Power Apps PDF Function: Create, View & Download PDFs

Power Apps PDF Function: Create, View & Download PDFs

The new Power Apps PDF Function can generate a PDF document from any screen or control. It makes the task of creating PDFs very simple and only requires a standard license. Once the PDF is generated we can then view a PDF and download a PDF from directly inside of the app itself. In this article I will show you how to use the Power Apps PDF Function.

Table of Contents
• Introduction: The Work Orders AppSetup The SharePoint ListInsert A Vertical ContainerAdd A Power Apps Form To The Vertical ContainerEnable The Power Apps PDF Function Experimental FeatureGenerate A PDF Of The Power Apps FormView The PDF In Power AppsCreate A SharePoint Document Library To Store PDF FilesBuild A Flow To Download PDF Files From A SharePoint Document LibraryDownload The PDF Directly From Power Apps




Introduction: The Work Orders App

The work orders app is used by employees at a plumbing services company to track job details. An employee can view a PDF of the Work Order form on their device and download a copy of the PDF.




Setup The SharePoint List

Create a new SharePoint list named Work Orders with the following columns:

  • Map (image)
  • Address (single line text)
  • LastName (single line text)
  • AppointmentStart (date only)
  • IssueReported (single line text)
  • MaterialsRequired (single line text)



Add a new row to the SharePoint list with this data. We will display it on the Work Order PDF.

ColumnValue
Map
Address67 River Road
LastNameJones
AppointmentDate3/28/2021
IssueReportedWater is dripping from the upstairs bathroom into the basement. Homeowner believes it is coming from the bathtub. Only happens when the tub is turned on.
MaterialsRequired5 – PVC Pipes
1 – Tube Of Sealent
10 – Screws




Insert A Vertical Container

A PDF cannot be generated for a Power Apps Edit Form so we must use a workaround. We can place an Edit Form inside of a container and create a PDF of container’s contents instead. Open Power Apps Studio and create a new app from blank. Insert a vertical container onto the screen.



Make the vertical container fill the screen by giving the following properties these values.

Height: App.Height
Width: App.Width
X: 0
Y: 0



Set the LayoutAlignItems property to this value to make them fill the width of the container.

LayoutAlignItems.Stretch



Add a label to the container to use as a title bar. Give it the text “Work Order” and apply a dark blue fill.




Add A Power Apps Form To The Vertical Container

Next we will create a Power Apps Edit Form to display Work Order information. Open the Data tab from the left navigation menu and add the Work Orders SharePoint list as a data source.



Insert a Power Apps Edit form into the vertical container. Select the Work Orders SharePoint list as the data source.



Update the Edit Form to use a vertical layout with only 1 column.



Use this code in the Item property of the form to display the first record in the SharePoint list. In this tutorial the user will not have an ability to select another record.

LookUp('Work Orders', ID=1)



Change the DisplayMode property of the the Edit Form to View.

DisplayMode.View




Enable The Power Apps PDF Function Experimental Feature

The Power Apps PDF Function is an experimental feature and is not enabled by default. To use it, go to the Settings menu, select upcoming features, then toggle on the PDF Function setting.




Generate A PDF Of The Power Apps Form

When the user clicks on a PDF icon it generates the PDF and navigates to a screen with PDF viewer. Add a PDF icon to the app’s titlebar.



Then write this code in the icon’s OnSelect property.

The first argument to the Power Apps PDF Function tells it which screen or control to generate a PDF from. The second argument can be used to pass in optional values to control the PDF’s size, orientation, margins & DPI. Here we will use the ExpandContainers parameter to ensure the container expands to show any hidden or off-screen controls.

Set(
    varWorkOrderPDF,
    PDF(
        con_WorkOrder,
        {ExpandContainers: true}
    )
);
Navigate('PDF Viewer Screen');




View The PDF In Power Apps

We need to make another screen to display the PDF. Create a new screen named PDF Viewer Screen. Add a dark blue label for a titlebar and insert a left arrow icon in the top-left corner.



Use this code in the OnSelect property of the left arrow icon to navigate back to the previous screen.

Set(varWorkOrderPDF,Blank());
Navigate('Work Order Screen');


Add the PDF Viewer control the screen. Position the PDF Viewer control so it fills the remaining space on the screen.



Use this code in the document property of the PDF. The PDF document will now display in the PDF viewer.

varWorkOrderPDF



Test the feature we built to generate and view a PDF from Power Apps. It should look like this.





Create A SharePoint Document Library To Store PDF Files

We want to create the ability to download the PDF file directly from Power Apps. To do this, we need a place to temporarily store the PDF file. Make a new SharePoint Document library named Exported PDFs. No additional setup is required beyond creating the document library.




Build A Flow To Download PDF Files From A SharePoint Document Library

To download the PDF file we must make a flow to store the PDF file in SharePoint and then return a file download link to the app. Open Power Automate, create a new flow named Download PDF From Power Apps and setup the flow as show in the image below. Set the PDF File input parameter to required.



