Develop Reference

iTextSharp: manual pagination of table by counting rows, but what if a line wraps?

I'm using iTextSharp to create a pdf. This pdf contains a table, which I'm creating using DirectContent. I count the rows that I write and do a document.NewPage() when the row count gets to 45. Everything seems to work fine unless any of the lines wraps to a second row. If that happens my row count will be off, and ultimately my paging will be incorrect. Does anyone have any ideas how I can work around this problem? My complete program follows:
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Diagnostics;
using System.IO;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;
using System.Threading.Tasks;
using iTextSharp.text;
using iTextSharp.text.pdf;
using static iTextSharp.text.Font;
namespace iTextSharp_long_table
{
class Program
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{
MemoryStream stream = new MemoryStream();
using (stream)
using (Document document = new Document(PageSize.LETTER))
{
PdfWriter writer = PdfWriter.GetInstance(document, stream);
document.Open();
PdfPTable table = new PdfPTable(4);
table.TotalWidth = 72 * 7.5f;
int nrows = 0;
int topOfPage = 0;
Font font = new Font(FontFamily.HELVETICA, 9, Font.BOLD);
Font fontPlain = new Font(FontFamily.HELVETICA, 9);
for (int i = 0; i < 20 ; i++) // jobs
{
if (nrows >= 45)
{
table.WriteSelectedRows(topOfPage, -1, 36, 9 * 72, writer.DirectContent);
document.NewPage();
topOfPage = table.Size;
nrows = 0;
}
PdfPCell cell2 = new PdfPCell(new Phrase("Job " + (i + 1).ToString(), font));
cell2.Border = PdfPCell.TOP_BORDER + PdfPCell.LEFT_BORDER + PdfPCell.BOTTOM_BORDER;
cell2.BackgroundColor = new BaseColor(227, 235, 247);
cell2.Colspan = 3;
table.AddCell(cell2);
string currency = string.Format("{0:C}", Math.Round(1.23, 2));
cell2 = new PdfPCell(new Phrase(currency, font));
cell2.BackgroundColor = new BaseColor(227, 235, 247);
cell2.HorizontalAlignment = Element.ALIGN_RIGHT;
cell2.Border = PdfPCell.TOP_BORDER + PdfPCell.RIGHT_BORDER + PdfPCell.BOTTOM_BORDER;
table.AddCell(cell2);
nrows++;
// workitems
DoWorkItems(ref table, ref nrows, ref topOfPage, document, ref writer, ref fontPlain);
// add a blank row before the next job
cell2 = new PdfPCell(new Phrase(" "));
cell2.Colspan = 4;
cell2.Border = PdfPCell.NO_BORDER;
table.AddCell(cell2);
nrows++;
}
table.WriteSelectedRows(topOfPage, -1, 36, 9 * 72, writer.DirectContent);
document.NewPage();
}
byte[] result = stream.GetBuffer();
File.WriteAllBytes(#"c:\temp\Long Table.pdf", result);
Process.Start(#"c:\temp\Long Table.pdf");
}
public static void DoWorkItems(ref PdfPTable table, ref int nrows, ref int topOfPage,
Document document, ref PdfWriter writer, ref Font fontPlain)
{
for (int j = 0; j < 5 ; j++) // workitems
{
if (nrows >= 45)
{
table.WriteSelectedRows(topOfPage, -1, 36, 9 * 72, writer.DirectContent);
document.NewPage();
topOfPage = table.Size;
nrows = 0;
}
string str = " - Item " + (j + 1).ToString();
Phrase phrase = new Phrase(str, fontPlain);
PdfPCell cell2 = new PdfPCell(phrase);
cell2.Colspan = 4;
cell2.Border = PdfPCell.NO_BORDER;
table.AddCell(cell2);
nrows++;
}
}
}
}

Usually it is best to leave the layout details to iText, in particular for the main content that may or may not spread across pages. The only content one usually has to create the layout of is header, footer, background, and similar material.
In the case at hand it turned out in comments that the reason why the OP handled the layout details himself was:
I do it because I want to start the table at a specific point on the page (in the real program, I draw an image at the top of the page).
But this is also possible while letting iText handle the layout: One merely has to set the page margins so that the remaining space, the space which iText uses to layout content in, is the space where one wants one's content to show.
(Beware: You have to set the margins before the page in question is created. In case of the first page this means in particular that you have to do this before opening the document.)
Doing so solved the OP's Problem:
Since I don't have to use direct content, I can just add the table to the document and let iTextSharp do the pagination. Problem solved :-).

