Quick Start: Create a PDF with the Native C API

Linked SDK names open the API reference.

#include <filesystem>
#include <iostream>
#include <random>
#include <stdexcept>
#include <string>

#define TECIT_DLLIMPORT
#include "TFormer.h"
#undef TECIT_DLLIMPORT

namespace fs = std::filesystem;

static void check(HTFORM form, ERRCODE result, const char* operation)
{
    if (result != ErrOk) {
        const char* message = TFormer_GetLastErrorDescription(form);
        throw std::runtime_error(std::string(operation) + " failed ("
            + std::to_string(result) + "): "
            + (message != nullptr ? message : "no error description"));
    }
}

int main()
{
    HTFORM form = nullptr;
    fs::path output;
    int result = 1;
    try {
        const fs::path layout = fs::absolute(L"ProductLabel.tff");
        if (!fs::is_regular_file(layout)) {
            throw std::runtime_error(
                "ProductLabel.tff not found. "
                "Run from the extracted sample folder.");
        }

        std::random_device random;
        const fs::path folder = fs::temp_directory_path()
            / ("TFORMerProductLabel-" + std::to_string(random())
                + "-" + std::to_string(random()));
        if (!fs::create_directory(folder)) {
            throw std::runtime_error(
                "Could not create a unique output folder.");
        }
        output = fs::absolute(folder / L"ProductLabel.pdf");

        form = TFormer_Init(nullptr);
        if (form == nullptr) {
            throw std::runtime_error("TFormer_Init failed.");
        }
        check(form, TFormer_SetRepositoryNameW(form, layout.c_str()),
            "TFormer_SetRepositoryNameW");

        // These field names match the supplied ProductLabel.tff layout.
        check(form, TFormer_NewRecord(form), "TFormer_NewRecord");
        check(form, TFormer_SetVarValueW(
            form, L"ProductName", L"Coffee 250 g"),
            "TFormer_SetVarValueW(ProductName)");
        check(form, TFormer_SetVarValueW(form, L"ArticleNumber", L"ART-1001"),
            "TFormer_SetVarValueW(ArticleNumber)");

        check(form, TFormer_SetPrinterType(form, ePrinterType_PDFFile),
            "TFormer_SetPrinterType");
        check(form, TFormer_SetOutputNameW(form, output.c_str()),
            "TFormer_SetOutputNameW");
        check(form, TFormer_Print(form), "TFormer_Print");

        if (!fs::is_regular_file(output) || fs::file_size(output) == 0) {
            throw std::runtime_error(
                "TFORMer did not create a non-empty PDF.");
        }
        result = 0;
    } catch (const std::exception& exception) {
        std::cerr << "Cannot create product label: "
            << exception.what() << '\n';
    }

    if (form != nullptr) {
        const ERRCODE exitResult = TFormer_Exit(form);
        if (exitResult != ErrOk) {
            std::cerr << "TFormer_Exit failed: " << exitResult << '\n';
            result = 1;
        }
    }
    if (result == 0) {
        std::cout << "Created PDF: " << output.u8string() << '\n';
    }
    return result;
}