com.lowagie.text.pdf
Class MultiColumnText

java.lang.Object
  com.lowagie.text.pdf.MultiColumnText

All Implemented Interfaces:

Element

public class MultiColumnText
extends Object
implements Element

Formats content into one or more columns bounded by a rectangle. The columns may be simple rectangles or more complicated shapes. Add all of the columns before adding content. Column continuation is supported. A MultiColumnText object may be added to a document using Document.add.

Author:

Steve Appling

Nested Class Summary

private class

MultiColumnText.ColumnDef Inner class used to define a column

Field Summary

static float	AUTOMATIC special constant for automatic calculation of height
private ArrayList	columnDefs Array of ColumnDef objects used to define the columns
private boolean	columnsRightToLeft
private ColumnText	columnText ColumnText object used to do all the real work.
private int	currentColumn
private float	desiredHeight total desiredHeight of columns.
private PdfDocument	document
private float	nextY
private boolean	overflow true if all the text could not be written out due to height restriction
private boolean	simple true if all columns are simple (rectangular)
private float	top Top of the columns - y position on starting page.
private float	totalHeight total height of element written out so far

Fields inherited from interface com.lowagie.text.Element

ALIGN_BASELINE, ALIGN_BOTTOM, ALIGN_CENTER, ALIGN_JUSTIFIED, ALIGN_JUSTIFIED_ALL, ALIGN_LEFT, ALIGN_MIDDLE, ALIGN_RIGHT, ALIGN_TOP, ALIGN_UNDEFINED, ANCHOR, ANNOTATION, AUTHOR, CCITT_BLACKIS1, CCITT_ENCODEDBYTEALIGN, CCITT_ENDOFBLOCK, CCITT_ENDOFLINE, CCITTG3_1D, CCITTG3_2D, CCITTG4, CELL, CHAPTER, CHUNK, CREATIONDATE, CREATOR, HEADER, IMGRAW, IMGTEMPLATE, JBIG2, JPEG, JPEG2000, KEYWORDS, LIST, LISTITEM, MARKED, MULTI_COLUMN_TEXT, PARAGRAPH, PHRASE, PRODUCER, PTABLE, RECTANGLE, ROW, SECTION, SUBJECT, TABLE, TITLE, YMARK

Constructor Summary

MultiColumnText()
Default constructor.

MultiColumnText(float height)
Construct a MultiColumnText container of the specified height.

MultiColumnText(float top, float height)
Construct a MultiColumnText container of the specified height starting at the specified Y position.

Method Summary

void	addColumn(float[] left, float[] right) Add a new column.
void	addElement(Element element) Add an element to be rendered in a column.
void	addRegularColumns(float left, float right, float gutterWidth, int numColumns) Add the specified number of evenly spaced rectangular columns.
void	addSimpleColumn(float left, float right) Add a simple rectangular column with specified left and right x position boundaries.
void	addText(Chunk chunk) Adds a Chunk to the current text array.
void	addText(Phrase phrase) Adds a Phrase to the current text array.
ArrayList	getChunks() Returns null - not used
private float	getColumnBottom() Calculates the appropriate y position for the bottom of the columns on this page.
int	getCurrentColumn() Gets the current column.
private float	getHeight(float[] left, float[] right) Figure out the height of a column from the border extents
boolean	isContent() Checks if this element is a content object.
boolean	isNestable() Checks if this element is nestable.
boolean	isOverflow() Indicates that all of the text did not fit in the specified height.
private void	newPage()
void	nextColumn() Moves the text insertion point to the beginning of the next column, issuing a page break if needed.
boolean	process(ElementListener listener) Processes the element by adding it to an ElementListener.
void	resetCurrentColumn() Resets the current column.
void	setAlignment(int alignment) Sets the default alignment
void	setArabicOptions(int arabicOptions) Sets the arabic shaping options.
void	setColumnsRightToLeft(boolean direction) Sets the direction of the columns.
void	setRunDirection(int runDirection) Sets the run direction.
void	setSpaceCharRatio(float spaceCharRatio) Sets the ratio between the extra word spacing and the extra character spacing when the text is fully justified.
boolean	shiftCurrentColumn() Shifts the current column.
int	type() Gets the type of the text element.
void	useColumnParams(ColumnText sourceColumn) Copy the parameters from the specified ColumnText to use when rendering.
float	write(PdfContentByte canvas, PdfDocument document, float documentY) Write out the columns.

Methods inherited from class java.lang.Object

clone, equals, finalize, getClass, hashCode, notify, notifyAll, toString, wait, wait, wait

Methods inherited from interface com.lowagie.text.Element

toString

Field Detail

AUTOMATIC

public static final float AUTOMATIC

special constant for automatic calculation of height

See Also:

Constant Field Values

desiredHeight

private float desiredHeight

total desiredHeight of columns. If AUTOMATIC, this means fill pages until done. This may be larger than one page

totalHeight

private float totalHeight

total height of element written out so far

overflow

private boolean overflow

true if all the text could not be written out due to height restriction

top

private float top

Top of the columns - y position on starting page. If AUTOMATIC, it means current y position when added to document

columnText

private ColumnText columnText

ColumnText object used to do all the real work. This same object is used for all columns

columnDefs

private ArrayList columnDefs

Array of ColumnDef objects used to define the columns

simple

private boolean simple

true if all columns are simple (rectangular)

currentColumn

private int currentColumn

nextY

private float nextY

columnsRightToLeft

private boolean columnsRightToLeft

document

private PdfDocument document

Constructor Detail

MultiColumnText

public MultiColumnText()

Default constructor. Sets height to AUTOMATIC. Columns will repeat on each page as necessary to accommodate content length.