Formatting itextsharp table

I have a given table with 2 columns which I try to export to pdf.
This is my code:
PdfPTable tableUebersicht = new PdfPTable(dtUebersicht100.Columns.Count);
tableUebersicht.SetWidths(new float[] { 250, 420 });
tableUebersicht.LockedWidth = true;
tableUebersicht.TotalWidth = 500f;
foreach (DataColumn c in dtUebersicht100.Columns)
{
PdfPCell Spalte = new PdfPCell(new Phrase(c.ColumnName, VerdanaFont));
Spalte.HorizontalAlignment = Element.ALIGN_CENTER;
Spalte.VerticalAlignment = Element.ALIGN_MIDDLE;
table.AddCell(Spalte);
}
foreach (DataRow dr in dtUebersicht100.Rows)
{
PdfPCell Spalte0 = new PdfPCell(new Phrase(dr[0].ToString(), VerdanaFont));
Spalte0.HorizontalAlignment = Element.ALIGN_CENTER;
Spalte0.VerticalAlignment = Element.ALIGN_MIDDLE;
double Double1 = Convert.ToDouble(dr[1].ToString());
PdfPCell Spalte1 = new PdfPCell(new Phrase(string.Format("{0:C2}", Double1), VerdanaFont));
Spalte1.HorizontalAlignment = Element.ALIGN_RIGHT;
Spalte1.VerticalAlignment = Element.ALIGN_MIDDLE;
table.AddCell(Spalte0);
table.AddCell(Spalte1);
}
table.WriteSelectedRows(0, -1, 35, 757, cb);
The output looks as followed:
As you can see the table direction is from left to right and not from up to down.
I would like to have a table like this where the direction is up to down, on the bottom of the page get up and continue left beside, every second row colored:

overview of the solution
look at the table header, there are 4 columns
generate an iText table object, with 4 columns
add cells in the order left to right, top to bottom
in your case that would be:
Verkaufernummer, Betrag, Verkaufernummer, Betrag
1, 55.04, 50, 3.5
keep track of the row you are currently rendering on, depending on the row, set the background color of the cell (in your logic even vs odd)

