Muhimbi

Posted at: 10:09 AM on 11 March 2010 by Muhimbi

When we released the Office 2010 compatible version of the Muhimbi PDF Converter for SharePoint we were already planning, and worrying about, a SharePoint 2010 compatible version. Worrying indeed, call it fear of the unknown or fear of change, but we were anticipating a lot of work.

Fortunately we quickly found out that SharePoint 2010 is, surprise surprise, much like SharePoint 2007. If it wasn’t for an annoying SharePoint 2010 deployment bug that took us 2 days to solve, we could have completed all investigations and required changes in 2 or 3 days.

To cut a rather long story short, a beta version of the PDF Converter for SharePoint 2010 is now available. Please contact us if you want to participate in the beta program. Note that the download available on our website is the SharePoint 2007 version, which will not work with SharePoint 2010.

Although the beta is fully functional and integrates nicely with new SharePoint 2010 features such as the Ribbon, the documentation has not yet been updated. Fortunately, much - including the installation process - is the same. The only difference is the location of some of the administrative screens as highlighted in the screenshots below.

Over the next week we will release a number of blog posts describing our experience with porting a SharePoint 2007 WSPBuilder application to SharePoint 2010 and making the same code base work with both versions. If you are interested in this topic then make sure you subscribe to our RSS feed or follow us on Twitter.

Access the PDF Converter Configuration screen via General Application Settings

  The PDF Converter integrates with the new Ribbon bar

  After installing the License Manager, it can be opened from the System Settings screen

The new version is compatible with SharePoint Designer 2010 workflows

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Labels: Articles, News, PDF Converter, Products, SP2010, Workflow

Posted at: 3:53 PM on 24 February 2010 by Muhimbi

Earlier today we released a new version of our popular PDF Converter for SharePoint. One of the key changes in this version is that it fully supports Office 2010 file formats, including all new formatting features such as Excel 2010 Sparklines.

Full installation details are provided in Appendix – Office 2010 Installation of the Administration Guide, however one detail is so essential that we feel we have to repeat it in this blog post. After all, who reads boring documentation anyway?

The single most important thing to take away from this post is that no matter what CPU architecture you deploy the PDF Converter on, if you plan to use Office 2010 to carry out the conversions then you should always install the 32 bit version of Office 2010.

Even though the Muhimbi PDF Converter for SharePoint is a hybrid 32 / 64 bit application, the 64 bit version of Office will not work in combination with our software. Even if it did, it would provide little to no benefit.

For more details about the differences between the 32 and 64 bit versions of Office, including Microsoft’s recommendation to run the 32-bit version of Office 2010 on 64 bit hardware, read this article on Microsoft’s Office 2010 blog.

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Labels: Articles, PDF Converter, Products

Posted at: 2:29 PM on by Muhimbi

Ah, those pesky customers of ours, always looking for some niche functionality that is impossible to include in a generic product. However, using the Workflow Power Pack for SharePoint we can achieve almost anything we can think of…..almost.

Previously I described how to configure PDF Security settings from a SharePoint workflow and how to automatically watermark PDF files from a workflow.  This time I’ll show how to add JavaScript to any PDF file to automatically print the current date (the date the PDF was opened) on every page. In essence this adds a print date without modifying the PDF file every day to include the current date.

A quick introduction for those not familiar with the product: The Muhimbi Workflow Power Pack for SharePoint allows custom C# or VB.NET code to be embedded in SharePoint Designer Workflows without the need to resort to complex Visual Studio based workflows, the development of bespoke Workflow Activities or long development cycles.

The solution presented below executes a workflow whenever a PDF file is added or updated. It iterates over all pages and inserts a form field on each page. Some client side JavaScript is then added to the PDF file that iterates over all newly added fields to insert the current date every time the PDF file is opened.

As the code is well documented it is easy to make further changes and customisations, e.g. change the formatting of the date or position of the label. Note that this has only been tested with a recent version of Adobe Acrobat reader. If you use a different PDF viewer your mileage may vary.

 
Create the workflow as follows:

1. Download and install the Muhimbi Workflow Power Pack for SharePoint.
    
2. Download and install the Muhimbi PDF Converter for SharePoint.
   Note that you need version 3.2.0.20 or newer, older versions do not allow JavaScript to be inserted.
    
3. Download this article’s source code.
    
4. We need to be able to access functionality in the Muhimbi.SharePoint.DocumentConverter.PDF and System.Drawing assemblies. Add these references to the relevant Web Application using the Workflow Power Pack Central Administration screens as described in the Administration Guide. Make sure to place each reference on a new line.
     
5. Make sure you have the appropriate privileges to create workflows on a site collection.
    
6. Create a new workflow using SharePoint Designer.
    
7. On the Workflow definition screen associate the workflow with the Shared Documents library, tick the boxes next to both ‘Automatically start….’ options and proceed to the next screen.
    
8. We only want to act on files of type PDF. Although we could have put this validation in the code, in this example we use a workflow condition for it so add a Compare Any Data Source condition and:
    
   a.  Click on the first value followed by the display data binding (fx) button.
   b.  Select Current Item as the Source and select File Type in the Field. Click the OK button to continue.
   d.  Click on the second value and enter pdf.
    
9. Click the Actions button and insert the Execute Custom Code action.
    
10. Optionally click parameter 1 and enter a relative or absolute destination path. Leave the parameter empty to save the modified file on top of the existing PDF file. For details about how paths are handled, see this post and search for the words ‘this url’.
     
