How to create a table with complex borders?
The table should look like this:
Can anyone explain how I would start creating such a table?
Posted on StackOverflow on Jul 9, 2015 by Md. Asaduzzaman
Please take a look at the NestedTableRoundedBorder example. It creates a PDF that looks like this: nested_table_rounded_border.pdf
Table with complex borders
This construction consists of nested tables. The outer table only has one column, but we use it to create the rounded corners:
class RoundRectangle implements PdfPCellEvent {
public void cellLayout(PdfPCell cell, Rectangle rect,
PdfContentByte[] canvas) {
PdfContentByte cb = canvas[PdfPTable.LINECANVAS];
cb.roundRectangle(
rect.getLeft() + 1.5f, rect.getBottom() + 1.5f, rect.getWidth() - 3,
rect.getHeight() - 3, 4);
cb.stroke();
}
}
This cell event is used like this:
cell = new PdfPCell(innertable);
cell.setCellEvent(roundRectangle);
cell.setBorder(Rectangle.NO_BORDER);
cell.setPadding(8);
outertable.addCell(cell);
The inner tables are used to create cells with or without borders, for instance like this:
// inner table 1
PdfPTable innertable = new PdfPTable(5);
innertable.setWidths(new int[]{8, 12, 1, 4, 12});
// first row
// column 1
cell = new PdfPCell(new Phrase("Record Ref:"));
cell.setBorder(Rectangle.NO_BORDER);
innertable.addCell(cell);
// column 2
cell = new PdfPCell(new Phrase("GN Staff"));
cell.setPaddingLeft(2);
innertable.addCell(cell);
// column 3
cell = new PdfPCell();
cell.setBorder(Rectangle.NO_BORDER);
innertable.addCell(cell);
// column 4
cell = new PdfPCell(new Phrase("Date: "));
cell.setBorder(Rectangle.NO_BORDER);
innertable.addCell(cell);
// column 5
cell = new PdfPCell(new Phrase("30/4/2015"));
cell.setPaddingLeft(2);
innertable.addCell(cell);
// spacing
cell = new PdfPCell();
cell.setColspan(5);
cell.setFixedHeight(3);
cell.setBorder(Rectangle.NO_BORDER);
innertable.addCell(cell);
If some of the dimensions are quite like you want, it's sufficient to change parameters such as the widths array, the padding, the fixed height, etc.