Export and print

All current data from the grid or chart can be exported in various formats. It is an easy and convenient way to save the results of your work. The exported file can be saved to the local file system or to your server.

The API call exportTo() is used for exporting and the API call print() is used for printing. To see different examples of exporting and printing, visit our Examples page.

• Print
• Export to HTML
• Export to CSV
• Export to Excel
• Export to an image
• Export to PDF
• How to export to the server without using a browser

Note In Flexmonster, you can also save and share your report.

Print

The printing of the contents of the grid or chart via the OS print manager can be configured with the following options object inside the print() call:

options optional – Object. Can contain the following print properties:

• header (from v2.211) optional – String | HTML string. When setting the header in the HTML string format, you can use tags, inline styles, and Base64 images. The HTML header is rendered in the browser and added as an image to the printed PDF file.
  Besides, you can use the ##CURRENT-DATE## and ##PAGE-NUMBER## tokens.
• footer (from v2.211) optional – String | HTML string. When setting the footer in the HTML string format, you can use tags, inline styles, and Base64 images. The HTML footer is rendered in the browser and added as an image to the printed PDF file.
  Besides, you can use the ##CURRENT-DATE## and ##PAGE-NUMBER## tokens.

Below is an example with the header and footer parameters:

var options = {
    header:"<div>##CURRENT-DATE##</div>",
    footer:"<div>##PAGE-NUMBER##</div>"
}
flexmonster.print(options); 

Check out how this sample works on JSFiddle.

Export to HTML

To export to HTML set the first parameter of exportTo() to "html". The second parameter is an optional object that can contain the following properties:

• filename optional – String. The name of the created file. Default name: "pivotgrid".
• destinationType optional – String. Defines where the component’s contents will be exported. The destination type can be the following:
  • "file" (default) – the component’s contents will be exported to a file to the local computer.
  • "server" – the component’s contents will be exported to the server (a server-side script is required). When exporting to a server, Flexmonster creates an XMLHttpRequest and sends it as a POST request.
  • "plain" – the component’s contents will be exported as a string and returned with callbackHandler.
• footer (from v2.211) optional – String | HTML string. When setting the footer in the HTML string format, you can use tags, inline styles, and Base64 images. See an example on JSFiddle.
  Besides, you can use the ##CURRENT-DATE## token in the footer.
• header (from v2.211) optional – String | HTML string. When setting the header in the HTML string format, you can use tags, inline styles, and Base64 images. See an example on JSFiddle.
  Besides, you can use the ##CURRENT-DATE## token in the header.
• url optional – String. To save the file to the server, provide the component with a path to the server-side script that can save this file.

The third parameter of exportTo() is an optional callbackHandler. It is a function that is called when the data is ready to be exported. The callbackHandler takes two parameters: result and error objects. Learn more about them in the API reference.

Here is an example of how to save to a local HTML file:

var params = {
    filename: 'flexmonster',
    header:"##CURRENT-DATE##",
    footer:"<div style='color:#df3800'>Table Footer</div>",
}; 
flexmonster.exportTo('html', params); 

Try the example on JSFiddle.

Saving to server:

var params = {
    destinationType: 'server', 
    url: 'your server-side script' 
};
flexmonster.exportTo('html', params); 

Export to CSV

To export to CSV set the first parameter of exportTo() to "csv". The second parameter is an optional object that can contain the following properties:

• alwaysEnclose optional – Boolean. Indicates whether to enclose all CSV fields in quotes. When set to true, the fields are always enclosed in quotes. Otherwise, they will be enclosed only when necessary (e.g., if a field contains a comma: Bike, "$15,000", blue). Default value: false.
• fieldSeparator optional – String. Defines the field separator to split each CSV row in the export file. Default separator: ,.
• filename optional – String. The name of the created file. Default name: "pivot".
• destinationType optional – String. Defines where the component’s contents will be exported. The destination type can be the following:
  • "file" (default) – the component’s contents will be exported to a file to the local computer.
  • "server" – the component’s contents will be exported to the server (a server-side script is required). When exporting to a server, Flexmonster creates an XMLHttpRequest and sends it as a POST request.
  • "plain" – the component’s contents will be exported as a string and returned with callbackHandler.
• footer (from v2.7.24) optional – String. Specify the footer as a string (e.g., "Custom footer"). In addition, you can add a multirow footer by using the "\n" character: "Row1\nRow2\nRow3".
• header (from v2.7.24 ) optional – String. Specify the header as a string (e.g., "Custom header"). In addition, you can add a multirow header by using the "\n" character: "Row1\nRow2\nRow3".
• url optional – String. To save the file to the server, provide the component with a path to the server-side script that can save this file.
  