11. Insert the C# based code embedded in step #3’s download (also listed below) by clicking this code.
     

    /*********************************************************************************************

                            Muhimbi PDF Converter - JavaScript Watermarking

                  Copyright 2010, Muhimbi Ltd - www.muhimbi.com - All rights reserved

     The following code shows a simple way of adding JavaScript to existing PDF Files. It adds 

     the current date to each page in the document in order to simulate a 'print date' that is

     always up to date without the need to modify the PDF file. The code is automatically executed 

     when the document is opened in the Adobe Acrobat Viewer.

     Error and permission checking as well as other minor features have been omitted for the sake 

     of brevity and clarity.

     Ideally PDF Conversion, applying security and watermarking is executed in the same step, see 

     http://www.muhimbi.com/blog/2010/01/configure-pdf-security-from-sharepoint.html

     This code requires Muhimbi’s PDF Converter and Workflow Power Pack to be installed.

    *********************************************************************************************/

    using System.Drawing;

    using System.IO;

    using Syncfusion.Pdf;

    using Syncfusion.Pdf.Parsing;

    using Syncfusion.Pdf.Graphics;

    using Syncfusion.Pdf.Interactive;

    using Muhimbi.SharePoint.DocumentConverter.PDF;

    SPFile spSourceDocument = MyWorkflow.Item.File;

    string destinationFileName = spSourceDocument.Name;

    string destinationFolderName = MyWorkflow.Parameter1 as string;

    // ** Load the document

    PdfLoadedDocument sourceDocument = new PdfLoadedDocument(spSourceDocument.OpenBinary());

    PdfDocument destinationDocument = new PdfDocument();

    // ** Copy all pages from the source document into the destination document 

    // ** so we can add JavaScript actions.

    destinationDocument.ImportPageRange(sourceDocument, 0, sourceDocument.Pages.Count - 1);

    sourceDocument.Dispose();

    // ** Iterate over all pages and add a form element

    for (int i = 0; i < destinationDocument.Pages.Count; i++)

    {

        PdfPage destinationPage = destinationDocument.Pages[i];

        // ** Create a new field using a unique name

        PdfTextBoxField field = new PdfTextBoxField(destinationPage, "_M_PrintDateField_" + i);

        // ** Center the field

        const int BOX_WIDTH = 200;

        int boxLeft = (int)((destinationPage.Size.Width - BOX_WIDTH) / 2);

        field.Bounds = new RectangleF(boxLeft, 20, BOX_WIDTH, 20);

        // ** Format the field

        PdfFont font = new PdfStandardFont(PdfFontFamily.Helvetica, 12f);

        field.Font = font;

        field.BorderColor = new PdfColor(Color.White);

        field.BackColor = new PdfColor(Color.White);

        field.ReadOnly = true;

        field.TextAlignment = PdfTextAlignment.Center;

        destinationDocument.Form.Fields.Add(field);

    }

    // ** Create a client side script that iterates over all fields and populates the date

    string jscript = @"

            var pages = " + destinationDocument.Pages.Count + @";

            var today = util.printd('dd-mm-yyyy', new Date());

            for(var i=0; i<pages; i++)

            {

                var field = this.getField('_M_PrintDateField_' + i);

                field.value = 'Today is: ' + today;

            }

            ";

    // ** Attach the script to the Document Open event.

    PdfJavaScriptAction jsAction = new PdfJavaScriptAction(jscript);

    destinationDocument.Actions.AfterOpen = jsAction;

    // ** Construct the path and file to write the watermarked PDF file to.

    if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(destinationFolderName) == true)

        destinationFolderName = spSourceDocument.ParentFolder.Url;

    SPFolder destinationFolder = Utility.GetSPFolder(destinationFolderName, MyWorkflow.Web);

    string destinationFilePath = string.Format("{0}/{1}", destinationFolder.Url,

                                               destinationFileName);

    SPWeb destinationWeb = destinationFolder.ParentWeb;

    SPFile spDestinationFile = destinationWeb.GetFile(destinationFilePath);

    // ** If a document library requires manual checkout and the file is not checked out, then 

    // ** check the file out before uploading.

    if (spDestinationFile.Exists && spDestinationFile.Item.ParentList.ForceCheckout &&

        spDestinationFile.CheckOutStatus == SPFile.SPCheckOutStatus.None)

    {

        spDestinationFile.CheckOut();

    }

    // ** Add the file to the site including the meta data

    using (MemoryStream watermarkedFile = new MemoryStream())

    {

        destinationDocument.Save(watermarkedFile);

        spDestinationFile = destinationWeb.Files.Add(destinationFilePath, watermarkedFile,

                                                     spSourceDocument.Item.Properties, true);

    }

    // ** Check the file back in if this script was responsible for checking it out.

    if (spDestinationFile.Item.ParentList.ForceCheckout == true)

    {

        spDestinationFile.CheckIn("Auto check-in after PDF watermarking.");

    }

     
12. Click the Actions button, select Log to History List, click this message and enter File watermarked.
     
13. Close the Workflow Designer.
     
14. Update an existing PDF or add a new PDF file to your library to trigger the workflow and apply the JavaScript.

  
Naturally this is just a simple example. Feel free to play around with the code, change which parameters are passed into the workflow, or add different JavaScript. Note that you may want to add a check to the code to check if the JavaScript / fields have previously been added, otherwise duplicate form fields may be added every time the PDF is updated.

Adobe’s JavaScript for Acrobat reference can be found here.

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Labels: Articles, PDF Converter, Products, Workflow, WPP

Posted at: 11:02 AM on by Muhimbi

We are very excited to announce the new version of the Muhimbi PDF Converter for SharePoint. The main change in this version is support for Office 2010 based converters and file formats.

