com.lowagie.text.pdf
Class MultiColumnText

java.lang.Object
  extended by com.lowagie.text.pdf.MultiColumnText
All Implemented Interfaces:
Element

public class MultiColumnText
extends java.lang.Object
implements Element

Formats content into one or more columns bounded by a rectangle. The columns may be simple rectangles or more complicated shapes. Add all of the columns before adding content. Column continuation is supported. A MultiColumnText object may be added to a document using Document.add.

Author:
Steve Appling

Field Summary
static float AUTOMATIC
          special constant for automatic calculation of height
 
Fields inherited from interface com.lowagie.text.Element
ALIGN_BASELINE, ALIGN_BOTTOM, ALIGN_CENTER, ALIGN_JUSTIFIED, ALIGN_JUSTIFIED_ALL, ALIGN_LEFT, ALIGN_MIDDLE, ALIGN_RIGHT, ALIGN_TOP, ALIGN_UNDEFINED, ANCHOR, ANNOTATION, AUTHOR, CCITT_BLACKIS1, CCITT_ENCODEDBYTEALIGN, CCITT_ENDOFBLOCK, CCITT_ENDOFLINE, CCITTG3_1D, CCITTG3_2D, CCITTG4, CELL, CHAPTER, CHUNK, CREATIONDATE, CREATOR, HEADER, IMGRAW, IMGTEMPLATE, JBIG2, JPEG, JPEG2000, KEYWORDS, LIST, LISTITEM, MARKED, MULTI_COLUMN_TEXT, PARAGRAPH, PHRASE, PRODUCER, PTABLE, RECTANGLE, ROW, SECTION, SUBJECT, TABLE, TITLE, YMARK
 
Constructor Summary
MultiColumnText()
          Default constructor.
MultiColumnText(float height)
          Construct a MultiColumnText container of the specified height.
MultiColumnText(float top, float height)
          Construct a MultiColumnText container of the specified height starting at the specified Y position.
 
Method Summary
 void addColumn(float[] left, float[] right)
          Add a new column.
 void addElement(Element element)
          Add an element to be rendered in a column.
 void addRegularColumns(float left, float right, float gutterWidth, int numColumns)
          Add the specified number of evenly spaced rectangular columns.
 void addSimpleColumn(float left, float right)
          Add a simple rectangular column with specified left and right x position boundaries.
 void addText(Chunk chunk)
          Adds a Chunk to the current text array.
 void addText(Phrase phrase)
          Adds a Phrase to the current text array.
 java.util.ArrayList getChunks()
          Returns null - not used
 int getCurrentColumn()
          Gets the current column.
 boolean isContent()
          Checks if this element is a content object.
 boolean isNestable()
          Checks if this element is nestable.
 boolean isOverflow()
          Indicates that all of the text did not fit in the specified height.
 void nextColumn()
          Moves the text insertion point to the beginning of the next column, issuing a page break if needed.
 boolean process(ElementListener listener)
          Processes the element by adding it to an ElementListener.
 void resetCurrentColumn()
          Resets the current column.
 void setAlignment(int alignment)
          Sets the default alignment
 void setArabicOptions(int arabicOptions)
          Sets the arabic shaping options.
 void setColumnsRightToLeft(boolean direction)
          Sets the direction of the columns.
 void setRunDirection(int runDirection)
          Sets the run direction.
 void setSpaceCharRatio(float spaceCharRatio)
          Sets the ratio between the extra word spacing and the extra character spacing when the text is fully justified.
 boolean shiftCurrentColumn()
          Shifts the current column.
 int type()
          Gets the type of the text element.
 void useColumnParams(ColumnText sourceColumn)
          Copy the parameters from the specified ColumnText to use when rendering.
 float write(PdfContentByte canvas, PdfDocument document, float documentY)
          Write out the columns.
 
Methods inherited from class java.lang.Object
clone, equals, finalize, getClass, hashCode, notify, notifyAll, toString, wait, wait, wait
 
Methods inherited from interface com.lowagie.text.Element
toString
 

Field Detail

AUTOMATIC

public static final float AUTOMATIC
special constant for automatic calculation of height

See Also:
Constant Field Values
Constructor Detail

MultiColumnText

public MultiColumnText()
Default constructor. Sets height to AUTOMATIC. Columns will repeat on each page as necessary to accommodate content length.


MultiColumnText

public MultiColumnText(float height)
Construct a MultiColumnText container of the specified height. If height is AUTOMATIC, fill complete pages until done. If a specific height is used, it may span one or more pages.

Parameters:
height -

MultiColumnText

public MultiColumnText(float top,
                       float height)
Construct a MultiColumnText container of the specified height starting at the specified Y position.