iTextSharp - dynamic content with a footer, using padding

I am attempting to create documents that are highly-variable in length, and make them something that can be table-driven. I am trying to use iTextSharp tables exclusively to create the documents, including footer verbiage. In the code below I’m trying to pad the very last cell to the exact amount equal to the remaining space, so that my footer will be placed exactly at the bottom of the document, tight against the bottom margin. This works fine when I try to use document margins of 1, 2, or 3 inches, but when I use 5 for example, my footer begins to wrap. I think this may simply be a case of bad math. Does anyone have any suggestions to correct this (outside of using Page Events)?
(*Note: there are 2 helper methods used in creating tables and measuring the height of a paragraph, also included in addition to the main code from a button click)
(*Note: each table has SplitLate set to false, to make the content flow from page to page evenly); all tables have a specific width, and the width is locked
//declare path for the PDF file to be created
string strpath = #"C:\CROauto\Junk\MSE.pdf";
//instantiate a new PDF document
//(regular portrait format, with half-inch margins all around)
var doc = new Document(PageSize.LETTER,
iTextSharp.text.Utilities.InchesToPoints(1f),
iTextSharp.text.Utilities.InchesToPoints(1f),
iTextSharp.text.Utilities.InchesToPoints(5f),
iTextSharp.text.Utilities.InchesToPoints(.5f));
//create a PDF table
//(2 column, with no border)
PdfPTable mas_tbl = clsPDF.CreateTable(2, false, cell_padding_bottom: 0f, total_width: doc.PageSize.Width - doc.LeftMargin - doc.RightMargin);
//get base font types
BaseFont font_tb = FontFactory.GetFont(FontFactory.TIMES_BOLD).BaseFont;
BaseFont font_t = FontFactory.GetFont(FontFactory.TIMES).BaseFont;
//create regular Font objects, with varying sizes
iTextSharp.text.Font f10 = new iTextSharp.text.Font(font_t, 10);
iTextSharp.text.Font f8 = new iTextSharp.text.Font(font_t, 8);
//create regular Font objects, bold, with varying sizes
iTextSharp.text.Font fb10 = new iTextSharp.text.Font(font_tb, 10);
iTextSharp.text.Font fb8 = new iTextSharp.text.Font(font_tb, 8);
//get image
iTextSharp.text.Image da_img = iTextSharp.text.Image.GetInstance(#"C:\CROauto\Junk\img.gif");
//scale the image to a good size
da_img.ScaleAbsolute(iTextSharp.text.Utilities.InchesToPoints(.75f),
iTextSharp.text.Utilities.InchesToPoints(.75f));
//create new PDF cell to hold image
PdfPCell icell = new PdfPCell();
icell.PaddingBottom = 0f;
//make sure the "image" cell has no border
icell.Border = iTextSharp.text.Rectangle.NO_BORDER;
//add the image to the PDF cell
icell.AddElement(da_img);
//add the image cell to the table
mas_tbl.AddCell(icell);
//work with the return address
PdfPCell ra = new PdfPCell();
ra.Border = iTextSharp.text.Rectangle.NO_BORDER;
ra.PaddingBottom = 5f;
PdfPTable tblra = clsPDF.CreateTable(1, false);
tblra.HorizontalAlignment = Element.ALIGN_RIGHT;
Chunk c = new Chunk("Help Me Please", fb8);
string rtnadd = "\r\n123 iTextSharp Rd\r\nHelpMe, ST 12345\r\n\r\nstackoverflow.com";
Phrase pra = new Phrase(rtnadd, f8);
Paragraph p = new Paragraph();
p.SetLeading(1f, 1.1f);
p.Add(c);
p.Add(pra);
tblra.TotalWidth = clsPDF.GetLongestWidth(p) + ra.PaddingLeft + ra.PaddingRight + 2;
ra.AddElement(p);
tblra.AddCell(ra);
PdfPCell dummy = new PdfPCell();
dummy.PaddingBottom = 0f;
dummy.Border = iTextSharp.text.Rectangle.NO_BORDER;
dummy.AddElement(tblra);
mas_tbl.AddCell(dummy);
//create "content" table
PdfPTable t2 = clsPDF.CreateTable(1, false, Element.ALIGN_JUSTIFIED, cell_padding_bottom: 0f);
//create FileStream for the file
using (FileStream fs = new FileStream(strpath, FileMode.Create))
{
//get an instance of a PdfWriter, attached to the FileStream
PdfWriter.GetInstance(doc, fs);
//open the document
doc.Open();
string tmp = "";
for (int i = 0; i < 80; i++)
{
tmp += "The brown fox jumped over the lazy dog a whole bunch of times." + i.ToString();
}
Phrase p2 = new Phrase(tmp, f10);
t2.AddCell(p2);
p2 = new Phrase("Another paragraph", f10);
t2.AddCell(p2);
tmp = "";
PdfPTable t3 = clsPDF.CreateTable(1, false, cell_padding_bottom: 0f);
for (int i = 0; i < 150; i++)
{
tmp += "The lazy dog didn't like that very much." + i.ToString();
}
t3.AddCell(new Phrase(tmp, f10));
t2.AddCell(t3);
t2.AddCell(new Phrase("I SURE HOPE THIS WORKED", f10));
PdfPCell c2 = new PdfPCell();
c2.PaddingBottom = 0f;
c2.Border = iTextSharp.text.Rectangle.NO_BORDER;
c2.Colspan = mas_tbl.NumberOfColumns;
c2.AddElement(t2);
mas_tbl.AddCell(c2);
//work with adding a footer
//FOOTER MSE: ADD ENOUGH PADDING TO PUSH THE FOOTER TO THE BOTTOM OF THE PAGE
Paragraph fp = new Paragraph(new Phrase("Line 1 of footer\r\nLine 2 of footer\r\nhere's more of my footer text:\r\nthis project was SOOOO much fun\r\nand stuff", fb8));
//get the height of the footer
float footer_height = clsPDF.GetTotalHeightOfParagraph(fp);
Console.WriteLine("Footer height {0}", footer_height.ToString());
//get the total amount of "writeable" space per page
//(taking top and bottom margins into consideration)
float avail = doc.PageSize.Height - (doc.TopMargin + doc.BottomMargin);
//declare a variable to assist in calculating
//the total amount of "writeable" room remaining
//on the last page;
//start with with the current height of the master table
//(will do math below to calculate just what it's using
// on the last page)
float mas_tbl_last_page_height = mas_tbl.TotalHeight;
//the purpose of this loop is to start determining
//how much writeable space is left on the last page;
//this loop will subtract the "available" value from
//the total height of the master table until what's
//left is the amount of space the master table is
//using on the last page of the document only
while (mas_tbl_last_page_height > avail)
{
mas_tbl_last_page_height -= avail;
}
//to truly calculate the amount of writeable space
//remaining, subtract the amount of space that the
//master table is utilizing on the last page of
//the document, from the total amount of writeable
//space per page
float room_remaining = avail - mas_tbl_last_page_height;
//declare variable for the padding amount
//that will be used above the footer
float pad_amt = 0f;
if (room_remaining > (footer_height * 2))
{
//pad to push down
pad_amt = room_remaining - (footer_height * 2);
}
else
{
//don't use a pad
//(just let the table wrap normally)
pad_amt = 0f;
}
//declare the footer cell, and set all of it's values
PdfPCell ftcell = new PdfPCell();
ftcell.HorizontalAlignment = Element.ALIGN_JUSTIFIED;
//(use column span that is equal to the number of
// columns in the master table)
ftcell.Colspan = mas_tbl.NumberOfColumns;
ftcell.Border = iTextSharp.text.Rectangle.NO_BORDER;
ftcell.PaddingTop = pad_amt;
ftcell.PaddingBottom = 0f;
ftcell.AddElement(fp);
//add the footer cell to the master table
mas_tbl.AddCell(ftcell);
//add the master table to the document, which should contain everything
doc.Add(mas_tbl);
//close the document
doc.Close();
//HELPER METHODS
internal static PdfPTable CreateTable(int column_count,
bool include_border,
int h_align = Element.ALIGN_LEFT,
int v_align = Element.ALIGN_TOP,
float leading_multiplier = 1.1f,
float total_width = 468f,
float cell_padding_bottom = 5f,
float cell_padding_top = 0)
{
////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
PdfPTable t = new PdfPTable(column_count);
//this line will keep the inner tables,
//from splitting off onto a 2nd page
//(making them only do it on wrapping)
//*NOTE: this needs to be tested thoroughly
// to make sure that rows aren't dropped!!!
t.SplitLate = false;
//used if you're adding paragraphs directly to table cells,
//instead of adding new PdfPCell objects
if (include_border == false)
{
t.DefaultCell.Border = Rectangle.NO_BORDER;
}
t.DefaultCell.PaddingLeft = 0f;
t.DefaultCell.PaddingRight = 0f;
t.DefaultCell.PaddingTop = cell_padding_top;
t.DefaultCell.PaddingBottom = cell_padding_bottom;
t.DefaultCell.HorizontalAlignment = h_align;
t.DefaultCell.VerticalAlignment = h_align;
t.TotalWidth = total_width;
t.LockedWidth = true;
t.DefaultCell.SetLeading(0, leading_multiplier);
return t;
}
internal static float GetLongestWidth(Paragraph p)
{
List<float> f = new List<float>();
foreach (Chunk c in p.Chunks)
{
string[] strarray = c.Content.Split(new string[] { "\r\n" }, System.StringSplitOptions.None);
for (int i = 0; i < strarray.Length; i++)
{
Chunk tc = new Chunk(strarray[i], c.Font);
Console.WriteLine(tc.Content + ", width: {0}", tc.GetWidthPoint().ToString());
f.Add(tc.GetWidthPoint());
}
}
return f.Max();
}
internal static float GetTotalHeightOfParagraph(Paragraph p)
{
PdfPTable t = clsPDF.CreateTable(1, false, cell_padding_bottom: 0f);
t.DefaultCell.PaddingBottom = 0f;
t.DefaultCell.PaddingTop = 0f;
t.AddCell(p);
return t.TotalHeight;
}

