Convert a List Item, including all attachments, to PDF
When converting HTML to PDF, please make sure you are running version 8.3 (or later) of the Muhimbi Document Converter as that version comes with a much improved HTML Converter.
The Muhimbi Document Converter for SharePoint provides first class support for converting (and / or merging) files stored in Document or Form Libraries. However, if you are looking to convert a List Item, including all attachments, into a single PDF then you have to do a little bit of work.
See related Knowledge Base entry: Converting (InfoPath / Nintex Forms based) List Items to PDF.
The key to combining the list item and attachments is our Merge Workflow Activity, which accepts a mix of URLs (to convert the HTML of the List Item View to PDF) and paths to attachments. For example the following 2 lines convert the list item and an attachment.
http://SomeWebApp/sites/SomeSiteCollection/Lists/SomeList/DispForm.aspx?ID=3 /sites/SomeSiteCollection/Lists/SomeList/Attachments/3/somefile.xxx
It is fairly simple to generate the fully qualified URL to the List Item, which is just a matter of requesting the ID of the current Item and concatenating it to the URL of the list’s DispForm.aspx. However, retrieving the URLs to the attachments is a different matter as they all go into a generic ‘attachments bin’ for which file names cannot be queried from a SharePoint Designer workflow.
There are a number of options to get around this.
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Write some C# code by creating a Custom Workflow Activity, or insert C# into a SharePoint Designer workflow using our Workflow Power Pack
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Use Nintex Workflow to extract the attachment paths. Our software ships with Nintex Workflow compatible workflow activities. This post describes how to retrieve the list of attachments.
Please note that you need version 7.2.1 of the Document Converter, or newer, to merge List Item attachments.
If none of these options suit your particular scenario then you can always use our API from your own custom code. For details about merging files from your own code see this KB Article.
Please have a look at the following resources as well:
As always, if you get stuck or need assistance then feel free to contact our support desk.