Parameters:
height -
top -
Method Detail

isOverflow

public boolean isOverflow()
Indicates that all of the text did not fit in the specified height. Note that isOverflow will return false before the MultiColumnText object has been added to the document. It will always be false if the height is AUTOMATIC.

Returns:
true if there is still space left in the column

useColumnParams

public void useColumnParams(ColumnText sourceColumn)
Copy the parameters from the specified ColumnText to use when rendering. Parameters like setArabicOptions must be set in this way.

Parameters:
sourceColumn -

addColumn

public void addColumn(float[] left,
                      float[] right)
Add a new column. The parameters are limits for each column wall in the format of a sequence of points (x1,y1,x2,y2,...).

Parameters:
left - limits for left column
right - limits for right column

addSimpleColumn

public void addSimpleColumn(float left,
                            float right)
Add a simple rectangular column with specified left and right x position boundaries.

Parameters:
left - left boundary
right - right boundary

addRegularColumns

public void addRegularColumns(float left,
                              float right,
                              float gutterWidth,
                              int numColumns)
Add the specified number of evenly spaced rectangular columns. Columns will be separated by the specified gutterWidth.

Parameters:
left - left boundary of first column
right - right boundary of last column
gutterWidth - width of gutter spacing between columns
numColumns - number of columns to add

addText

public void addText(Phrase phrase)
Adds a Phrase to the current text array. Will not have any effect if addElement() was called before.

Parameters:
phrase - the text
Since:
2.1.5

addText

public void addText(Chunk chunk)
Adds a Chunk to the current text array. Will not have any effect if addElement() was called before.

Parameters:
chunk - the text
Since:
2.1.5

addElement

public void addElement(Element element)
                throws DocumentException
Add an element to be rendered in a column. Note that you can only add a Phrase or a Chunk if the columns are not all simple. This is an underlying restriction in ColumnText

Parameters:
element - element to add
Throws:
DocumentException - if element can't be added

write

public float write(PdfContentByte canvas,
                   PdfDocument document,
                   float documentY)
            throws DocumentException
Write out the columns. After writing, use isOverflow() to see if all text was written.

Parameters:
canvas - PdfContentByte to write with
document - document to write to (only used to get page limit info)
documentY - starting y position to begin writing at
Returns:
the current height (y position) after writing the columns
Throws:
DocumentException - on error

process

public boolean process(ElementListener listener)
Processes the element by adding it to an ElementListener.

Specified by:
process in interface Element
Parameters:
listener - an ElementListener
Returns:
true if the element was processed successfully

type

public int type()
Gets the type of the text element.

Specified by:
type in interface Element
Returns:
a type

getChunks

public java.util.ArrayList getChunks()
Returns null - not used

Specified by:
getChunks in interface Element
Returns:
null

isContent

public boolean isContent()
Description copied from interface: Element
Checks if this element is a content object. If not, it's a metadata object.

Specified by:
isContent in interface Element
Returns:
true if this is a 'content' element; false if this is a 'metadata' element
Since:
iText 2.0.8
See Also:
Element.isContent()

isNestable

public boolean isNestable()
Description copied from interface: Element
Checks if this element is nestable.

Specified by:
isNestable in interface Element
Returns:
true if this element can be nested inside other elements.
Since:
iText 2.0.8
See Also:
Element.isNestable()

nextColumn

public void nextColumn()
                throws DocumentException
Moves the text insertion point to the beginning of the next column, issuing a page break if needed.

Throws:
DocumentException - on error

getCurrentColumn

public int getCurrentColumn()
Gets the current column.

Returns:
the current column

resetCurrentColumn

public void resetCurrentColumn()
Resets the current column.


shiftCurrentColumn

public boolean shiftCurrentColumn()
Shifts the current column.

Returns:
true if the current column has changed

setColumnsRightToLeft

public void setColumnsRightToLeft(boolean direction)
Sets the direction of the columns.

Parameters:
direction - true = right2left; false = left2right

setSpaceCharRatio

public void setSpaceCharRatio(float spaceCharRatio)
Sets the ratio between the extra word spacing and the extra character spacing when the text is fully justified. Extra word spacing will grow spaceCharRatio times more than extra character spacing. If the ratio is PdfWriter.NO_SPACE_CHAR_RATIO then the extra character spacing will be zero.

Parameters:
spaceCharRatio - the ratio between the extra word spacing and the extra character spacing

setRunDirection

public void setRunDirection(int runDirection)
Sets the run direction.

Parameters:
runDirection - the run direction

setArabicOptions

public void setArabicOptions(int arabicOptions)
Sets the arabic shaping options. The option can be AR_NOVOWEL, AR_COMPOSEDTASHKEEL and AR_LIG.

Parameters:
arabicOptions - the arabic shaping options

setAlignment

public void setAlignment(int alignment)
Sets the default alignment

Parameters:
alignment - the default alignment


iText 2.1.7