We are quite surprised by the number of customers asking for Office 2010 support, especially considering that at the time of writing it is still in beta. On the other hand, it appears to be very stable and particularly the improvements in converting InfoPath forms to PDF format make it worth considering.

For those not familiar with the product, the PDF Converter for SharePoint is a lightweight solution that allows end-users to convert common document types to PDF format from within SharePoint without the need to install any client side software or Adobe Acrobat. It integrates at a deep level with SharePoint and leverages facilities such as the Audit log, localisation, security and tracing. It runs on both WSS 3 as well as MOSS and is available in English, German, Dutch, French and Japanese. For detailed information check out the product page. 

The main changes in version 3.2 are as follows:

For more information check out the following resources:

• Product Page.
• FAQ.
• Release Notes.
• Administration Guide.
• User Guide.
• Screenshots.
• Message Board.

 
As always, feel free to contact us using Twitter, our Blog, regular email or subscribe to our newsletter.

Download your free trial here (4MB).
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Labels: News, PDF Converter, Products

Posted at: 1:22 PM on 18 February 2010 by Muhimbi

Not too long ago we wrote about how to create a Short URL from a SharePoint workflow using the Muhimbi URL Shortener (MuSH) in combination with our Workflow Power Pack. The response from our customers has been so positive that we decided to ship a Workflow Action with the new version of MuSH.

For those not familiar with the product, the Muhimbi URL Shortener for SharePoint, aka MuSH, can be used to shorten URLs for typical web applications and SharePoint in particular. It integrates tightly with both WSS and MOSS and allows short URLs to be created directly from a list item’s context menu, workflows and web services. For details see the original product announcement.

Creating short URLs from a workflow can be very useful. For example creating a short URL named after data in an InfoPath form or create a short URL for a deeply nested folder. In the example below we create a short URL that always points to the latest entry in the announcement list. Not sure if this is useful, but it illustrates the power of this facility.

Create the workflow as follows:

1. Download and install the Muhimbi URL Shortener for SharePoint.
       
2. Make sure you have the appropriate privileges to create workflows on a site collection.
    
3. Create a new workflow using SharePoint Designer.
    
4. On the Workflow Definition screen associate the workflow with the Announcements list, tick the box next to ‘Automatically start this workflow when a new item is created’ and proceed to the next screen.
    
5. From the Actions Menu select Create Short URL, you may need to click More Actions first.
    
6. The following Workflow Sentence is inserted:
   
     
7. To auto generate the short URL, leave the optional short name empty, but in our case we always want to give it the same name, so enter Announce.
    
8. Click this ID / address, click the Workflow Lookup button and select Current Item as the Source and ID as the field.
    
9. Click Document / Display Form and select Document (when used in a Document Library) or Display Form showing the item’s properties. As we are not dealing with a Document Library, it doesn’t matter what is selected.
    
10. Click Overwrite / Return null and select the Overwrite as we always want to write the latest announcement using the same short name. (Return Null will return null in the output variable, which can then be tested for and action can be taken accordingly.)
     
11. Click Variable: this variable and specify the variable the Short URL will be stored in. In this example name it shortURL.
     
12. Add a Log To History List Action and specify the name of the workflow variable the Short URL has been stored in using the Workflow Lookup dialog box.

Close the workflow and create a new Announcement. When the workflow has finished, click the completed link to see the output. Click the generated URL to link to the latest announcement.

Create another Announcement, the Short URL should now link to the latest announcement.

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Labels: Articles, MuSH, News, Products, Workflow

Posted at: 2:30 PM on 16 February 2010 by Muhimbi

Live never stops at Muhimbi. It has only been 7 days since we announced a new version of the Workflow Power Pack and here we are again with the brand new ‘2.0’ version of our URL Shortener for SharePoint. This version adds support for generating short URLs from workflows, manually specifying short URL names, new languages as well as some other new features and fixes. For full details see the table below.

For those not familiar with the product, the Muhimbi URL Shortener for SharePoint, aka MuSH, can be used to shorten URLs for typical web applications and SharePoint in particular. It integrates tightly with both WSS and MOSS and allows short URLs to be created directly from a list item’s context menu, workflows and web services. For details see the original announcement.

The main changes and improvements are as follows:

For more information check out the:

• Product Page.
• Release Notes.
• User & Administration Guide.
• More Screenshots.
• Message Board.
• All MuSH related Blog Postings.

As always, feel free to contact us using Twitter, our Blog or regular email or subscribe to our newsletter.

Download your free trial here (1MB).

Labels: MuSH, News, Products, Workflow

Posted at: 2:17 PM on 09 February 2010 by Muhimbi

In part 4 of our series of User Guide related blog postings for the Muhimbi Workflow Power Pack for SharePoint we show how to create your own methods in a WPP script in order to keep the code organised and easy to maintain.

A quick introduction In case you are not familiar with the product: The Muhimbi Workflow Power Pack for SharePoint allows custom C# or VB.NET code to be embedded in SharePoint Designer Workflows without the need to resort to complex Visual Studio based workflows, the development of bespoke Workflow Activities or long development cycles.

The following Blog postings are part of this User Guide series:

1. Language Features: Discusses the script like syntax, the generic workflow action and condition, passing parameters, returning values from a workflow and using the MyWorkflow property.
    
2. Embedding .net code in a Workflow Condition: Provides a number of examples of how to use the Evaluate Custom Code condition to carry out basic as well as complex conditional tasks.
    
