examples from your code:
- DetectFileOperations: 11 levels (HIGH)
- DetectTypeConversions: 11 levels (HIGH)
- DetectDatabaseOperations: 10 levels (HIGH)
- GetMethodMetrics: 4 levels (MEDIUM)

2. Too Many Parameters

Method: AnalyzeManyParameters
Metric: Counts parameters in method signature
Special detection: Identifies ByRef parameters (which suggest the method is doing too much)
Thresholds:
- HIGH priority: > 5 parameters (especially with ByRef)
- MEDIUM priority: 6 parameters
Examples:
- HandleEndTag: 7 parameters, 6 ByRef (HIGH - critical!)
- RenderSingleSuggestion: 6 parameters (MEDIUM)

3. High Cyclomatic Complexity

Method: AnalyzeHighComplexity with CalculateCyclomaticComplexity
Metric: Counts decision points in code:
- Each If, ElseIf, For, While, Do, Case, And, Or adds +1
- Base complexity = 1
Threshold: Methods with high complexity scores
Purpose: Identifies methods that are hard to test and understand

4. Long Methods

Method: AnalyzeLongMethod
Metric: Counts non-empty lines of code
Purpose: Identifies methods that do too much and should be split

5. Missing Error Handling

Method: AnalyzeMissingErrorHandling and DetectTryCatchBlocks
Detects:
- Database operations without Try/Catch
- File operations without error handling
- Network operations without error handling
- Type conversions that could fail
Priority: Based on risk level of the operation

Analysis Process Flow

Scan project files → Parse all .xojo_code files
Extract code elements → Identify all methods, classes, modules
For each method, run multiple analyzers:

   AnalyzeRefactoringOpportunities(method)
   ├── AnalyzeDeepNesting()
   ├── AnalyzeHighComplexity()
   ├── AnalyzeLongMethod()
   ├── AnalyzeManyParameters()
   └── AnalyzeMissingErrorHandling()

Store suggestions in method.RefactoringSuggestions[]
Deduplicate when displaying or generating reports

Suggestion Structure

Each RefactoringSuggestion contains:

Element: Reference to the CodeElement (method)
Priority: HIGH | MEDIUM | LOW
Category: “Deep Nesting” | “Too Many Parameters” | etc.
Title: Short description (e.g., “Deep Nesting (11 levels)”)
Description: Explanation of the issue
Suggestions[]: Array of actionable recommendations with examples

Key Thresholds Used

Metric	Threshold	Priority
Nesting Depth	≥ 6 levels	HIGH
Nesting Depth	4-5 levels	MEDIUM
Parameters	> 5 params	HIGH (if ByRef present)
Parameters	6 params	MEDIUM
ByRef params	≥ 5 ByRef	CRITICAL

Philip_Cumpston · November 20, 2025, 2:07am

I have now added an overall score that helps compare versions of code as it is being developed.

Philip_Cumpston · November 21, 2025, 12:45am

I have now added a ‘code smell’ detection, which analyses code and suggests way to imporove it

If anyone has other suggestions for improvement, I am open to having a go.

Philip_Cumpston · November 23, 2025, 6:03am

Just in case it helps, There is now a ‘Hotspot’ display and PDF report that indicates areas that need attention and suggets an intial approach,

Jean-Yves_Pochez · November 24, 2025, 1:21pm

Made with xojo, no plugin …

Archive.zip (953.6 KB)

Jean-Yves_Pochez · November 27, 2025, 6:55pm

This is my entry for november contest:

Xojo FPDF - Pure Xojo PDF Generation with Full Unicode Support

Why Another PDF Library?

If you’ve ever tried to generate PDFs in Xojo with extensive Unicode text (Chinese, Arabic, Hebrew, Mathematical symbols, etc.), you know the challenges. While Xojo’s built-in PDFDocument class works across platforms, it has significant limitations:

ANSI Encoding Only - No true Unicode support, special characters and CJK languages don’t work properly
No Font Subsetting - Embeds entire 20MB font files instead of just the glyphs you use (massive file sizes)
Closed Source - Can’t inspect internals, fix bugs, or extend functionality yourself
Limited Extensibility - Harder to customize for advanced PDF features

Xojo FPDF changes everything.

What Makes Xojo FPDF Special?

Full Unicode Support

// Japanese, Arabic, Hebrew, Mathematical symbols - ALL WORKING!
pdf.AddUTF8Font("Arial", "", "/path/to/ArialUnicode.ttf")
pdf.SetFont("Arial", "", 14)
pdf.Cell(0, 10, "Hello World! 你好世界! مرحبا بالعالم! שלום עולם!")

