zPdfGenerator.Charts 0.2.0

zPdfGenerator.Charts

Extension package for zPdfGenerator that adds chart placeholders (charts) for PDF generation from HTML using OxyPlot (SVG) + iText.

The goal of this project is to generate deterministic, vector-based charts that render consistently on Windows and Linux, following this pipeline:

Data → SVG (OxyPlot) → HTML → PDF (iText)

Features

• Vector charts (SVG)
• Pie charts
• Color palette support
• Correct culture handling (es-ES, en-US, etc.)
• PDF-safe layouts (no browser-dependent rendering)
• Clean public API (internal helpers are not exposed to consumers)

Related packages

This project extends:

• zPdfGenerator

Main dependencies:

• OxyPlot.Core
• iText.Html2Pdf

Installation

dotnet add package zPdfGenerator.Charts

Basic usage

1️ Generator configuration

Action<FluidHtmlPdfGeneratorBuilder<CorporateReport>> config = b => b
    .UseTemplatePath("template.html")
    .UseCulture(new CultureInfo("es-ES"))
    .SetData(report)
    .AddPieChart(
        name: "chartSvg",
        map: r => r.TableRows,
        label: i => i.Concept,
        value: i => Convert.ToDouble(i.Value),
        title: "Pie chart example",
        legend: "Distribution",
        paletteHex: new[] { "#2563EB", "#F59E0B", "#16A34A" }
    );

2️ PDF generation

var pdfBytes = generator.GeneratePdf(config);

Usage in HTML template

<section class="chart-section">
  <h2>Performance chart</h2>

  <div class="z-chart">
    {{ chartSvg | raw }}
  </div>
</section>

Recommended CSS (PDF-friendly)

.chart-section {
  page-break-inside: avoid;
}

.z-chart {
  border: 1px solid #ccc;
  padding: 12px;
  background: #fafafa;
}

.z-chart svg {
  width: 100%;
  height: auto;
  display: block;
}

Configuration Tips

• Use FillColorHex for a single-color bar chart; use PaletteHex for grouped or multi-series charts.
• LabelFormat accepts standard numeric formats (e.g. {0:0.##}).
• Prefer explicit CultureInfo when rendering numbers with decimal separators.

Culture and numeric formatting

OxyPlot formats labels using CultureInfo.CurrentCulture at render time.

This project includes an internal helper called CultureScope that ensures the correct culture is applied during SVG export:

using (CultureScope.Use(culture))
{
    exporter.Export(model, stream);
}

This guarantees:

• Correct decimal separators
• Correct percentage formatting
• Independence from the operating system culture

Limitations

• Charts are static SVGs (no interactivity or animation).
• Very large datasets can produce large SVGs; consider sampling or aggregating data.

Testing

dotnet test tests/zPdfGenerator.Tests/zPdfGenerator.Tests.csproj

License

MIT License © Juanjo Jiménez Zorrilla

Roadmap

• Bar charts
• Line charts
• Automatic HTML legends

Designed for serious, reproducible, cross-platform reporting.