3. Embedding .net code in a Workflow Action: Contains a number of examples of how to use the Execute Custom Code  to basically carry out any action you can think of in a SharePoint Designer Workflow.
    
4. Creating Custom Methods (this article): Shows how to create your own methods in your scripts in order to keep the code organised and easy to maintain.

Due to its scripting like approach, the Workflow Power Pack does not allow regular .NET methods to be created. However, by cleverly using delegates you can create your own reusable pieces of code.

To facilitate this, the following delegates can be used in addition to the normal delegates available in the .net framework. Note that this only works for C# as VB.net does not allow anonymous methods to be created.
 

delegate void WorkflowMethod(params object[] parameters);

delegate object WorkflowFunction(params object[] parameters);

delegate void WorkflowMethod<ParameterType>(params ParameterType[] parameters);

delegate ReturnType WorkflowFunction<ParameterType, ReturnType>(params ParameterType[] parameters);

 
There is no need to add these delegates to your WPP Code, they are added automatically.

The example provided below creates a generic Debug method to concatenate information to a string. This string is then returned as the workflow’s ReturnValue, from where it can be written to the Workflow History.
 

string debugString = String.Empty;

WorkflowMethod<string> Debug = delegate(string[] parameters)

{

    debugString += parameters[0] + "\r\n";

};

WorkflowFunction Calculate = delegate(object[] parameters)

{

    return (int)parameters[0] + (int)parameters[1];

};

WorkflowFunction<int, string> Calculate2 = delegate(

                               int[] parameters)

{

    return (parameters[0] + parameters[1]).ToString();

};

Debug("Hello");

Debug("World");

Debug(Calculate(1, 2).ToString());

Debug(Calculate2(3, 4));

MyWorkflow.ReturnValue = debugString;

Labels: Articles, News, Products, Workflow, WPP

Posted at: 11:25 AM on by Muhimbi

I can’t believe it has only been 6 weeks since we launched the Workflow Power Pack for SharePoint. We are getting great feedback from our customers, who seem to universally love the product. The support call from one frustrated SharePoint Designer workflow developer who was almost in tears stood out particularly.

The version released today adds support for the number one user request, which is the ability to add your own custom methods to the code to allow some degree of usability and reduce the size of scripts.  Read this post for more details about how to use this new functionality.

A quick introduction for those not familiar with the product: The Muhimbi Workflow Power Pack for SharePoint allows custom C# or VB.NET code to be embedded in SharePoint Designer Workflows without the need to resort to complex Visual Studio based workflows, the development of bespoke Workflow Activities or long development cycles.

We have been working very hard to write as many blog posts as possible to provide examples of what can be achieved using the product as well as how to integrate the WPP with our other products such as the PDF Converter and URL Shortener. Have a look at the following posts:

• Automatically mirror / sync a SharePoint folder structure.
• Adding a watermark to a PDF file from a SharePoint Workflow.
• Create Shortened (‘TinyURL’) links from your SharePoint Designer Workflow.
• Synchronise SharePoint Lists such as Calendars and Tasks.
• Send rich emails with attachments from a SharePoint Designer Workflow.
• Configure PDF Security from a SharePoint Workflow.
• User Guide - Language Features
• User Guide - Embedding .net code in a Workflow Condition.
• User Guide - Embedding .net code in a Workflow Action.
   

 
The main changes in version 1.1 are as follows:

 
For more information check out the following resources:

• Product Page.
• Release Notes.
• Administration Guide.
• User Guide.
• Screenshots.
• FAQ.
• Message Board.
• All Workflow Power Pack related Blog postings

 
As always, feel free to contact us using Twitter, our Blog, regular email or subscribe to our newsletter.

Download your free trial here (1MB).

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Labels: News, Products, Workflow, WPP

Posted at: 12:18 PM on 26 January 2010 by Muhimbi

We get a great amount of interest from our existing PDF Converter customers for the Workflow Power Pack for SharePoint. I am not really surprised as there is a lot of of synergy between the two.

Last week I described how to configure PDF Security settings from a SharePoint workflow. This time I’ll describe another common request; adding a watermark to a PDF File.

A quick introduction for those not familiar with the product: The Muhimbi Workflow Power Pack for SharePoint allows custom C# or VB.NET code to be embedded in SharePoint Designer Workflows without the need to resort to complex Visual Studio based workflows, the development of bespoke Workflow Activities or long development cycles.

The solution presented below executes a workflow whenever a PDF file is added or updated. As part of the workflow it loads portrait and landscape based watermarks and applies the relevant template to each page of the document. The workflow author can specify if the watermark goes in the foreground or the background, the SharePoint location of the watermarks as well as the level of transparency. As the code is well documented it is easy to make further changes and customisations, e.g. the PDF file that needs to be watermarked may not be the file the workflow is acting on.

 
Create the workflow as follows:

1. Download and install the Muhimbi Workflow Power Pack for SharePoint.
    
2. Download and install the Muhimbi PDF Converter for SharePoint.
   Note that you need version 3.1.2.18 or newer, older versions do not allow watermarking.
    
3. Download this article’s source code and sample watermarks.
    
4. We need to be able to access functionality in the Muhimbi.SharePoint.DocumentConverter.PDF and System.Drawing assemblies. Add these references to the relevant Web Application using the Workflow Power Pack Central Administration screens as described in the Administration Guide. Make sure to place each reference on a new line.
     
