print html page to PDF on a schedule

Question

I have a HTML page that uses javascript to generate dynamic images using a graph handler on a different server. The images will contain the same data for 1 week but will change when the 1 week window expires.

I am trying to come up with a way to automatically save the contents of the page to either a local file on the server or write to a PDF file.

I tried to use a 'web downloader' like HTTTrack, but it does not get the dynamic images...

I am running the html page off IIS.

I have no experience with IIS or ASP.

Thanks!

Answer 1

I was able to accomplish what I wanted to do using wkhtmltopdf to convert my HTML page with Javascript to PDF. I ran the job via a task scheduler to supply my website url and output file name as parameters.

I then used a windows batch file to check if the file was created and then rename/email it to interested parties.

This of course requires that you have the ability to install wkhtmltopdf on your server.

Answer 2

I'm not sure that I see any way to do this directly off the front end in an automatic manner. The challenge is that any "screen scraper" you have go out and grab the site with would need to be running javascript to get the tables, which isn't how I see many such systems operating. It's partially why you see strangeness on Archive.org when you have a site that's heavily augmented with javascript or flash.

An untested concept you might attempt was posted in this Stack Question

I could see some sort of a system that you rig together with another computer that schedules an browser load then prints to .pdf in some fashion. I've been unable to find any specific software that would automate that process, so you'd be left cobbling such a system together on your own.

Clearly you have the data available to make your dynamic images. The most feature-rich way I could think of would be to use a system like Jasper Reports or Crystal Reports, which you could feed your data, replicate the report, and easily output via pdf, a built-in export in both systems.

Perhaps its worth questioning your end purpose. To me, creating a "snapshot" of the relevant data in another table and using another system to render your graphs from that snapshot data seems far more valuable than just a print of the screen. You can then go back and adjust data as needed, or use it for other reporting purposes, exporting in any number of tools that are even as simple as Access. Heck, 10 years down the road you may want the data to look better than the graph system you're currently using, and you'd have the data to render it any way you want. When the VP of marketing comes looking for his numbers, a simple click would output those numbers that could be manipulated as needed from there.