Solved it by using absolute positioning. I calculate the position that the footer should be in, by adding the footer height to the value of the bottom margin. To alleviate concerns about overwriting existing content, I calculate the amount of available space remaining on the last page; if it's not enough for my footer, I add a new page and post my content at the beginning of the next page.
byte[] content;
using (MemoryStream output = new MemoryStream())
{
PdfReader pdf_rdr = new PdfReader(strpath);
PdfStamper stamper = new PdfStamper(pdf_rdr, output);
PdfContentByte pcb = stamper.GetOverContent(pdf_rdr.NumberOfPages);
PdfPTable ftbl = clsPDF.CreateTable(1, false, cell_padding_bottom: 0f);
Paragraph fp = new Paragraph(new Phrase("Line 1 of footer\r\nLine 2 of footer\r\nhere's more of my footer text:\r\nthis project was SOOOO much fun\r\nand stuff", fb8));
//get the height of the footer
float footer_height = clsPDF.GetTotalHeightOfParagraph(fp);
Console.WriteLine("Footer height {0}", footer_height.ToString());
//get the total amount of "writeable" space per page
//(taking top and bottom margins into consideration)
float avail = doc.PageSize.Height - (doc.TopMargin + doc.BottomMargin);
//declare a variable to assist in calculating
//the total amount of "writeable" room remaining
//on the last page;
//start with with the current height of the master table
//(will do math below to calculate just what it's using
// on the last page)
float mas_tbl_last_page_height = mas_tbl.TotalHeight;
mas_tbl_last_page_height = mas_tbl_last_page_height % avail;
avail = avail - mas_tbl_last_page_height;
Console.WriteLine(clsPDF.GetTotalHeightOfParagraph(fp).ToString());
//float ft_top = avail - mas_tbl_last_page_height - clsPDF.GetTotalHeightOfParagraph(fp) - doc.BottomMargin;
float ft_top = doc.BottomMargin + clsPDF.GetTotalHeightOfParagraph(fp);
ftbl.AddCell(fp);
if (avail < clsPDF.GetTotalHeightOfParagraph(fp))
{
stamper.InsertPage(pdf_rdr.NumberOfPages + 1, pdf_rdr.GetPageSize(1));
pcb = stamper.GetOverContent(pdf_rdr.NumberOfPages);
ft_top = doc.PageSize.Height - doc.TopMargin;
}
ftbl.WriteSelectedRows(0, -1, doc.LeftMargin, ft_top, pcb);
// Set the flattening flag to true, as the editing is done
stamper.FormFlattening = true;
// close the pdf stamper
stamper.Close();
//close the PDF reader
pdf_rdr.Close();
content = output.ToArray();
}
//write the content to a PDF file
using (FileStream fs = File.Create(strpath))
{
fs.Write(content, 0, (int)content.Length);
fs.Flush();
}