5. Make sure you have the appropriate privileges to create workflows on a site collection.
    
6. Create a new workflow using SharePoint Designer.
    
7. On the Workflow definition screen associate the workflow with the Shared Documents library, tick the boxes next to both ‘Automatically start….’ options and proceed to the next screen.
    
8. We only want to act on files of type PDF. Although we could have put this validation in the code, in this example we use a workflow condition for it so add a Compare Any Data Source condition and:
    
   a.  Click on the first value followed by the display data binding (fx) button.
   b.  Select Current Item as the Source and select File Type in the Field. Click the OK button to continue.
   d.  Click on the second value and enter pdf.
    
9. Click the Actions button and insert the Execute Custom Code action.
    
10. Optionally click parameter 1 and enter a relative or absolute destination path. Leave the parameter empty to save the watermarked file on top of the existing PDF file. For details about how paths are handled, see this post and search for the words ‘this url’.
     
11. Insert the C# based code embedded in step #3’s download (also listed below) by clicking this code.
     

    /*********************************************************************************************

                                 Muhimbi PDF Converter - Watermarking

                  Copyright 2010, Muhimbi Ltd - www.muhimbi.com - All rights reserved

     The following code shows a simple way of adding a watermark to existing PDF Files. 

     Error and permission checking as well as other minor features have been omitted for the sake 

     of brevity and clarity.

     Ideally PDF Conversion, applying security and watermarking is executed in the same step, see 

     http://www.muhimbi.com/blog/2010/01/configure-pdf-security-from-sharepoint.html

     This code requires Muhimbi’s PDF Converter and Workflow Power Pack to be installed.

    *********************************************************************************************/

    using System.Drawing;

    using System.IO;

    using Syncfusion.Pdf;

    using Syncfusion.Pdf.Parsing;

    using Syncfusion.Pdf.Graphics;

    using Muhimbi.SharePoint.DocumentConverter.PDF;

    SPFile spSourceDocument = MyWorkflow.Item.File;

    string destinationFileName = spSourceDocument.Name;

    string destinationFolderName = MyWorkflow.Parameter1 as string;

    string watermarkDocumentPortraitPath = @"Shared Documents/Watermarks/WatermarkA4Portrait.pdf";

    string watermarkDocumentLandscapePath = @"Shared Documents/Watermarks/WatermarkA4Landscape.pdf";

    // ** z-order and transparency of the watermark

    bool watermarkInBackground = true;

    float watermarkTransparancy = 0.25f;

    // ** Load the document and watermarks

    PdfLoadedDocument sourceDocument = new PdfLoadedDocument(spSourceDocument.OpenBinary());

    SPFile spWatermarkDocumentPortrait = MyWorkflow.Web.GetFile(watermarkDocumentPortraitPath);

    PdfLoadedDocument watermarkDocumentPortrait = new PdfLoadedDocument(

                                                    spWatermarkDocumentPortrait.OpenBinary());

    SPFile spWatermarkDocumentLandscape = MyWorkflow.Web.GetFile(watermarkDocumentLandscapePath);

    PdfLoadedDocument watermarkDocumentLandscape = new PdfLoadedDocument(

                                                    spWatermarkDocumentLandscape.OpenBinary());

    // ** Create the PDF Templates

    PdfTemplate watermarkTemplatePortrait = watermarkDocumentPortrait.Pages[0].CreateTemplate();

    PdfTemplate watermarkTemplateLandscape = watermarkDocumentLandscape.Pages[0].CreateTemplate();

    // ** Iterate over all pages and apply watermark

    foreach (PdfPageBase page in sourceDocument.Pages)

    {

        // ** Is the current page portrait or landscape?

        PdfTemplate watermarkTemplate = null;

        if (page.Size.Width > page.Size.Height)

            watermarkTemplate = watermarkTemplateLandscape;

        else

            watermarkTemplate = watermarkTemplatePortrait;

        // ** Place watermark behind or in front of text?

        if (watermarkInBackground == true)

        {

            PdfTemplate pageTemplate = page.CreateTemplate();

            page.Layers.Clear();

            PdfGraphics g = page.Graphics;

            g.SetTransparency(watermarkTransparancy);

            g.DrawPdfTemplate(watermarkTemplate, PointF.Empty, page.Size);

            g.SetTransparency(1f);

            g.DrawPdfTemplate(pageTemplate, PointF.Empty, page.Size);

        }

        else

        {

            PdfGraphics g = page.Graphics;

            g.SetTransparency(watermarkTransparancy);

            g.DrawPdfTemplate(watermarkTemplate, PointF.Empty, page.Size);

        }

    }

    // ** Construct the path and file to write the watermarked PDF file to.

    if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(destinationFolderName) == true)

        destinationFolderName = spSourceDocument.ParentFolder.Url;

    SPFolder destinationFolder = Utility.GetSPFolder(destinationFolderName, MyWorkflow.Web);

    string destinationFilePath = string.Format("{0}/{1}", destinationFolder.Url,

                                               destinationFileName);

    SPWeb destinationWeb = destinationFolder.ParentWeb;

    SPFile spDestinationFile = destinationWeb.GetFile(destinationFilePath);

    // ** If a document library requires manual checkout and the file is not checked out, then 

    // ** check the file out before uploading.

    if (spDestinationFile.Exists && spDestinationFile.Item.ParentList.ForceCheckout &&

        spDestinationFile.CheckOutStatus == SPFile.SPCheckOutStatus.None)

    {

        spDestinationFile.CheckOut();

    }

    // ** Add the file to the site including the meta data

    using (MemoryStream watermarkedFile = new MemoryStream())

    {

        sourceDocument.Save(watermarkedFile);

        spDestinationFile = destinationWeb.Files.Add(destinationFilePath, watermarkedFile,

                                                     spSourceDocument.Item.Properties, true);

    }

    // ** Check the file back in if this script was responsible for checking it out.

    if (spDestinationFile.Item.ParentList.ForceCheckout == true)

    {

        spDestinationFile.CheckIn("Auto check-in after PDF watermarking.");

    }

     
12. Click the Actions button, select Log to History List, click this message and enter File watermarked.
     
13. Close the Workflow Designer.
     
14. In the Shared Documents library create a sub folder named Watermarks and copy the 2 watermark files that are part of step #3’s download into it. If the watermarks are named differently or stored in a different location then update the paths in the script accordingly. Note that the sample watermarks are exactly A4 sized but they work fine on differently sized documents.
     
