API Reference

API Reference

This reference covers the main classes and methods in Boxable.

Core Classes

BaseTable

The main class for creating tables.

Constructor

BaseTable(float yStart, 
         float yStartNewPage, 
         float bottomMargin, 
         float width, 
         float margin, 
         PDDocument document, 
         PDPage page, 
         boolean drawLines, 
         boolean drawContent)

Parameters:

• yStart - Starting Y position on the current page
• yStartNewPage - Y position for new pages (usually same as yStart)
• bottomMargin - Bottom margin (when to create new page)
• width - Table width in points
• margin - Left margin in points
• document - PDDocument instance
• page - Current PDPage
• drawLines - Whether to draw cell borders
• drawContent - Whether to draw cell content

Key Methods

// Create a new row
Row<PDPage> createRow(float height)

// Add a header row (repeats on each page)
void addHeaderRow(Row<PDPage> row)

// Draw the table
float draw()  // Returns final Y position

// Get current page (may change after draw)
PDPage getCurrentPage()

// Set outer border style
void setOuterBorderStyle(LineStyle style)

Row

Represents a table row.

Key Methods

// Create a text cell
Cell<PDPage> createCell(float widthPercent, String text)

// Create an image cell
ImageCell<PDPage> createImageCell(float widthPercent, Image image)

// Create a table cell (nested table via HTML)
Cell<PDPage> createTableCell(float widthPercent, String htmlTable, 
                              PDDocument doc, PDPage page, float yStart, 
                              float bottomMargin, float margin)

// Set row height
void setHeight(float height)

// Set fixed height (auto-shrink text)
void setFixedHeight(boolean fixed)

// Get all cells in row
List<Cell<PDPage>> getCells()

Cell

Represents a table cell.

Styling Methods

// Colors
void setFillColor(Color color)
void setTextColor(Color color)

// Text properties
void setFont(PDFont font)
void setFontSize(float size)
void setTextRotated(boolean rotated)

// Alignment
void setAlign(HorizontalAlignment align)
void setValign(VerticalAlignment align)

// Borders
void setBorderStyle(LineStyle style)
void setTopBorderStyle(LineStyle style)
void setBottomBorderStyle(LineStyle style)
void setLeftBorderStyle(LineStyle style)
void setRightBorderStyle(LineStyle style)

// Padding
void setTopPadding(float padding)
void setBottomPadding(float padding)
void setLeftPadding(float padding)
void setRightPadding(float padding)

// Content
String getText()
void setText(String text)

ImageCell

Extends Cell for image content.

// Get the image
Image getImage()

// Inherited from Cell: all styling methods

DataTable

Helper class for importing data.

Constructor

DataTable(BaseTable table, PDPage page)
DataTable(BaseTable table, PDPage page, List<Float> colWidths)

Key Methods

// Import from CSV
void addCsvToTable(String csvData, boolean hasHeader, char delimiter)

// Import from List
void addListToTable(List<List> data, boolean hasHeader)

// Style templates
Cell getHeaderCellTemplate()
Cell getDataCellTemplateEven()
Cell getDataCellTemplateOdd()
List<Cell> getDataCellTemplateEvenList()
List<Cell> getDataCellTemplateOddList()
Cell getFirstColumnCellTemplate()
Cell getLastColumnCellTemplate()

LineStyle

Represents border styling.

Constructor

LineStyle(Color color, float width)

Example:

LineStyle redBorder = new LineStyle(Color.RED, 2f);
cell.setBorderStyle(redBorder);

Image

Wrapper for images in cells.

Constructor

Image(BufferedImage image)

Example:

BufferedImage buffImg = ImageIO.read(new File("image.png"));
Image image = new Image(buffImg);
ImageCell<PDPage> cell = row.createImageCell(50, image);

Enums

HorizontalAlignment

HorizontalAlignment.LEFT
HorizontalAlignment.CENTER
HorizontalAlignment.RIGHT

VerticalAlignment

VerticalAlignment.TOP
VerticalAlignment.MIDDLE
VerticalAlignment.BOTTOM

Constants

DataTable

DataTable.HASHEADER  // = true (data has header row)
DataTable.NOHEADER   // = false (no header row)

Common Patterns

Creating a Basic Table

PDDocument doc = new PDDocument();
PDPage page = new PDPage();
doc.addPage(page);

float margin = 50;
float yStart = page.getMediaBox().getHeight() - margin;
float tableWidth = page.getMediaBox().getWidth() - (2 * margin);

BaseTable table = new BaseTable(yStart, yStart, 70, tableWidth, 
                                margin, doc, page, true, true);

Row<PDPage> row = table.createRow(20f);
Cell<PDPage> cell = row.createCell(100, "Hello World");

table.draw();
doc.save("output.pdf");
doc.close();

Styled Header

Row<PDPage> header = table.createRow(20f);
Cell<PDPage> headerCell = header.createCell(100, "Header");
headerCell.setFillColor(new Color(52, 152, 219));
headerCell.setTextColor(Color.WHITE);
headerCell.setFont(new PDType1Font(Standard14Fonts.FontName.HELVETICA_BOLD));
headerCell.setAlign(HorizontalAlignment.CENTER);
table.addHeaderRow(header);

Alternating Row Colors

for (int i = 0; i < data.length; i++) {
    Row<PDPage> row = table.createRow(15f);
    Cell<PDPage> cell = row.createCell(100, data[i]);
    
    if (i % 2 == 0) {
        cell.setFillColor(new Color(236, 240, 241));
    } else {
        cell.setFillColor(Color.WHITE);
    }
}

Custom Borders

// Thick red border
cell.setBorderStyle(new LineStyle(Color.RED, 3f));

// No borders
cell.setBorderStyle(null);

// Bottom border only
cell.setTopBorderStyle(null);
cell.setBottomBorderStyle(new LineStyle(Color.BLACK, 2f));
cell.setLeftBorderStyle(null);
cell.setRightBorderStyle(null);

// Outer border only on table
table.setOuterBorderStyle(new LineStyle(Color.BLACK, 2f));

Transparent Colors

// Alpha channel: 0 = fully transparent, 255 = fully opaque
Color transparentRed = new Color(255, 0, 0, 128);  // 50% transparent
cell.setFillColor(transparentRed);

HTML Formatting

String html = "<b>Bold</b> and <i>italic</i><br/>" +
              "H<sub>2</sub>O and E=mc<sup>2</sup>";
Cell<PDPage> cell = row.createCell(100, html);

Multi-Column Cells

Row<PDPage> row = table.createRow(20f);
Cell<PDPage> wideCell = row.createCell(70, "Wide cell");
Cell<PDPage> narrowCell1 = row.createCell(15, "Narrow 1");
Cell<PDPage> narrowCell2 = row.createCell(15, "Narrow 2");

Best Practices

1. Always call draw() before saving the document
2. Store return value of draw() if creating multiple tables
3. Check getCurrentPage() after draw() for page transitions
4. Use percentage widths that sum to 100
5. Add header rows before data rows
6. Set drawContent and drawLines according to your needs
7. Use templates in DataTable for consistent styling
8. Close PDDocument after saving

See Also

• Getting Started Guide
• All Tutorials
• HTML Tags Reference
• FAQ