Itextsharp PDFPTable how to make a border around entire table

I'm building a table via a database in Itextsharp with PDFPTable, and the requirements are that no rows/cells in the table have a top or bottom bottom border, but the left and right sides of each cell have a black border (in other words, each column has a left a right border), and the bottom of the table needs to be closed off with a black border as well, which is where my problem lies.
What I'm doing is setting the border to 0, then manually assign borders so that I only get the left and right borders on each cell, as seen below as an example of a "Quantity" column being generated:
cell = new PdfPCell(new Phrase(Qty.value, subheaderFont));
cell.HorizontalAlignment = Element.ALIGN_CENTER;
cell.VerticalAlignment = Element.ALIGN_MIDDLE;
cell.BackgroundColor = new iTextSharp.text.BaseColor(220, 220, 220);
cell.Border = 0;
cell.BorderColorLeft = BaseColor.BLACK;
cell.BorderWidthLeft = .5f;
cell.BorderColorRight = BaseColor.BLACK;
cell.BorderWidthRight = .5f;
table.AddCell(cell);
The issue is obviously I have no way of detecting the last row to add the border-bottom, but I imagine there has to be a way to control the border of the "table" itself, or am I taking the wrong approach to this?

As you found, PdfPTable doesn't have borders, probably because PDF's don't have tables in the first place. It probably just made more sense to put the borders on the PdfPCell directly (even though PDFs don't support those, either). A table is just a collection of cells, anyway, so let them deal with it.
Anyway, the solution is to set the TableEvent on your instance of the PdfPTable class. To do this you'll need a custom implementation of the IPdfPTableEvent interface. The below code should generally do this for you (see the notes at the bottom for "generally")
class TopBottomTableBorderMaker : IPdfPTableEvent {
private BaseColor _borderColor;
private float _borderWidth;
/// <summary>
/// Add a top and bottom border to the table.
/// </summary>
/// <param name="borderColor">The color of the border.</param>
/// <param name="borderWidth">The width of the border</param>
public TopBottomTableBorderMaker(BaseColor borderColor, float borderWidth ) {
this._borderColor = borderColor;
this._borderWidth = borderWidth;
}
public void TableLayout(PdfPTable table, float[][] widths, float[] heights, int headerRows, int rowStart, PdfContentByte[] canvases) {
//widths (should be thought of as x's) is an array of arrays, first index is for each row, second index is for each column
//The below uses first and last to calculate where each X should start and end
var firstRowWidths = widths[0];
var lastRowWidths = widths[widths.Length - 1];
var firstRowXStart = firstRowWidths[0];
var firstRowXEnd = firstRowWidths[firstRowWidths.Length - 1] - firstRowXStart;
var lastRowXStart = lastRowWidths[0];
var lastRowXEnd = lastRowWidths[lastRowWidths.Length - 1] - lastRowXStart;
//heights (should be thought of as y's) is the y for each row's top plus one extra for the last row's bottom
//The below uses first and last to calculate where each Y should start and end
var firstRowYStart = heights[0];
var firstRowYEnd = heights[1] - firstRowYStart;
var lastRowYStart = heights[heights.Length - 1];
var lastRowYEnd = heights[heights.Length - 2] - lastRowYStart;
//Where we're going to draw our lines
PdfContentByte canvas = canvases[PdfPTable.LINECANVAS];
//I always try to save the previous state before changinge anything
canvas.SaveState();
//Set our line properties
canvas.SetLineWidth(this._borderWidth);
canvas.SetColorStroke(this._borderColor);
//Draw some rectangles
canvas.Rectangle(
firstRowXStart,
firstRowYStart,
firstRowXEnd,
firstRowYEnd
);
//They aren't actually drawn until you stroke them!
canvas.Stroke();
canvas.Rectangle(
lastRowXStart,
lastRowYStart,
lastRowXEnd,
lastRowYEnd
);
canvas.Stroke();
//Restore any previous settings
canvas.RestoreState();
}
}
Using it is very easy, just bind an instance to the property:
//Create your name as you normally do
var table = new PdfPTable(3);
//Bind and instance with properties set
table.TableEvent = new TopBottomTableBorderMaker(BaseColor.BLACK, 0.5f);
//The rest is the same
for (var i = 0; i < 6; i++) {
var cell = new PdfPCell(new Phrase(i.ToString()));
cell.HorizontalAlignment = Element.ALIGN_CENTER;
cell.VerticalAlignment = Element.ALIGN_MIDDLE;
cell.BackgroundColor = new iTextSharp.text.BaseColor(220, 220, 220);
cell.Border = 0;
cell.BorderColorLeft = BaseColor.BLACK;
cell.BorderWidthLeft = .5f;
cell.BorderColorRight = BaseColor.BLACK;
cell.BorderWidthRight = .5f;
table.AddCell(cell);
}
Above I said "generally" it should work. If you have table headers and/or footers, however, you're going to need to take those into account, too. This shouldn't be too hard but you'll need to adjust the y values accounting for table.HeaderRows and table.FooterRows.

