Merge PDF files in ABAP
Applies to:
SAP Net Weaver 7.0, ABAP. For more information, visit the ABAP homepage.
Summary
This article explains how to merge PDF files using an external non SAP solution from ABAP.
Author: Krisztian Katona
Company: Swisscom
Created on: 06 September 2010
Author Bio
Krisztian Katona is working as SAP developer at Swisscom specialized to technologies as
ABAP Objects, WebDynpro and Process Integration.
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Merge PDF files in ABAP
Table of Contents
Introduction ................................................................................................................................................... 3
How does it work ........................................................................................................................................... 3
How to set up the environment ...................................................................................................................... 3
Step 1: Installing PDFTK............................................................................................................................ 3
Step 2: Setting up the external execution of PDFTK ................................................................................... 4
Step 3: Define a temporary directory path in SAP ...................................................................................... 5
Step 4: Set up number range ..................................................................................................................... 6
Add new interval to the number range. ....................................................................................................... 7
Step 5: Installing ZCL_PDF_MERGE ......................................................................................................... 7
ABAP Code example .................................................................................................................................... 8
Merging individual PDFs into a new PDF ................................................................................................... 8
Related Content ............................................................................................................................................ 9
Disclaimer and Liability Notice ..................................................................................................................... 10
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Merge PDF files in ABAP
Introduction
This article will show you how to merge two ore more PDF files into one using ABAP. As the ABAP language
or the integrated Adobe Document Services does not support PDF merge operations hence we have to use
PDFTK which is an external non SAP solution for PDF manipulation and ZCL_PDF_MERGE an ABAP class
to manage the merging process.
How does it work
The PDFTK based merge process consist the following steps:
The source PDF files are written to a temporary directory on the SAP application server (class
ZCL_PDF_MERGE)
Run PDFTK to merge the PDF files and save the merged file
Read the merged PDF file and forward it to the ABAP program (class ZCL_PDF_MERGE)
How to set up the environment
This document will describe the process to set up the SAP PDF merging environment on Linux machines. As
PDFTK is an open source cross-platform product, it is also possible to set up the environment in different
operating systems but it is out of the scope of this article.
Step 1: Installing PDFTK
Download the PDFTK binary and install it onto the SAP application server. Make sure the binary is on the
PATH and the user of the SAP installation has the execution right.
As SAP cannot handle the asterix character when executing external OS commands we have to use a shell
script as a transient layer. Create a shell script called runpdftk.sh and place it into the application server. The
shell script should have the following content:
#!/bin/sh
exec "/usr/local/bin/pdftk" $1*.pdf cat output $2
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Merge PDF files in ABAP
Step 2: Setting up the external execution of PDFTK
Go to transaction SM49.
Press the create button and add the new command ZPDFMERGE
Write the absolute path of the shell script you created in the previous step into the Operating system
command field.
Check Additional Parameters Allowed
Save your changes
To run external OS commands authorization object S_LOG_COM (COMMAND=ZPDFMERGE
OPSYSTEM=Linux HOST=*) is necessary.
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Merge PDF files in ABAP
Step 3: Define a temporary directory path in SAP
This will be a directory in the application server to store temporary files for the merge operation.
Go to transaction FILE
Click on the New Entries button and add the logical path ZPDFMERGE
Double click on the Assignment of Physical Paths to Logical Path label on the tree structure and add the
following Physical path: /tmp/<FILENAME>
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Merge PDF files in ABAP
Step 4: Set up number range
A number range will be used to compose the name of the temporary files.
Go to transaction SNRO
Create number range object ZPDFMERGE.
Create a number range (by clicking on the Number ranges label on the toolbar) with the following
parameters:
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Merge PDF files in ABAP
Add new interval to the number range.
You can do this by pressing the number range button on the SNRO screen.
Step 5: Installing ZCL_PDF_MERGE
Download and install ZCL_PDF_MERGE SAP nugget from http://code.google.com/p/sappdfmerge/ and
install it using SAPLINK. For documentation on using SAPLINK check this link.
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Merge PDF files in ABAP
ABAP Code example
Merging individual PDFs into a new PDF
The following code sample illustrates how to use ZCL_PDF_MERGE class for a PDF merge operation.
DATA: lo_pdfmerge TYPE REF TO zcl_pdf_merge,
lv_pdf_merged TYPE xstring,
lv_pdf TYPE xstring.
[…]
CREATE OBJECT lo_pdfmerge.
LOOP AT lt_pdf INTO lv_pdf.
lo_pdfmerge->add_pdf( lv_pdf ).
ENDLOOP.
lv_pdf_merged = lo_pdfmerge->get_merged( ).
You can call the ADD_PDF method and add PDF pages one by one in XSTRING format. Finally call the
GET_MERGED method
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Merge PDF files in ABAP
Related Content
For more information, please visit the ABAP homepage.
PDF files in SAP
Offline Interactive Forms Using ABAP
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Merge PDF files in ABAP
Disclaimer and Liability Notice
This document may discuss sample coding or other information that does not include SAP official interfaces and therefore is not
supported by SAP. Changes made based on this information are not supported and can be overwritten during an upgrade.
SAP will not be held liable for any damages caused by using or misusing the information, code or methods suggested in this do cument,
and anyone using these methods does so at his/her own risk.
SAP offers no guarantees and assumes no responsibility or liability of any type with respect to the content of this technical article or
code sample, including any liability resulting from incompatibility between the content within this document and the materials and
services offered by SAP. You agree that you will not hold, or seek to hold, SAP responsible or liable with respect to the conte nt of this
document.
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