15. Update an existing PDF or add a new PDF file to your library to trigger the workflow and apply the watermarks.
     

Naturally this is just a simple example. Feel free to play around with the code, change which parameters are passed into the workflow, modify where watermarked files are written to or add dynamic text as a watermark. Leave a comment below if you are trying to do anything specific.

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Labels: Articles, PDF Converter, Products, Workflow, WPP

Posted at: 12:03 PM on 22 January 2010 by Muhimbi

Any organisation that deals with computer software, free or otherwise, must be aware of the License Agreement that comes with a software product. How many computers can the software be used on, by how many users and how long is the license valid are only some of the questions that need to be answered.

We have invested quite some time in making our Software License Agreement readable for people without a legal background. However, it is difficult to cover all grounds using plain English.

This post attempts to explain the key elements of our Software Agreement in plain English. Note that this is only a summary and does not replace the actual License Agreement.

The following topics are discussed in this post:

• Summary of available licenses
• Renewing Licenses / Support licenses
• What servers / environments do you need a license for
• Licensing requirements for non SharePoint based deployments

Summary of available licenses

We use a graded licensing system to match your budget and exact needs. The following license types are available:
 

• Free evaluation version: If you install the software without a license then you are using the evaluation version. The software is fully functional without any time limits, but an evaluation message will be displayed on most screens and in any generated document. You are not permitted to use any evaluation software in your production environment. Support is provided using any of the means in the Support area on our site.
   
• Web Application License: This license is sold at a considerable discount to allow small organisations with just a single SharePoint server and Web Application to get started with our software. If you have a single SharePoint server then you can use this license on a single Web Application on as many Site Collections as you like.
   
• Web Farm License: If you have more than one server in your SharePoint farm or want to use our software on multiple Web Applications then you may want to consider this license. If you want to use our software on multiple farms or if your farm is spread over multiple geographical locations then you need either a Site or OEM license as described below.
   
• Site License: If you have multiple separate SharePoint Farms, for example when you are a hosting company, then this license may be the best option as it allows the software to be used on an unlimited number of separate SharePoint farms at a single location.
   
• OEM License: If your SharePoint Farm or Farms spreads multiple physical locations, e.g. across a data centre, Disaster recovery site and or local branch offices OR if you want to bundle our Software as part of your own solution then the OEM Subscription is most likely the best option. Please read the details in the Software License Agreement if you want to bundle our software with your own solution. Note that you are not allowed to use our Products to develop derived works that offer similar functionality as the Product or expose the features of the Product for use by an unlicensed third party unless agreed with Muhimbi.
   
• OEM License + Source Code: If you need all the benefits of the OEM License and / or you need access to the source code to make modifications specific to your organisation, then this license type is the best option. Note that we do not provide support for our software once changes have been made to the source code. Please read the details in the Software License Agreement if you want to bundle our software with your own solution. Note that you are not allowed to use our Products to develop derived works that offer similar functionality as the Product or expose the features of the Product for use by an unlicensed third party unless agreed with Muhimbi.

Renewing Licenses / Support licenses

Independent of the type of license purchased, you automatically receive a 1 year support license, which entitles you to free updates and access to our support desk using any of the means listed on the Contact Us page.

After the support license has expired your software will continue to work, but you can no longer download new versions released after the expiry of the license. You can renew your support license for 30% of the current retail price, which is not necessarily the price you originally bought the product for, although they may be the same.

What servers / environments do you need a license for

Licensing requirements for non SharePoint based deployments

Our products mainly focus on use from a SharePoint environment. However, some products can also be used from non SharePoint environments as well. For example, our PDF Conversion Service can run as a standalone service and be accessed from any application that supports Web Services.

The licenses are largely the same, with the exception of the Web Application License, which is only available for SharePoint based environments.

• Web Farm License: Get this license if you want to access our software from a single solution on an unlimited number of servers located at a single location, using an unlimited number of developers and end-users.
   
• Site License: If you intend to access our software from multiple solutions located on servers at the same site, then get this license.
   
• OEM License: If you want to access our software from servers spread across more than one physical location then get this license.
   
• OEM License + Source Code: If you need all the benefits of the OEM License and / or you need access to the source code to make modifications specific to your organisation, then this license type is the best option. Note that we do not provide support for our software once changes have been made to the source code. Please read the details in the Software License Agreement if you want to bundle our software with your own solution. Note that you are not allowed to use our Products to develop derived works that offer similar functionality as the Product or expose the features of the Product for use by an unlicensed third party unless agreed with Muhimbi.
   

I realise this post is almost longer than the License Agreement is is trying to explain, but I hope it clarifies our licensing position. If you have any further questions then please check out the following sources or contact us at licensing@muhimbi.com.