I have experienced the same issue found the following solution.
From "iText In Action Second Edition"
PdfPCell extends Rectangle, inheriting a plethora of methods to change the way borders are drawn and backgrounds are painted..
The method "DisableBorderSide(int Rectangle)" is how to go about removeing borders with any other sizing involved.
PdfPCell cell = new PdfPCell(new Phrase("Some Text", FontFactory.GetFont("Arial", BaseFont.WINANSI, BaseFont.EMBEDDED, 13, Font.NORMAL, BaseColor.BLACK)));
cell.BackgroundColor = new BaseColor(255, 255, 255);
cell.HorizontalAlignment = Element.ALIGN_CENTER;
cell.BorderColor = BaseColor.BLACK;
cell.Border = Rectangle.BOX;
cell.BorderWidth = 1;
cell.DisableBorderSide(Rectangle.TOP_BORDER);
cell.DisableBorderSide(Rectangle.BOTTOM_BORDER);
cell.Padding = 3;
table.AddCell(cell);

I solved this using nested tables
'CREATE TWO PDFPTABLES
Dim tblNested1 As New PdfPTable(1)
Dim tblNested2 As New PdfPTable(3)
'CREATE CELLS WITH NO BORDER AND ADD THEM TO TABLE2
Dim cellNested1 = New PdfPCell(New Phrase("CELL1"))
cellNested1.Border = 0
tblNested2.AddCell(cellNested1)
Dim cellNested2 = New PdfPCell(New Phrase("CELL2"))
cellNested2.Border = 0
tblNested2.AddCell(cellNested2)
Dim cellNested3 = New PdfPCell(New Phrase("CELL3"))
cellNested3.Border = 0
tblNested2.AddCell(cellNested3)
'APPEND TABLE2 TO A CELL WITH DEFAULT BORDER
Dim cell1 As New PdfPCell
cell1.AddElement(tblNested2)
tblNested1.AddCell(cell1)
document.Add(tblNested1)

var Rectangular = new Rectangle(56, 621, 540,385);
Rectangular.BorderWidthLeft = 0.1f;
Rectangular.BorderWidthRight = 0.1f;
Rectangular.BorderWidthTop = 0.1f;
Rectangular.BorderWidthBottom = 0.1f;
cb.Rectangle(Rectangular);
cb.Stroke();