Automatic Font Subsetting

Massive file size savings! Our TrueType font subsetter embeds only the glyphs you actually use:

98% size reduction - 20MB Arial Unicode → 400KB subset
Sparse glyph IDs - Preserves original character encoding
Automatic - Happens transparently during font embedding
Smaller PDFs - Perfect for web delivery and email

Xojo’s PDFDocument embeds entire font files, bloating your PDFs unnecessarily.

100% Open Source & Pure Xojo

No black boxes - Read and modify every line of code
No declares - Works everywhere (Desktop, Web, iOS, Console)
Community-driven - Contribute features, fix bugs, adapt to your needs
Based on proven libraries: go-pdf/fpdf and original PHP FPDF

Cross-Platform by Design

One codebase, four platforms:

Desktop (Mac/Windows/Linux)
Web (Server-side generation)
iOS (Native mobile PDFs)
Console (Automated workflows)

90%+ shared code across all platforms!

Current Feature Set (v0.3.0)

Core Features

UTF-8/Unicode - TrueType font support with full Unicode
Multiple Page Formats - A3, A4, A5, Letter, Legal, Custom sizes
Text Methods - Cell, MultiCell, Write, Text with alignment
Graphics Primitives - Line, Rect, Circle, Ellipse, Arc, Bezier curves, Arrows, Polygons
Image Support - JPEG, PNG (RGB/Grayscale/CMYK), programmatic graphics
Colors - RGB for text, fill, and draw operations
Compression - FlateDecode/zlib (27-60% file size reduction, Desktop/Web/Console)
Links & Bookmarks - Internal links, external URLs, hierarchical outlines
Header/Footer Callbacks - Automatic page headers and footers
Metadata - Title, Author, Subject, Keywords, Creator, Language
PDF/A Compliance - ICC color profiles for archival documents

Advanced Features

Document Encryption - RC4-40 encryption with password protection (free version)
PDF Permissions - Print, copy, modify restrictions (free version with RC4-40)
Custom Page Formats - Define any page dimensions
Printf-Style Formatting - Cellf(), Writef() with %s/%d/%f
Font Metrics - GetFontDesc() for precise typography
Error Accumulation - Go-style error handling (Ok/Err/GetError)

19 Working Examples

Every feature has a working example that generates a real PDF:

Simple Shapes - Lines, rectangles, circles, Bezier curves, arrows
Text Layouts - Cell, MultiCell, Write with alignment
Multiple Pages - Multi-page documents with various shapes
Line Widths - Different line styles, caps, joins
UTF-8 & TrueType Fonts - Chinese, Arabic, Hebrew, Mathematical symbols
Text Measurement - Precise alignment with GetStringWidth()
Document Metadata - Title, Author, Subject, Keywords
Error Handling - Ok(), Err(), GetError() patterns
Image Support - JPEG, PNG files, programmatically drawn graphics
Header/Footer Callbacks - Automatic headers with page count
Links and Bookmarks - TOC, clickable links, PDF outline
Custom Page Formats - Mixed page sizes in one document
PDF/A Compliance - ICC color profiles for archival
Document Encryption - RC4-40 password protection and permissions (free version)
Watermark Header - Semi-transparent background watermarks
Formatting Features - Printf-style formatters, font metrics
Utility Methods - Version info, unit conversions, page size helpers
Plugin Architecture - Premium feature separation
Table Generation - Professional tables with pagination

All examples generate PDFs you can inspect in pdf_examples/ folder!

Premium Modules - Coming Soon

Premium modules are ready! We’re finalizing the distribution and licensing system:

Encryption Premium (Ready)

Free version includes RC4-40 encryption + permissions. Premium adds:

AES-256 - Strongest PDF encryption available (Revisions 5-6)
AES-128 - Modern encryption without Acrobat warnings (Revision 4) - RECOMMENDED
RC4-128 - Enhanced legacy support (Revision 3)
All encryption levels work with full permission control (print, copy, modify restrictions)

Table Premium (Ready)

SimpleTable - Quick equal-width columns
ImprovedTable - Custom widths, auto number alignment
FancyTable - Styled headers, alternating rows
Multi-Page Tables - Auto page breaks with header repetition
Database Integration - Direct RowSet support from SQLite/PostgreSQL/etc

Compression Premium (Ready)

Free version uses system zlib with Declares (Desktop/Web/Console only, iOS blocked)

Premium is 100% pure Xojo code - no declares, works everywhere:

Pure Xojo Zlib - Complete DEFLATE/INFLATE implementation in Xojo
iOS Support - Works on iOS where system zlib is blocked by sandboxing
60% Smaller PDFs - FlateDecode compression on all platforms
No Dependencies - No system libraries, no declares, fully portable

PDF/A Premium (Planned)

Advanced archival features
Automatic compliance validation
Long-term preservation support

E-Invoice Premium (Planned)

Factur-X / ZUGFeRD - Hybrid PDF/XML invoices (French/German/EU standard)
XML Invoice Embedding - Attach structured XML data to PDF invoices
Standards Compliance - EN 16931, PEPPOL, UBL 2.1, CII D16B formats
Validation - Automatic invoice structure validation
Digital Signatures - Sign embedded invoice data
Metadata Extraction - Parse and extract invoice data from hybrid PDFs
Multi-Country Support - Adapt to regional e-invoicing requirements

Premium modules are code-complete and fully tested (Encryption, Table, Zlib ready now). E-Invoice and PDF/A modules are in planning phase. We’re currently setting up the distribution and licensing system. Expected availability: soon.