• License Agreement
• Licensing FAQ

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Labels: Audit, MuSH, Partnering, PDF Converter, Products, WPP

Posted at: 4:10 PM on 20 January 2010 by Muhimbi

It has been exactly 2 months since we released a completely overhauled version of our PDF Converter for SharePoint. We are seeing a considerable increase in downloads as well as purchases, which means one thing….. increased customer feedback!

The new version of the software resolves the most urgent issues, removes a number of pain points that should make configuration for certain scenarios a lot easier, improves support for the more complex InfoPath forms and adds support for converting MS-Visio files as well as a number of related vector formats (vsd, vdx, svg, svgz, dwg, dxf).

For those not familiar with the product, the PDF Converter for SharePoint is a lightweight solution (4MB download) that allows end-users to convert common document types to PDF format from within SharePoint without the need to install any client side software or Adobe Acrobat. It integrates at a deep level with SharePoint and leverages facilities such as the Audit log, localisation, security and tracing. It runs on both WSS 3 as well as MOSS and is available in English, German, Dutch, French and Japanese. For detailed information check out the product page as well as the following blog postings:

• Using the PDF Converter from a SharePoint workflow.
• Configure PDF Security from a SharePoint Workflow.
• Inserting SharePoint List data into a PDF document using a workflow.
• Using the PDF Converter for SharePoint from your own code.
• Automatically convert files to PDF using an e-mail enabled SharePoint Document Library.
• Batch print InfoPath Forms using the PDF Converter for SharePoint.
• Converting Office files to PDF Format using a Web Services based interface.
• Troubleshooting steps for the PDF Converter for SharePoint.
• Troubleshooting InfoPath to PDF Conversion / Document Converter Architecture.
   

 
The main changes in version 3.1 are as follows:

For more information check out the following resources:

• Product Page.
• FAQ.
• Release Notes.
• Administration Guide.
• User Guide.
• Screenshots.
• Message Board.

 
As always, feel free to contact us using Twitter, our Blog, regular email or subscribe to our newsletter.

Download your free trial here (4MB).
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Labels: News, PDF Converter, Products

Posted at: 4:35 PM on 15 January 2010 by Muhimbi

Our PDF Converter for SharePoint is getting great reviews, but naturally we cannot please everyone, or at least not yet. One of the requests we get from time to time is to add support for the ability to specify PDF Security settings (Open Password, Owner Password, Block Print, Block Copy etc).

The thing is, our underlying engine and Web Service interface already support this functionality. However, the user interface and workflow action have not yet been updated. In this article we describe how to access this ‘hidden’ functionality from a workflow using the Workflow Power Pack.

A quick introduction for those not familiar with the product: The Muhimbi Workflow Power Pack for SharePoint allows custom C# or VB.NET code to be embedded in SharePoint Designer Workflows without the need to resort to complex Visual Studio based workflows, the development of bespoke Workflow Activities or long development cycles.

The solution presented below automatically converts any updated or newly created files to PDF format and applies the DisablePrint and DisableContentCopy security flags to the file. As the code is well documented it is easy to make further changes and customisations.

 
Create the workflow as follows:

1. Download and install the Muhimbi Workflow Power Pack for SharePoint.
    
2. Download and install the Muhimbi PDF Converter for SharePoint.
    
3. We need to be able to access functionality in the Muhimbi.SharePoint.DocumentConverter.PDF, System.ServiceModel and System.Runtime.Serialization assemblies. Add these references to the relevant Web Application using the Workflow Power Pack Central Administration screens as described in the Administration Guide. Make sure to place each reference on a new line.
     
4. Make sure you have the appropriate privileges to create workflows on a site collection.
    
5. Create a new workflow using SharePoint Designer.
    
6. On the Workflow definition screen associate the workflow with the library of your choice, tick the boxes next to both ‘Automatically start….’ options and proceed to the next screen.
    
7. To prevent the code from acting on files that are already in PDF format, add a Compare Any Data Source condition and:
    
   a.  Click on the first value followed by the display data binding (fx) button.
   b.  Select Current Item as the Source and select File Type in the Field. Click the OK button to continue.
   c.  Click equals and change it to not equals.
   d.  Click on the second value and enter pdf.
    
8. Click the Actions button and insert the Execute Custom Code action.
    
9. Click parameter 1 and optionally enter a relative or absolute destination path (For details see this post and search for the words ‘this url’). Leave the parameter empty to write the PDF file to the same directory as the source file.
    
10. Download the source code or insert the C# based code listed below by clicking this code.
     

    /********************************************************************************************

                                      Muhimbi PDF Converter

                  Copyright 2010, Muhimbi Ltd - www.muhimbi.com - All rights reserved

     The following code is a simplification of the code that is normally executed by the Muhimbi 

     PDF Converter Workflow Action. Error and permission checking as well as other minor features

     have been omitted for the sake of brevity and clarity.

     This code allows more control over the PDF Conversion process compared to what is possible 

     with the Out-Of-The-Box action, for example: PDF Security Options, Use of PDF/A, Quality, 

     Enable Macros and the ability to specify a password to open a source file.

     This code requires Muhimbi’s PDF Converter and Workflow Power Pack to be installed.

     For details about the Web Services interface see:

     http://www.muhimbi.com/blog/2009/12/converting-office-files-to-pdf-format.html

    ********************************************************************************************/

    using Muhimbi.SharePoint.DocumentConverter.PDF;

    using Muhimbi.SharePoint.DocumentConverter.PDF.WebServiceClient;

    using System.Collections;

    // ** Set all variables required for the conversion of the file.