I can't insert something as "Page X of Y" into my PDF footer using iTextSharp

I am pretty new in iTextSharp and I have the following situation: I am creating a PDF that contains an header and a footer (for the header and footer creation I am using a class that extends PdfPageEventHelper and I have override the OnStartPage() and the OnEndPage() method, it work fine).
Now my problem is that I have to insert as Page X of Y into my footer. Where X**is the **current page number and Y is the total page number. The value of Y is not fixed (because the length of my PDF is not known in advance because it depends depends on the length of the content and can differ from PDF to PDF). How can I handle this situation? (inserting the correct Y value in each footer?)
Searching online I have find this tutorial (that is for Java iText but maybe it is not so different from iTextSharp version): http://itextpdf.com/examples/iia.php?id=104
In this example it create a PDF and its header contains something like Page X of Y.
I am trying to understand this example (and translate it for iTextSharp) but I have some doubts about how it work (and if it is a real solution for my problem).
From what I can understand it perform the following operations:
Into the class that extends PdfPageEventHelper it is declared a PdfTemplate object
PdfTemplate total;
I think that maybe it handles the total pages number that are into my PDF document, but reading the official documentation I have not many information about what exactly do this class: http://api.itextpdf.com/itext/com/itextpdf/text/pdf/PdfTemplate.html
I am trying to do something similar into my class that extends PdfPageEventHelper but I can't do it.
This is my not working code:
public class PdfHeaderFooter : PdfPageEventHelper
{
// The template with the total number of pages:
PdfTemplate total;
private static int numPagina = 1;
public Image CellImage;
private string folderImages;
private string _sourceId;
public PdfHeaderFooter(string _folderImages, string sourceId)
{
folderImages = _folderImages;
_sourceId = sourceId;
}
/* Creates the PdfTemplate that will hold the total number of pages.
* Write on top of document
* */
public override void OnOpenDocument(PdfWriter writer, Document document)
{
base.OnOpenDocument(writer, document);
// (Nobili) Page Number:
total = writer.DirectContent.CreateTemplate(30, 16);
//PdfPTable tabFot = new PdfPTable(new float[] { 1F });
PdfPTable tabFot = new PdfPTable(2);
tabFot.WidthPercentage = 98;
tabFot.SpacingAfter = 10F;
PdfPCell cell;
//tabFot.TotalWidth = 300F;
cell = new PdfPCell(new Phrase("Header"));
tabFot.AddCell(cell);
tabFot.WriteSelectedRows(0, -1, 150, document.Top, writer.DirectContent);
}
// write on end of each page
public override void OnEndPage(PdfWriter writer, Document document)
{
base.OnEndPage(writer, document);
int pageN = writer.PageNumber;
String text = "Page " + pageN + " of ";
//PdfPTable tabFoot = new PdfPTable(new float[] { 1F });
PdfPTable tabFoot = new PdfPTable(3);
tabFoot.TotalWidth = document.Right - document.Left;
tabFoot.DefaultCell.Border = PdfPCell.NO_BORDER;
tabFoot.DefaultCell.CellEvent = new RoundedBorder();
PdfPTable innerTable = new PdfPTable(2);
innerTable.SetWidths(new int[] { 247, 246 });
innerTable.TotalWidth = document.Right - document.Left;
innerTable.DefaultCell.Border = PdfPCell.NO_BORDER;
PdfPCell innerCellLeft = new PdfPCell(new Phrase("Early Warning - Bollettino")) { Border = PdfPCell.NO_BORDER, Padding = 5, MinimumHeight = 20, HorizontalAlignment = Element.ALIGN_LEFT };
//PdfPCell innerCellRight = new PdfPCell(new Phrase("Pag. " + numPagina + "/5")) { Border = PdfPCell.NO_BORDER, Padding = 5, MinimumHeight = 20, HorizontalAlignment = Element.ALIGN_RIGHT };
PdfPCell innerCellCenter = new PdfPCell(new Phrase(text)) { Border = PdfPCell.NO_BORDER, Padding = 5, MinimumHeight = 20, HorizontalAlignment = Element.ALIGN_RIGHT };
PdfPCell innerCellRight = new PdfPCell(Image.GetInstance(total)) { Border = PdfPCell.NO_BORDER, Padding = 5, MinimumHeight = 20, HorizontalAlignment = Element.ALIGN_RIGHT };
innerTable.AddCell(innerCellLeft);
innerTable.AddCell(innerCellRight);
tabFoot.AddCell(innerTable);
tabFoot.WriteSelectedRows(0, -1, document.Left, document.Bottom, writer.DirectContent);
numPagina++;
}
// write on start of each page
public override void OnStartPage(PdfWriter writer, Document document)
{
base.OnStartPage(writer, document);
PdfPTable tabHead = new PdfPTable(3);
tabHead.SetWidths(new int[] { 165, 205, 125 });
//tabHead.TotalWidth = 460F;
tabHead.TotalWidth = document.Right - document.Left; // TotalWidth = 495
tabHead.WidthPercentage = 98;
PdfPCell cell1 = new PdfPCell(iTextSharp.text.Image.GetInstance(folderImages + "logoEarlyWarning.png"), true) { Border = PdfPCell.BOTTOM_BORDER };
tabHead.AddCell(cell1);
//tabHead.AddCell(new PdfPCell(new Phrase("CELL 1:")) { Border = PdfPCell.BOTTOM_BORDER, Padding = 5, MinimumHeight = 50, PaddingTop = 15, });
tabHead.AddCell(new PdfPCell(new Phrase("CELL 2:")) { Border = PdfPCell.BOTTOM_BORDER, Padding = 5, MinimumHeight = 50, PaddingTop = 15 });
if(_sourceId == "NVD")
{
iTextSharp.text.Image logo = iTextSharp.text.Image.GetInstance(folderImages + "nvdLogo.png");
logo.ScalePercent(48f);
//PdfPCell cell3 = new PdfPCell(iTextSharp.text.Image.GetInstance(folderImages + "nvdLogo.png"), true) { Border = PdfPCell.BOTTOM_BORDER, PaddingBottom = 25 };
PdfPCell cell3 = new PdfPCell(logo) { Border = PdfPCell.BOTTOM_BORDER, PaddingLeft = 50 };
tabHead.AddCell(cell3);
}
else if(_sourceId == "DeepSight")
{
PdfPCell cell3 = new PdfPCell(iTextSharp.text.Image.GetInstance(folderImages + "DSLogo.jpg"), true) { Border = PdfPCell.BOTTOM_BORDER };
tabHead.AddCell(cell3);
}
//tabHead.AddCell(new PdfPCell(new Phrase("CELL 3:")) { Border = PdfPCell.BOTTOM_BORDER, Padding = 5, MinimumHeight = 50, PaddingTop = 15 });
tabHead.WriteSelectedRows(0, -1, document.Left, document.Top, writer.DirectContent);
}
//write on close of document
public override void OnCloseDocument(PdfWriter writer, Document document)
{
base.OnCloseDocument(writer, document);
}
}
}
I want put in the footer something like the Page X of Y as shown in the tutorial
I tryied to do the following thing:
1) I declared the PdfTemplate total; object as field of my class and I initialize it into my OnOpenDocument() method
total = writer.DirectContent.CreateTemplate(30, 16);
2) Into my OnEndPage() method I put:
String text = "Page " + pageN + " of ";
and I created the following table to show the Page X of Y
PdfPCell innerCellLeft = new PdfPCell(new Phrase("Early Warning - Bollettino")) { Border = PdfPCell.NO_BORDER, Padding = 5, MinimumHeight = 20, HorizontalAlignment = Element.ALIGN_LEFT };
PdfPCell innerCellCenter = new PdfPCell(new Phrase(text)) { Border = PdfPCell.NO_BORDER, Padding = 5, MinimumHeight = 20, HorizontalAlignment = Element.ALIGN_RIGHT };
PdfPCell innerCellRight = new PdfPCell(Image.GetInstance(total)) { Border = PdfPCell.NO_BORDER, Padding = 5, MinimumHeight = 20, HorizontalAlignment = Element.ALIGN_RIGHT };
But it don't work and throw me an exception
What could be the problem in my code?

