🔍 Code Extractor

Adds a formatted table to a PDF document story with proper text wrapping, styling, and header formatting using ReportLab's platypus components.

Purpose

This function is designed to convert structured table data into a ReportLab Table object and add it to a PDF document story. It handles text wrapping for cell content, applies distinct styling for header and regular rows, and ensures proper formatting with grey headers and white text. The function is typically used as part of a larger PDF generation workflow where tables need to be embedded in documents.

Source Code

def add_table_to_pdf(story, table_data):
    """Add a table to PDF document with proper formatting and text wrapping"""
    if not table_data:
        logger.info("No table data provided for PDF")
        return
    
    from reportlab.platypus import Paragraph, Table, TableStyle
    from reportlab.lib.styles import getSampleStyleSheet, ParagraphStyle
    from reportlab.lib import colors
    
    logger.info(f"Processing PDF table with {len(table_data)} rows")
    
    # Get styles for table cells
    table_styles = getSampleStyleSheet()
    cell_style = ParagraphStyle(
        'TableCell',
        parent=table_styles['Normal'],
        fontSize=9,
        wordWrap='CJK'
    )
    
    header_style = ParagraphStyle(
        'TableHeader',
        parent=table_styles['Normal'],
        fontSize=9,
        textColor=colors.black,
        wordWrap='CJK',
        fontName='Helvetica-Bold'
    )
    
    # Convert table data to reportlab format
    pdf_table_data = []
    for row_data in table_data:
        row_cells = []
        style = header_style if row_data['type'] == 'header' else cell_style
        
        for cell_content in row_data['cells']:
            # Wrap cell content in Paragraph for text wrapping
            cell_para = Paragraph(str(cell_content), style)
            row_cells.append(cell_para)
        
        pdf_table_data.append(row_cells)
    
    if pdf_table_data:
        # Create table
        table = Table(pdf_table_data)
        
        # Apply table styling
        table.setStyle(TableStyle([
            ('BACKGROUND', (0, 0), (-1, 0), colors.grey),
            ('TEXTCOLOR', (0, 0), (-1, 0), colors.whitesmoke),
            ('ALIGN', (0, 0), (-1, -1), 'LEFT'),
        ]))

Parameters

Parameter Details

story: A ReportLab story list (typically from SimpleDocTemplate) that accumulates PDF elements. The function appends the formatted table to this list. Expected to be a list-like object that accepts platypus flowables.

table_data: A list of dictionaries where each dictionary represents a table row. Each row dictionary must contain: 'type' (string: 'header' or regular row indicator) and 'cells' (list of cell content values). If empty or None, the function returns early without adding anything to the story.

Return Value

Returns None. The function modifies the 'story' parameter in-place by appending the formatted table. If table_data is empty or None, it returns early without modification.

Dependencies

• reportlab
• logging

Required Imports

from reportlab.platypus import Paragraph, Table, TableStyle
from reportlab.lib.styles import getSampleStyleSheet, ParagraphStyle
from reportlab.lib import colors
import logging

Conditional/Optional Imports

These imports are only needed under specific conditions:

from reportlab.platypus import Paragraph, Table, TableStyle

from reportlab.lib.styles import getSampleStyleSheet, ParagraphStyle

from reportlab.lib import colors

Usage Example

from reportlab.platypus import SimpleDocTemplate
from io import BytesIO
import logging

# Setup logger
logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
logging.basicConfig(level=logging.INFO)

# Create PDF document
buffer = BytesIO()
doc = SimpleDocTemplate(buffer)
story = []

# Prepare table data
table_data = [
    {'type': 'header', 'cells': ['Name', 'Age', 'City']},
    {'type': 'row', 'cells': ['John Doe', '30', 'New York']},
    {'type': 'row', 'cells': ['Jane Smith', '25', 'Los Angeles']}
]

# Add table to PDF
add_table_to_pdf(story, table_data)

# Build PDF
doc.build(story)
pdf_bytes = buffer.getvalue()

Best Practices

• Ensure table_data is properly structured with 'type' and 'cells' keys in each row dictionary
• The function uses lazy imports for ReportLab components, which are only loaded when table_data is provided
• Cell content is automatically converted to strings, so any data type can be passed in the cells list
• The function modifies the story list in-place, so ensure you pass a mutable list object
• Header rows should have type='header' to receive bold formatting and grey background
• The function logs the number of rows being processed, useful for debugging large tables
• Text wrapping is enabled with 'CJK' mode, which supports Chinese, Japanese, and Korean characters
• Font size is set to 9pt for both headers and cells to ensure readability in PDF format
• The table is not explicitly appended to the story in the provided code - ensure the calling code handles this or the function should be modified to include story.append(table)

Tags

Similar Components

AI-powered semantic similarity - components with related functionality:

• function add_table_to_pdf 92.8% similar

  Adds a formatted table to a ReportLab PDF document with automatic text wrapping, column width calculation, and alternating row colors.

  From: /tf/active/vicechatdev/vice_ai/complex_app.py

• function add_formatted_content_to_pdf_v1 75.9% similar

  Converts processed markdown elements into formatted PDF content by adding paragraphs, headers, lists, and tables to a ReportLab story object with appropriate styling.

  From: /tf/active/vicechatdev/vice_ai/new_app.py

• function add_formatted_content_to_pdf 75.4% similar

  Processes markdown elements and adds them to a PDF document story with appropriate formatting, handling headers, paragraphs, lists, and tables.

  From: /tf/active/vicechatdev/vice_ai/complex_app.py

• function add_table_to_word 70.3% similar

  Adds a formatted table to a Word document using python-docx, with support for header rows and automatic column sizing based on table data.

  From: /tf/active/vicechatdev/vice_ai/new_app.py

• function add_table_to_word_v1 68.6% similar

  Adds a formatted table to a Microsoft Word document using the python-docx library, with automatic column detection, header row styling, and debug logging.

  From: /tf/active/vicechatdev/vice_ai/complex_app.py