The third parameter of exportTo() is an optional callbackHandler. It is a function that is called when the data is ready to be exported. The callbackHandler takes two parameters: result and error objects. Learn more about them in the API reference.

Here is how to save a local CSV file and get the resulting data within the callbackHandler:

var params = {
    filename: 'flexmonster',
    header:"First header row\nSecond header row",
    footer:"Table Footer", 
};
flexmonster.exportTo('csv', params, function(result) {
    console.log(result.data)
}); 

Check out an example on JSFiddle.

Saving to server:

var params = {
    destinationType: 'server',
    url: 'your server-side script'
};
flexmonster.exportTo('csv', params); 

Export to Excel

To export to Excel set the first parameter of exportTo() to "excel". The second parameter is an optional object that can contain the following properties:

• filename optional – String. The name of the created file. Default name: "pivot".
• destinationType optional – String. Defines where the component’s contents will be exported. The destination type can be the following:
  • "file" (default) – the component’s contents will be exported to a file to the local computer.
  • "server" – the component’s contents will be exported to the server (a server-side script is required). When exporting to a server, Flexmonster creates an XMLHttpRequest and sends it as a POST request.
  • "plain" – the component’s contents will be exported as a Uint8Array and returned with callbackHandler.
• excelSheetName (from v2.2) optional – String. Sets the sheet name.
• footer (from v2.7.24) optional – String. Specify the footer as a string (e.g., "Custom footer"). In addition, you can add a multirow footer by using the "\n" character: "Row1\nRow2\nRow3".
• header (from v2.7.24) optional – String. Specify the header as a string (e.g., "Custom header"). In addition, you can add a multirow header by using the "\n" character: "Row1\nRow2\nRow3".
• showFilters (from v2.1) optional – Boolean. Indicates whether the filters info will be shown (true) in the exported Excel file or not (false). Default value: false.
• url optional – String. To save the file to the server, provide the component with a path to the server-side script that can save this file.
• useOlapFormattingInExcel (from v2.2) optional – Boolean. Indicates how to export the grid cells to the Excel file if the formatting in the component is taken from an OLAP cube – as a formatted string (true) or as numbers without any formatting (false). In previous versions, this was not configurable and the cells were exported as formatted strings.
• useCustomizeCellForData optional – Boolean. Specifies how cells modified by customizeCell are exported: as formatted strings (true) or as numbers without formatting (false). Default value: true.

The third parameter of exportTo() is an optional callbackHandler. It is a function that is called when the data is ready to be exported. The callbackHandler takes two parameters: result and error objects. Learn more about them in the API reference.

This is how to save a report as a local Excel file:

var params = {
    filename: 'flexmonster',
    header:"First header row\nSecond header row",
    footer:"Table Footer",
    excelSheetName: 'Report',
    showFilters: true,
    useOlapFormattingInExcel: false 
};
flexmonster.exportTo('excel', params); 

Check out an example on JSFiddle.

Saving to the server:

var params = {
    destinationType: 'server',
    url: 'your server-side script' 
};
flexmonster.exportTo('excel', params); 

Export to an image

To export to an image set the first parameter of exportTo() to "image". The second parameter is an optional object that can contain the following properties:

• filename optional – String. The name of the created file. Default name: "pivotgrid".
• destinationType optional – String. Defines where the component’s contents will be exported. The destination type can be the following:
  • "file" (default) – the component’s contents will be exported to a file to the local computer.
  • "server" – the component’s contents will be exported to the server (a server-side script is required). When exporting to a server, Flexmonster creates an XMLHttpRequest and sends it as a POST request.
  • "plain" – the component’s contents will be exported as an HTMLCanvasElement and returned with callbackHandler.
• footer (from v2.7.24) optional – String | HTML string. When setting the footer in the HTML string format, you can use tags, inline styles, and Base64 images. The HTML footer is rendered in the browser and added as an image to the exported file. See an example on JSFiddle.
  Besides, you can use the ##CURRENT-DATE## token in the footer.
• header (from v2.7.24) optional – String | HTML string. When setting the header in the HTML string format, you can use tags, inline styles, and Base64 images. The HTML header is rendered in the browser and added as an image to the exported file. See an example on JSFiddle.
  Besides, you can use the ##CURRENT-DATE## token in the header.
• url optional – String. To save the file to the server, provide the component with a path to the server-side script that can save this file.

The third parameter of exportTo() is an optional callbackHandler. It is a function that is called when the data is ready to be exported. The callbackHandler takes two parameters: result and error objects. Learn more about them in the API reference.

