Grapecity spread-sheets-pdf: savePDF() is not a function

Question

Using NodeJs I'm trying to write a small API with Grapecity SpreadJs library. In my project I have installed the following libraries:

• "@grapecity/spread-excelio": "^14.2.0",
• "@grapecity/spread-sheets": "^14.1.2",
• "@grapecity/spread-sheets-pdf": "^14.2.0",
• "@grapecity/spread-sheets-print": "^14.2.0"

When I try to call savePDF() on a Workbook instance, I have this error: savePDF() is not a function. Here my code:

  GC.Spread.Sheets.LicenseKey = "myKey"; 
  SJSExcel.LicenseKey = "myKey";  

  var wb = new GC.Spread.Sheets.Workbook();  
          
  var invoice = JSON.parse(fs.readFileSync("./invoice_data/invoice_example.json"));
  wb.fromJSON(invoice);  
  
  wb.savePDF(function (blob) {
    var fileName = 'download';
    saveAs(blob, fileName + '.pdf');
  }, 
  function (error) {
    console.log(error);
  }      
});

What's wrong?

Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

I am a member of GrapeCity's Technical Engagement team. I wanted to share that a NodeJS environment cannot support SpreadJS's PDF export.

The reason is that SpreadJS’s PDF export feature has a deep dependency on the DOM object. When exporting SpreadJS to a PDF, it is changing the graphic context from canvas to a PDF context. This requires going over all the rendering logic and requesting a lot of DOM element computing. The NodeJS environment uses a Mock jsDom that cannot provide the deep dependency that is needed and for this reason, a NodeJS environment cannot support SpreadJS exporting a PDF.

If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to the SpreadJS team here: Submit a Ticket