    SPFile sourceFile = MyWorkflow.Item.File;

    // ** Specify an empty string or null to use the same directory as the source file. 

    // ** Alternatively specify an absolute or relative (to the web) path, e.g. 

    // ** subsite1/Shared Documents/PDF  or /sites/HumanResources/subsite1/Shared Documents/PDF

    string          destinationFolderName   = MyWorkflow.Parameter1 as string;

    string          destinationFileName     = Utility.ExtractFileName(sourceFile.Name) + ".pdf";

    string          openPassword            = "";

    string          ownerPassword           = "A Nice And Strong Password!";

    SecurityOptions securityOptions         = SecurityOptions.DisablePrint | 

                                              SecurityOptions.DisableContentCopy;

    bool            copyMetadata            = true;

    // ** Get a reference to the PDF Converter web service.

    DocumentConverterServiceClient client   = WebServiceConverterHelper.OpenService();

    //** Set the various open options

    OpenOptions openOptions                 = new OpenOptions();

    openOptions.Password                    = "";

    openOptions.OriginalFileName            = sourceFile.Name;

    openOptions.FileExtension               = Utility.ExtractFileExtension(sourceFile.Name);

    openOptions.AllowMacros                 = MacroSecurityOption.None;

    openOptions.RefreshContent              = true;

    //** Specify the various security settings

    ConversionSettings conversionSettings   = new ConversionSettings();

    conversionSettings.Fidelity             = ConversionFidelities.Full;

    conversionSettings.Format               = OutputFormat.PDF;

    conversionSettings.Quality              = ConversionQuality.OptimizeForPrint;

    conversionSettings.Range                = ConversionRange.VisibleDocuments;

    conversionSettings.StartPage            = 0;

    conversionSettings.EndPage              = 0;

    conversionSettings.GenerateBookmarks    = BookmarkGenerationOption.Automatic;

    conversionSettings.PDFProfile           = PDFProfile.PDF_1_5;

    // ** Specify either an Open or Owner Password in order to activate the security Options

    conversionSettings.OpenPassword         = openPassword;

    conversionSettings.OwnerPassword        = ownerPassword;

    conversionSettings.SecurityOptions      = securityOptions;

    // ** Read the content of the source file

    byte[] sourceFileArray = sourceFile.OpenBinary();

    // ** Carry out the actual conversion to PDF

    byte[] convertedFile = client.Convert(sourceFileArray, openOptions, conversionSettings);

    // ** Construct the path and file to write the PDF file to.

    if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(destinationFolderName) == true)

        destinationFolderName = sourceFile.ParentFolder.Url;

    SPFolder destinationFolder = Utility.GetSPFolder(destinationFolderName, MyWorkflow.Web);

    string destinationFilePath = string.Format("{0}/{1}", destinationFolder.Url, 

                                               destinationFileName);

    SPWeb destinationWeb = destinationFolder.ParentWeb;

    SPFile spDestinationFile = destinationWeb.GetFile(destinationFilePath);

    // ** If a document library requires manual checkout and the file is not checked out, then 

    // ** check the file out before uploading.

    if (spDestinationFile.Exists && spDestinationFile.Item.ParentList.ForceCheckout && 

        spDestinationFile.CheckOutStatus == SPFile.SPCheckOutStatus.None)

    {

        spDestinationFile.CheckOut();

    }

    // ** Copy metadata, if requested.

    if (copyMetadata == true && 

        sourceFile.Name.EndsWith("x", StringComparison.InvariantCultureIgnoreCase) == false)

    {

        // ** Pre office 2007 formats (without the trailing x) are treated differently 

        // ** from the office 2007 formats when it comes to copying meta data.

        Hashtable metadata = sourceFile.Item.Properties;

        // ** Add the file to the site including the meta data

        spDestinationFile = destinationWeb.Files.Add(destinationFilePath, convertedFile, 

                                                     metadata, true);

    }

    else if (copyMetadata == true)

    {

        // ** Add the file to the site.

        spDestinationFile = destinationWeb.Files.Add(destinationFilePath, 

                                                     convertedFile, null, true);

        // ** Copy the Actual meta data to the newly created file.

        foreach (SPField field in sourceFile.Item.Fields)

        {

            if (field.ReadOnlyField == false && 
                spDestinationFile.Item.Fields.ContainsField(field.InternalName) == true)

            {

                spDestinationFile.Item[field.InternalName] = sourceFile.Item[field.InternalName];

            }

        }

        // ** Update the meta data

        spDestinationFile.Item.Update();

    }

    else

    {

        // ** Actively strip all meta data

        Hashtable metadata = new Hashtable(sourceFile.Item.Properties.Count);

        foreach (Object key in sourceFile.Item.Properties.Keys)

        {

            metadata.Add(key, string.Empty);

        }

        // ** Add the file to the site with all meta data stripped

        spDestinationFile = destinationWeb.Files.Add(destinationFilePath, convertedFile, 

                                                     metadata, true);

    }

    // ** Check the file back in if this script was responsible for checking it out.

    if (spDestinationFile.Item.ParentList.ForceCheckout == true)

    {

        spDestinationFile.CheckIn("Auto check-in after PDF Conversion");

    }

     
11. Click the Actions button, select Log to History List, click this message and enter File converted to PDF.
     
12. Close the Workflow Designer and update or add an item to your library to trigger the workflow.
     

 
Naturally this is just a simple example. Feel free to play around with the code, change which parameters are passed into the workflow or modify where converted PDF files are written to.

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Labels: Articles, PDF Converter, Products, Workflow, WPP