DriveWorks Pro 22

PDF: Markdown File to PDF

PDF: Markdown File to PDF

This Specification Flow Task will create a new PDF document from a Markdown file (.md) styled using a CSS file.

Properties

Reference

This Task has been created and tested using Markdown that follows the CommonMark Specification.

This website is also a great resource to learn Markdown.

Example

When this Task is added the properties are static. To be able to build rules on a static property see How To: Change A Static Property To A Dynamic Property.

Markdown File Syntax

Headings

Emphasis

Hyperlink

Lists

Images (Local)

Local Images Relative To The Markdown File

The simplest method of including images in the Markdown File is to reference them from the same location as the Markdown file.

The Copy File Task can be used to move or copy any image to this location.

Remove any spaces used in the name of the image.

If this is not possible replace the space with %20 in the Markdown file.

Markdown	Example	Result
	 Image stored in the same location is the Markdown file.
	 Image stored in a sub folder to the Markdown file.

Local Images Located Away From The Markdown File

Local images are required to have the full file path converted to a universal resource identifier (URI).

To convert a full file path to a URI:

• Replace the backslash immediately following the drive letter with three forward slashes.

  For example: C:\ will become C:///

• Replace all other backslashes (denoting child folders) with a single forward slash.

  For example: DriveWorks\Markdown\Images will become DriveWorks/Markdown/Images

• Replace any spaces (in between any character, including the name of the image) with %20.

  For example: Pdf Images/My Image.png will become Pdf%20Images/My%20Image.png

Markdown	Example	Result
	

Images (Web)

To reference an image stored on the web use the full URL to the image.

Markdown	Example	Result
	

Tables

HTML tables can be used directly in markdown.

<table>
      <tbody>
            <tr>
                <th>Col1Heading</th>
                <th>Col2Heading</th>
                <th>Col3Heading</th>
            </tr>
            <tr>
                <td>Col1Data</td>
                <td>Col2Data</td>
                <td>Col3Data</td>
            </tr>
      </tbody>
</table>

Style Sheet File Example

The following is an example of a CSS file that can be used to style the Markdown content.

Copy the contents below and paste into a text editor (Notepad).

Save the Notepad file to the location and name specified in the Style Sheet File property, with the extension .css.

/* Markdown Styling -------------------------------------------------*/

@page {
  background-color: #f3f4f6;
}

html {
  background-color: #ffffff;
  padding: 16px;
}

h1 {
  text-align: left;
  color: #1f2937;
  font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;
  font-size: 24px; 
}

h2 {
  text-align: left;
  color: #1f2937;
  font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;
  font-size: 16px; 
}

h3 {
  text-align: left;
  color: #1f2937;
  font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;
  font-size: 13px; 
  break-before: always;
}

p {
  text-align: left;
  color: #1f2937;
  font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;
  font-size: 12px; 
}

ul {
  list-style-type: square;
  color: #1f2937;
  font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;
  font-size: 14px; 
}

ul li {
  text-align: left;
  padding: 6px;
  margin-left: 12px;
}

table {
  table-layout: fixed;
  width: 100%;
  margin-left: auto;
  margin-right: auto;
  border-collapse: collapse;
  background-color: #f9fafb;
  border: 1px solid #e5e7eb;
  font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;
}


th,
td {
  padding: 8px;
  border: 1px solid #e5e7eb;;
}

th {
  text-align: left;
  font-weight: bold;
  font-size: 12px; 
}

td {
  word-wrap: break-word;
  font-size: 12px; 
}

ol {
  list-style-type: lower-alpha;
  color: #1f2937;
  font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;
  font-size: 14px; 
}

ol li {
  text-align: left;
  padding: 6px;
  margin-left: 12px;
}

img {
  display: block;
  margin-left: auto;
  margin-right: auto;
  width: 25%;
}

img[alt="localfile"] {
  width: 50%;
}

hr {
  color: #1f2937;
}
code {
  background-color: #374151;
  color: #cecece;
}

Unsupported PDF fonts

The following fonts are unsupported for use in PDF documents:

• Bahnschrift
• Berlin Sans FB Demi
• Cascadia Code
• Dubai
• Lucida
• Magneto
• Vivaldi
• Yu Gothic

Using the Task in a Specification Macro

This task has different types of Outputs. For more information about Outputs see Specification Macros Task Node.

Status Outputs

The status output navigation is as follows:

Success

• The PDF was successfully created.

Success with Warnings

• N/A

Failed

• There was an error.
• A markdown file could not be found or accessed.
• The Task failed to create a PDF in the defined location.