You are copy/pasting code without reading the documentation that comes with the examples. Moreover you are completely ignoring the C# version of the examples from my book. I have paid good money to a C# developer to port these examples. It feels as if that money was thrown away. You can find the example you tried to port yourself here: http://tinyurl.com/itextsharpIIA2C05
Error #1: you are adding content in the OnStartPage() method. That is forbidden! This is documented on many places. See for instance this answer copied from page 150 of the official documentation:
FAQ Why is it not advised to add content in the onStartPage() method? You'll remember from section 5.2.4 that iText ignores newPage() calls when the current page is empty. This method is executed — or ignored — when you call it explicitly from your code, but it's also invoked implicitly from within iText on multiple occasions. It's important that it's ignored for empty pages; otherwise you'd end up with plenty of unwanted new pages that are unintentionally left blank. If you add content in an onStartPage() method, there's always a risk of having unwanted pages. Consider it more safe to reserve the onEndPage() method for adding content.
Error #2: you are adding content in the OnOpenDocument() method. Why would that make sense?
Error #3: you create the total object because you want to create a place holder that can be added to each page. Once you know the total number of pages, you want to fill out that number on that place holder. However: I don't see you doing this anywhere. The appropriate place to do this, is obviously in the OnCloseDocument() even. This event is triggered right before the document is closed, so at that moment, the total number of pages is known. This is, as Sherlock Holmes would say, elementary, my dear!