MultiColumnText

public MultiColumnText(float height)

Construct a MultiColumnText container of the specified height. If height is AUTOMATIC, fill complete pages until done. If a specific height is used, it may span one or more pages.

Parameters:

height -

MultiColumnText

public MultiColumnText(float top,
                       float height)

Construct a MultiColumnText container of the specified height starting at the specified Y position.

Parameters:

height -

top -

Method Detail

isOverflow

public boolean isOverflow()

Indicates that all of the text did not fit in the specified height. Note that isOverflow will return false before the MultiColumnText object has been added to the document. It will always be false if the height is AUTOMATIC.

Returns:

true if there is still space left in the column

useColumnParams

public void useColumnParams(ColumnText sourceColumn)

Copy the parameters from the specified ColumnText to use when rendering. Parameters like setArabicOptions must be set in this way.

Parameters:

sourceColumn -

addColumn

public void addColumn(float[] left,
                      float[] right)

Add a new column. The parameters are limits for each column wall in the format of a sequence of points (x1,y1,x2,y2,...).

Parameters:

left - limits for left column

right - limits for right column

addSimpleColumn

public void addSimpleColumn(float left,
                            float right)

Add a simple rectangular column with specified left and right x position boundaries.

Parameters:

left - left boundary

right - right boundary

addRegularColumns

public void addRegularColumns(float left,
                              float right,
                              float gutterWidth,
                              int numColumns)

Add the specified number of evenly spaced rectangular columns. Columns will be separated by the specified gutterWidth.

Parameters:

left - left boundary of first column

right - right boundary of last column

gutterWidth - width of gutter spacing between columns

numColumns - number of columns to add

addText

public void addText(Phrase phrase)

Adds a Phrase to the current text array. Will not have any effect if addElement() was called before.

Parameters:

phrase - the text

Since:

2.1.5

addText

public void addText(Chunk chunk)

Adds a Chunk to the current text array. Will not have any effect if addElement() was called before.

Parameters:

chunk - the text

Since:

2.1.5

addElement

public void addElement(Element element)
                throws DocumentException

Add an element to be rendered in a column. Note that you can only add a Phrase or a Chunk if the columns are not all simple. This is an underlying restriction in ColumnText

Parameters:

element - element to add

Throws:

DocumentException - if element can't be added

write

public float write(PdfContentByte canvas,
                   PdfDocument document,
                   float documentY)
            throws DocumentException

Write out the columns. After writing, use isOverflow() to see if all text was written.

Parameters:

canvas - PdfContentByte to write with

document - document to write to (only used to get page limit info)

documentY - starting y position to begin writing at

Returns:

the current height (y position) after writing the columns

Throws:

DocumentException - on error

newPage

private void newPage()
              throws DocumentException

Throws:

DocumentException

getHeight

private float getHeight(float[] left,
                        float[] right)

Figure out the height of a column from the border extents

Parameters:

left - left border

right - right border

Returns:

height

process

public boolean process(ElementListener listener)

Processes the element by adding it to an ElementListener.

Specified by:

process in interface Element

Parameters:

listener - an ElementListener

Returns:

true if the element was processed successfully

type

public int type()

Gets the type of the text element.

Specified by:

type in interface Element

Returns:

a type

getChunks

public ArrayList getChunks()

Returns null - not used

Specified by:

getChunks in interface Element

Returns:

null

isContent

public boolean isContent()

Description copied from interface: Element

Checks if this element is a content object. If not, it's a metadata object.

Specified by:

isContent in interface Element

Returns:

true if this is a 'content' element; false if this is a 'metadata' element

Since:

iText 2.0.8

See Also:

Element.isContent()

isNestable

public boolean isNestable()

Description copied from interface: Element

Checks if this element is nestable.

Specified by:

isNestable in interface Element

Returns:

true if this element can be nested inside other elements.

Since:

iText 2.0.8

See Also:

Element.isNestable()

getColumnBottom

private float getColumnBottom()

Calculates the appropriate y position for the bottom of the columns on this page.

Returns:

the y position of the bottom of the columns

nextColumn

public void nextColumn()
                throws DocumentException

Moves the text insertion point to the beginning of the next column, issuing a page break if needed.

Throws:

DocumentException - on error

getCurrentColumn

public int getCurrentColumn()

Gets the current column.

Returns:

the current column

resetCurrentColumn

public void resetCurrentColumn()

Resets the current column.

shiftCurrentColumn

public boolean shiftCurrentColumn()

Shifts the current column.

Returns:

true if the current column has changed

setColumnsRightToLeft

public void setColumnsRightToLeft(boolean direction)

Sets the direction of the columns.

Parameters:

direction - true = right2left; false = left2right

setSpaceCharRatio

public void setSpaceCharRatio(float spaceCharRatio)

Sets the ratio between the extra word spacing and the extra character spacing when the text is fully justified. Extra word spacing will grow spaceCharRatio times more than extra character spacing. If the ratio is PdfWriter.NO_SPACE_CHAR_RATIO then the extra character spacing will be zero.

Parameters:

spaceCharRatio - the ratio between the extra word spacing and the extra character spacing

setRunDirection

public void setRunDirection(int runDirection)

Sets the run direction.

Parameters:

runDirection - the run direction

setArabicOptions

public void setArabicOptions(int arabicOptions)

Sets the arabic shaping options. The option can be AR_NOVOWEL, AR_COMPOSEDTASHKEEL and AR_LIG.

Parameters:

arabicOptions - the arabic shaping options

setAlignment

public void setAlignment(int alignment)

Sets the default alignment

Parameters:

alignment - the default alignment