Creation of PDF from Standard text

Requirement: User wants a certain text to be send in mail as PDF attachment.

Solution: We create a SO10 standard text for that text. Further we can have 2 approaches.

            First approach: Embed that standard text in a window of a new script. Call that script in a usual manner using OPEN_FORM, WRITE_FORM, CLOSE_FORM function module. In the calling of CLOSE_FORM we will get the OTF format of that script in suitable type of internal table. Convert that OTF format into PDF format internal table and use that as an attachment in mailing functionality.

            Second approach: Our aim is to have the final text in PDF format in suitable in internal table so that we can use in attachment in mail. This we achieved through usual script manner in the previous approach. Now we will use another way. 

 

There are 2 facts that we will use in this second approach. First is whenever we write something on screen, a spool automatically get's created for that. We can see that spool no using the system variable SY-SPONO. Another is that we have Function module to convert any ABAP spool into PDF. So we will see how that works.

First we will read that text using READ_TEXT function module and get the text content in one internal table of type TLINE. Further we will use function module GET_PRINT_PARAMETERS following a loop on internal table and in each iteration print it's TDLINE column on screen. This will create a spool whose number we can have in system variable SY-SPONO. Further export that spool no using EXPORT TO DATABASE INDX. EXPORT TO MEMORY ID won't work here because we are going to call this program in background from the next program we will create.

Create another program. Here we will be creating a job in background. In that background job we will insert a process by submitting our earlier created program and finally we will close that  background job. Further we will use function module named 'CONVERT_ABAPSPOOLJOB_2_PDF' to convert the spool number, which we will be importing(which we have exported in our earlier program) in this program, into PDF format.

Below is the code snapshot.

REPORT 1:

REPORT 2:

Test  this report by executing it and checking the newly created entry in SOST.

                                                                                                             By: Reetika Patel