Most of the IT systems and databases allow you to
export data in XML format. XML is the universal
standard for data interchange, storage, and analysis. On the other hand, PDF is the most popular document format.
It is a convenient, print-ready cross-platform format for publishing documents.
Business users often find a need to populate Word/PDF templates with XML data to create PDF documents.
So a tool that automates the population of XML data to PDF templates enhances productivity and saves time.
Generally, PDF documents are created either for compliance or for sharing outside of the organization.
Thus XML to PDF generation solutions
must create PDF documents, without any deviation from prescribed branding guidelines.
There are multiple approaches to achieve this. The prominent ones include XSL:FO, XHTML specification, DocBook implementation, XFA.
Write XML in XSL-FO and use a formatter to render it in PDF format.
XML + XSLT(fo specific ) -> XSL FO -> Apache FOP -> PDF
These approaches require you to employ an IT team for populating XML into PDF templates. Getting
time from the resource-constrained IT team is difficult. Moreover, the templates undergo changes. Every time a template
is modified, developers have to make associated code changes. Hence, these
are expensive both from a development and maintenance perspective.
Empowering business users to have complete control over templates and PDF generation, improves the business performance.
Why EDocGen
If you are looking for a DIY system to generate documents from
XML data then EDocGen is the solution to go with.
It is the simplest and fastest way for business users to fill PDF or Word templates with XML data to
create PDF documents in batch. Generate PDF documents by auto-filling XML data into
Word Templates
Non-editable PDF Templates
Fillable PDF Templates
It supports the dynamic population of text, tables, content blocks, hyperlinks, and images from XML data. It also
supports multi-lingual, conditional statements (if-else), QR Codes, and calculations.
The USPs of XML to PDF converter include generation of
Graphs and Charts from XML data.
Populate HTML. Thus you can create HTML styles, colored text, and tables dynamically.
Embed Images, PDF, and Word documents in the generated documents.
It auto-sends generated documents to recipients if the XML file has an email address field.
Integration with many E-Sign providers.
The following sections describe how to convert XML to PDF using EDocGen. There are two ways to populate XML file to PDF - Through App UI and API.
XML to PDF File Converter App
Business users can use the existing templates as-is for PDF generation.
They only need to add relevant tags to dynamic fields. The system mandates the use of
relevant tags for text, tables, hyperlinks, images, and content blocks.
Business users can use their
favorite Word/PDF editors for adding tags. After this, upload the template into the system. Refer XML to pdf example
for how to go about adding tags.
For fillable PDF, add the tags in fillable sections as shown below.
In case of a non-editable PDF template, open it in a PDF editor and add tags. After upload, you can see your template in the template library.
Step1: Upload XML file
Hover over the document template and click the
“Create Document” action button. Select
“generate documents from XML" option and upload your XML file. You can use your existing XML
file as-is without any data transformation.
Step2: Map Fields
Map XML elements to the template's dynamic fields in the mapping screen.
Accordingly, the system would populate XML into PDF template, giving you control over the
data you wish to show on your document. You can skip this step if the XML element names match
with the template's tag names. In this case, the system automatically maps them for you.
If you have a large number of dynamic fields, auto-mapping saves a lot of time.
Step3: XML to PDF document generation
In the third step, choose PDF as output file format and click the generate button to create PDF documents
in bulk. If you generate several documents, you find a zip file containing the PDF documents in the output folder.
Else, you would see a single PDF document.
Step4: PDF distribution
This is an optional step. The system offers several channels for document distribution.
You can use the system to auto-send generated PDF documents to individual recipients.
Send individual documents for E-Sign
Sync to document management systems such as SharePoint.
Send to cloud storage services.
Please refer to the working example for a detailed account of how to go about XML to
PDF document population.
API for XML to PDF Documents Generation
EDocGen is an API first product. Thus, you've access to all the features detailed above.
Using simple REST-based API, you can generate
proposals, invoices, reports, letters, etc. right from your application and databases. The API's
performance and scalability benchmarks are some of the best in the industry. You can generate thousands of documents
in a few minutes.
Whether you are creating single or multiple documents, EDocGen is the best solution for converting the XML file to PDF documents.
Register and start PDF conversion of XML documents.
Give it a try. The trial is better than reading 1000 words.