Important: Premium modules are delivered as full, unencrypted source code - no black boxes, no compiled libraries. After payment, you receive the complete Xojo source code to inspect, modify, and integrate into your projects. Same transparency as the free version!

Flexible Pricing: Purchase Modules Separately - You don’t need to buy all premium modules! Each module (Encryption, Table, Zlib, PDF/A, E-Invoice) can be purchased individually based on your specific needs. Only pay for the features you’ll actually use!

Interested in early access? Contact us through this forum thread to discuss beta testing or early licensing.

Quick Start

// Create document
Dim pdf As New VNSPDFDocument(VNSPDFModule.ePageOrientation.Portrait, _
                              VNSPDFModule.ePageUnit.Millimeters, _
                              VNSPDFModule.ePageFormat.A4)

// Add page
pdf.AddPage()

// Set font (core font)
pdf.SetFont("Helvetica", "", 16)

// Output text
pdf.Cell(0, 10, "Hello from Xojo FPDF!")

// Or use Unicode with TrueType font
pdf.AddUTF8Font("Arial", "", "/System/Library/Fonts/Supplemental/Arial Unicode.ttf")
pdf.SetFont("Arial", "", 14)
pdf.Cell(0, 10, "你好世界! مرحبا بالعالم!")

// Save PDF
If pdf.Ok() Then
  Dim f As FolderItem = SpecialFolder.Desktop.Child("output.pdf")
  Call pdf.SaveToFile(f)
Else
  MsgBox "Error: " + pdf.GetError()
End If

Architecture Highlights

Smart Code Sharing

All PDF logic in shared PDF_Library/ folder
Platform-specific only for file I/O and UI
Conditional compilation for platform differences
Module-based organization (VNSPDFModule, VNSPDFExamplesModule)

Clean API Design

Consistent naming - All classes prefixed with VNS
Go-style error handling - Ok/Err pattern
Delegate callbacks - Header/Footer functions
Printf formatting - Cellf(), Writef() for convenience
Method chaining - Fluent API where appropriate

Reference Implementations

Based on proven libraries with millions of downloads:

go-pdf/fpdf (Go) - Primary reference
PHP FPDF (PHP) - Original library (2000)

Known Limitations & Roadmap

We’re transparent about what doesn’t work yet and our plans to fix it:

Web Platform Limitations

WebChart Embedding - WebChart has protected constructor, cannot be converted to Picture
- Planned: Server-side chart rendering using pure Xojo graphics
Color Emoji Support - Server-side Graphics API cannot access system emoji fonts
- Planned: Direct font file parsing (SBIX, COLR/CPAL, CBDT/CBLC formats)

iOS Platform Notes

String Functions - All cross-platform differences handled with conditional compilation
File I/O - SpecialFolder.Documents instead of Desktop
Image Handling - JPEG encoding for Picture objects (iOS RGBA→RGB conversion)
Compression (Free) - System zlib uses Declares, blocked by iOS sandboxing
- Solution: Premium Pure Xojo Zlib (no declares) works perfectly on iOS!

Desktop/Console

No known limitations - All features fully working

Bottom Line: Desktop and Console are 100% feature-complete. Web and iOS have minor limitations with workarounds available or in development.

November Contest Entry

This project demonstrates:

Innovation - First open-source Unicode PDF library for Xojo
Quality - 19 working examples, cross-platform, well-documented
Practicality - Solves real pain points (Unicode, closed source)
Completeness - Full feature set from fonts to encryption
Community Value - Open source, extensible, educational

Get it here : Xojo FPDF - Pure Xojo PDF Generation with Full Unicode Support - verynicesw

Eric_Williams · November 27, 2025, 8:31pm

Wow. If this is as comprehensive as described and produces good output, you should sell it to Xojo. You’ve reinvented their wheel and dramatically improved it.

Ian_Kennedy · November 27, 2025, 11:02pm

Looks impressive. The only thing I can’t see listed is the ability to output Graphs from DesktopCharts (or WebCharts etc) as can be done with the built in PDFDocument class (yes without the UTF8 support).