The Bakery Everything CakePHP

These days my collegue Leonello and i had the necessity to print barcode label to stick on printed document for the documents management system we have developed in cakephp.
After googling have found this nice library:

http://chir.ag/tech/download/pdfb/
Some testing in pure php and decided that it's a cool system to use.

The integration in cakephp follows these steps:

1. From above page download PDFB Library - Compact Version - 136kb (For Production Use)
2. Extract all files in {Cakeroot}/vendors or {App}/vendors (See figure)
3. Edit line 10 in file pdfb.php

   PHP Snippet:

   Download code <?php 
/*
+-----------------------------------------------------------------+
|   Created by Chirag Mehta - http://chir.ag/tech/download/pdfb   |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
|                      For PDFB Library                           |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------+
*/

  define('FPDF_FONTPATH','font/');
?>

Your pdfb library is now working if you want you can test it so:
Create a controller to make a quick test

PHP Snippet:

Download code <?php 
/*
** File:     test_pdfb_controller.php
** Purpouse: test pdf barcode library
*/
class TestPdfbController extends AppController {
    var $name = 'TestPdfb';
    var $uses = array(); // no models needed

    function barcode() {
        vendor('pdfb/pdfb');

        $this->autoRender = false;

        $pdf = new PDFB('P', 'mm', array( 75.0, 33.0 ));
        $pdf->SetMargins(0.0, 0.0);
        $pdf->SetFont("Helvetica", "", 9.5);

        $pdf->AddPage();

        $doc_id = '1234567';
        $pdf->BarCode($doc_id, "C39", 0, 4, 75.0, 33.0, 1, 1, 1, 1, "", "PNG");

        $pdf->SetXY(2, 4);
        $pdf->Cell(0, 0, "Code: 39 - 17 march 2007", 0, 0, 'C');

        $pdf->Rect(0.3, 0.3, 74.4, 32.4);

        $pdf->SetDisplayMode('real');
        $pdf->Output();
        $pdf->closeParsers();
    }
}
    // BarCode function parameters explanation
    // function BarCode($barcode, $type, $x, $y, $w, $h, $sx, $sy, $xres, $font, $link, $format)
    // $barcode = any alphanumber string or UPC-A valid numeric code
    // $type = one of "C39", "C128A", "C128B", "C128C", "I25", "UPCA"
    // $x, $y = position on the PDF page
    // $w, $h = dimensions of the BarCode image
    // $sx, $sy = X & Y scaling of the BarCode image
    // $xres = thickness of the Bars in the Barcode - X-Resolution (1,2,3)
    // $font = Font size for BarCode value (1,2,3,4,5)
    // $link = URL to link the BarCode to
    // $format = "PNG" (default) or "JPEG"

    // If you wish to make high-resolution barcodes:
    // -> use $xres = 2 or $xres = 3
    // -> use $font = 5
    // -> use $w, $h = large dimensions
    // -> use $sx, $sy = (0.5, 0.5) or (0.25, 0.25) to scale it down to desire size.
    // Then zooming into the image you will see that it's quite scalable and high-resolution

?>
For explanation of standard pdf library functions go here
But we can make things better:

First of all create an helper object

PHP Snippet:

Download code <?php 
/*
** File: pdf.php
** Loaction: views/helpers
 * help for pdf and barcode printing
 * ---------------------------------
 * @package helpers
 */
vendor('pdfb/pdfb');
class pdfHelper extends PDFB {
    var $headerData = null;
    var $footerData = null;

    function __construct($orientation='P', $unit='mm', $format='A4') {
        $this->set($orientation, $unit, $format);
    }

    function set($orientation='P', $unit='mm', $format='A4') {
        parent::PDFB($orientation, $unit, $format);
    }

    function Header() { 
      // To do: manage headerData array
    }

    function Footer() { 
      // To do: manage footerData array
    }

}
?>
Now create a layout for printing pdf

PHP Snippet:

Download code <?php 
/*
** File: pdf.thtml
** Location: views/layouts
** Set content-type for pdf printing
*/
header("Content-type: application/pdf");
echo $content_for_layout;
?>
Now create the view

PHP Snippet:

Download code <?php 
/*
** File: barcode.thtml
** Location: views/test_pdfb
*/
    $pdf->set('P', 'mm', array( 75.0, 33.0 ));
    $pdf->SetMargins(0.0, 0.0);
    $pdf->SetFont("Helvetica", "", 9.5);

    $pdf->AddPage();

    //$doc_id = '1234567'; // come from controller
    $pdf->BarCode($doc_id, "C39", 0, 4, 75.0, 33.0, 1, 1, 1, 1, "", "PNG");

    $pdf->SetXY(2, 4);
    $pdf->Cell(0, 0, "Code: 39 - 17 march 2007", 0, 0, 'C');

    $pdf->Rect(0.3, 0.3, 74.4, 32.4);

    $pdf->SetDisplayMode('real');
    $pdf->Output();
    $pdf->closeParsers();
?>
And finally modify your controller to reflect all changes

PHP Snippet:

Download code <?php 
/*
** File:     test_pdfb_controller.php
** Location: /controllers
** Purpouse: test pdf barcode library
*/
class TestPdfbController extends AppController {
    var $name    = 'TestPdfb';
    var $uses    = array();       // no models needed
    var $helpers = array('pdf');  // Use the helper just created

    function barcode() {
        $this->layout = 'pdf';           // Set layout to pdf
        $this->set('doc_id', '1234567'); // Set number to print
        $this->render('barcode');
    }
}
?> View an image
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