Use this code in the File Name property of the SharePoint – Create File action.

triggerBody()?['file']?['name']



A link to the PDF file in SharePoint opens it in the SharePoint document viewer. However, we want to perform a direct download of the PDF file instead. We can use this special URL to bypass the SharePoint document viewer and download the file. Fill in any tags <> with your own values.

https://<tenantname>.sharepoint.com/sites/<site collection title>/_layouts/15/download.aspx?SourceUrl=/sites/<site collection title>/<file path with the library name>



My completed URL looks like this.

https://matthewdevaney.sharepoint.com/sites/MatthewDevaneyBlog/_layouts/15/download.aspx?SourceUrl=/sites/MatthewDevaneyBlog/Exported PDFs/WorkOrder_20230423081046.pdf




Download The PDF Directly From Power Apps

Now that the Power Automate flow is completed go back to Power Apps Studio and add the Download PDF From Power Apps flow to the app.



Insert a save button icon in the top left corner of the PDF Viewer Screen.



Then add this code to the OnSelect property of the save icon. The Download function downloads a file from the internet to the user’s device. We get the file’s web address returned in the path property of the Download PDF From Power Apps flow.

Download(
    DownloadPDFFromPowerApps.Run(
        {
            name: $"WorkOrder_{Text(
                Now(),
                "yyyymmddhhmmss"
            )}.pdf",
            contentBytes: varWorkOrderPDF
        }
    ).path
);



Test the completed download PDF from Power Apps feature. It should work like this:





Questions?

If you have any questions or feedback about Power Apps PDF Function: Create, View & Download PDFs please leave a message in the comments section below. You can post using your email address and are not required to create an account to join the discussion.

Matthew Devaney

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André Moraes
André Moraes
1 month ago

I was going through your first PDF video last week and now you have an additional part that I was looking for.
Great stuff l, as always.
👍👍

Nic
Nic
1 month ago

You can create a multi-page PDF this way?!? You are blowing my mind right now! This is a game changer for me – I have been doing these annoying workarounds using Word templates, and trying to craft HTML for projects that require a “parent-child” relationship, so we don’t have to pay for the premium connector. If this really works to print multiple pages I am going to be so happy and owe you a coffee or a tea or a beer or something!!!

Lina Delgado
Lina Delgado
25 days ago

Question! So for multiple screen I have to create a PDF or can I wrap all together in just one?

@ram
@ram
1 month ago

Hi, Matthew Devaney!

How the power app pos application communicate with external peripherals like cash drawer/Line display?
Kindly advise me on this!

Last edited 1 month ago by @ram
@ram
@ram
1 month ago

I understood, but if you have any inputs kindly share them!

Eileen O'Reilly-Hoisington
Eileen O'Reilly-Hoisington
1 month ago

Good morning, I’m excited about using this, but I am getting this message:

Unable to process template language expressions in action ‘Create_file’ inputs at line ‘0’ and column ‘0’: ‘The template language expression ‘triggerBody()[‘file’][‘name’]’ cannot be evaluated because property ‘file’ cannot be selected. Please see https://aka.ms/logicexpressions for usage details.’.

Any ideas of what I am doing wrong?

Quynh Tran
Quynh Tran
10 days ago

I had the same issue, so I changed File Name to triggerBody()?[‘file’]?[‘name’] and File Content: triggerBody()?[‘file’]?[‘contentBytes’]; the flow ran successfully. Hope this helps.

Eduardo
Eduardo
3 days ago

As a mention Matthew, and additional, delete the trigger and added again, it works 😎

Anish
Anish
29 days ago

Download(
DownloadPDFFromPowerApps.Run(
{
name: $”WorkOrder_{Text(
Now(),
“yyyymmddhhmmss”
)}.pdf”,
contentBytes: varWorkOrderPDF
}
).path
);

Can u please explain me about this formula.

i try it but getting a error a value format in text???

Last edited 29 days ago by Anish
yzd
yzd
27 days ago

I have an issue with Arabic Language not being recognized while using PDF function. It is blank instead of the wording added by the users.

Ciro
Ciro
27 days ago

Hi, Matthew !
Thanks for sharing. I learned a lot !

narendra
narendra
25 days ago

triggerbody()[‘file’][‘name’].
written this expression in the create file column. But flow is getting failed.
What is the solution?

Nic
Nic
25 days ago

I am actually building this out right now and would like to give my PDF file a name that is based on a variable I am storing in the app, instead of using “WorkOrder_” and then the current date/time. I am unsure of how to write the formula with this change.

In addition to the PDF File being passed as a parameter from the workflow, I also created a text parameter called “PlanNumber”. Here’s what I have so far:

Download(‘MyWorkflowName’.Run(varPlanNumber, {name:

Any guidance you can provide would be greatly appreciated!

Nic
Nic
24 days ago
Reply to  Nic

Never mind – I figured it out after reviewing your post on $-strings to concatenate strings again to remind myself of how that works! Here was the formula that I used to get the file name to use the Plan Number of my record:

Download(
  ‘MyWorkflowName’.Run(
    {
    name: $”{varRecord.’Plan Number’}.pdf”, 
    contentBytes: varWorkOrderPDF
    }
    ).path
)

Lina Delgado
Lina Delgado
23 days ago

I enjoy doing this very much, the PDF part work like a charm but the save button part is giving me error, IDK what I’m doing wrong

Lina Delgado
Lina Delgado
18 days ago

Hello Matt! I appreciate this example, I was looking for something like this, but in the download still have problems, don’t know what to do 🙁