Here is how to save the image as a local file:

var params = {
    filename: 'flexmonster',
    header:"##CURRENT-DATE##",
    footer: "<div style='color:#df3800'>Table Footer</div>"
};
flexmonster.exportTo('image', params); 

Try the example on JSFiddle.

Saving to server:

var params = {
    destinationType: 'server',
    url: 'your server-side script'
};
flexmonster.exportTo('image', params); 

Export to PDF

To export to PDF set the first parameter of exportTo() to "pdf". The second parameter is an optional object that can contain the following properties:

• filename optional – String. The name of the created file. Default name: "pivot".
• destinationType optional – String. Defines where the component’s contents will be exported. The destination type can be the following:
  • "file" (default) – the component’s contents will be exported to a file to the local computer.
  • "server" – the component’s contents will be exported to the server (a server-side script is required). When exporting to a server, Flexmonster creates an XMLHttpRequest and sends it as a POST request.
  • "plain" – this destination type allows you to modify the generated PDF file. The component’s contents will be exported to a jsPDF object and returned with the callbackHandler. jsPDF is a library that generates PDFs using client-side JavaScript. After exporting from Flexmonster, the jsPDF object can be modified using the jsPDF API and then saved. See an example.
• fontUrl (from v2.7.7) optional – String. The URL to the TTF font file for saving PDF reports in Chinese, Arabic, or any other language. Check out the list of ready-to-use Google Noto Fonts that you can use to support almost any language in the world. Only fonts in standard TTF format are supported.
• footer (from v2.211) optional – String | HTML string. When setting the footer in the HTML string format, you can use tags, inline styles, and Base64 images. The HTML footer is rendered in the browser and added as an image to the exported file. See an example on JSFiddle.
  Besides, you can use the ##CURRENT-DATE## and ##PAGE-NUMBER## tokens in the footer.
• header (from v2.211) optional – String | HTML string. When setting the header in the HTML string format, you can use tags, inline styles, and Base64 images. The HTML header is rendered in the browser and added as an image to the exported file. See an example on JSFiddle.
  Besides, you can use the ##CURRENT-DATE## and ##PAGE-NUMBER## tokens in the header.
• pageFormat optional – String. Defines the page format for the PDF file. The following sizes are available: "A0", "A1", "A2", "A3", "A4", "A5". Default value: "A4".
• pageOrientation optional – String. Defines the page orientation for the PDF file. Page orientation can be either "portrait" or "landscape". Default value: "portrait".
• url optional – String. To save the file to the server, provide the component with a path to the server-side script that can save this file.

The third parameter of exportTo() is an optional callbackHandler. It is a function that is called when the data is ready to be exported. The callbackHandler takes two parameters: result and error objects. Learn more about them in the API reference.

Here is how to save the report as a local PDF file:

var params = {
    filename: 'flexmonster',
    header:"##CURRENT-DATE##",
    footer:"<div>##PAGE-NUMBER##</div>",
    pageOrientation: 'landscape'
};
flexmonster.exportTo('pdf', params); 

Check out the example on JSFiddle.

Saving to server:

var params = {
    destinationType: 'server',
    url: 'your server-side script'
};
flexmonster.exportTo('pdf', params); 

Modifying generated PDF and saving locally:

flexmonster.exportTo("pdf", { destinationType: "plain" },
    function(res) {
        var pdf = res.data;
        pdf.addPage();
        pdf.text('Hello world!', 10, 10);
        pdf.save(res.filename);
    }
); 

Open on JSFiddle.

Setting TTF font file:

flexmonster.exportTo('pdf', {
  fontUrl: 'https://cdn.flexmonster.com/fonts/NotoSansCJKtc-Regular.ttf'
}); 

CDN fonts for export

How to export to the server without using a browser

You can easily export the report without a browser using Puppeteer — a JavaScript library for working with headless browsers. 

We prepared a sample GitHub project with Flexmonster and Puppeteer. It demonstrates how to export Flexmonster reports in headless browsers with Puppeteer. To run the sample project, follow these steps:

1. Download the .zip archive with the sample or clone it from GitHub with the following command:

   git clone https://github.com/flexmonster/pivot-puppeteer
   cd pivot-puppeteer

2. Install the npm packages described in package.json:

   npm install 

3. Run the project:

   npm start

When the export is complete, find the saved files in the storage/ folder.

Now let’s have a look at the project files’ contents to understand how the sample project works:

What’s next?

You may be interested in the following articles:

• How to save and restore the report
• How to share the report
• How to define a format for date and time
• How to add localization
• How to customize the appearance with CSS