Setup:Installation Guide/Advanced/Maintenance scripts/CreatePDF

Review PDF export compatibility! The PDF export script for BlueSpice 4 is different.

PDF Export from CLI

You can export PDF files from your MediaWiki installation via the command line by using a specification file in JSON format.

Create a JSON Specification File

This file defines all the parameters for the export process. Below is a minimal example:

{
   "module": "batch",
   "params": {
     "filename": "MyExport.pdf",
     "filesystem-path": "/app/d/pdfcreator/cache",
     "target": "filesystem",
     "user": "WikiSysop"
   },
   "options": {
     "attachments": true
   },
   "pages": [
     {
       "type": "page",
       "target": "Main_Page"
     }
   ]
 }

You can expand this file to include more pages, templates, or custom options. Here’s a more advanced example:

{
   "module": "batch",
   "params": {
     "filename": "FullExport.pdf",
     "filesystem-path": "/var/pdf_exports",
     "target": "filesystem",
     "user": "ExportAdmin",
     "title": "My Export Title",
     "template": "AdvancedTemplate",
   },
   "options": {
     "attachments": true,
     "suppress-links": false,
     "embed-page-toc": true,
     "no-redirect": true
   },
   "pages": [
     {
       "type": "page",
       "target": "Main_Page",
       "label": "Hauptseite"
     },
     {
       "type": "pageWithSubpages",
       "target": "Category:Documentation",
       "label": "Dokumentation"
     },
     {
       "type": "pageWithLinkedPages",
       "target": "Help:Editing",
       "label": "Bearbeitungshilfe"
     }
   ]
 }

Start Export from CLI

Once your JSON file is ready, run the following command to start the export:

php extensions/PDFCreator/maintenance/CreatePDF.php cache/specification.json

Available Parameters

General Parameters (params):

• filename: Name of the exported PDF.
• filesystem-path: Path to store the exported file.
• target: Can be filesystem or download.
• user: Username used for export context.
• title: Optional title for the PDF.
• template: Optional PDF template.

Options (options):

• attachments: true to include media files.
• suppress-links: true to disable links in the PDF.
• embed-page-toc: true to include a table of contents.
• no-redirect: true to avoid following redirects.

Page Definitions (pages):

• type: One of page, pageWithSubpages, pageWithLinkedPages.
• target: Page name.
• label: Custom label (optional).
• params: Page-specific options (e.g., rev-id, status).

Automating with CronJob

To automate regular exports, set up a CronJob:

php {MW_ROOT}/extensions/PDFCreator/maintenance/CreatePDF.php --specification-file={MW_ROOT}/extensions/BlueSpiceFoundation/data/spec.json

Replace {MW_ROOT} with your MediaWiki installation path.

Migration from Older Format

If you're using the legacy pdf or bookpdf module format, migrate to the new batch format using the following mapping:

Old Format

{
  "module": "pdf",
  "attachments": 1,
  "recursive": 1,
  "title": "MyPDF",
  "target": "localfilesystem",
  "target-file-name": "All.pdf",
  "target-file-path": "/path/to/target-file"
}

New Format

{
  "module": "batch",
  "params": {
    "filename": "All.pdf",
    "filesystem-path": "/path/to/target-file",
    "target": "filesystem",
    "title": "MyPDF"
  },
  "options": {
    "attachments": true
  },
  "pages": [
    {
      "type": "page",
      "target": "Main_Page"
    }
  ]
}

Key Changes

Old Parameter	New Parameter	Notes
module=pdf	module=batch	Unified module name
attachments	options.attachments	Moved into options, uses true/false
recursive	Removed	Use pageWithLinkedPages instead
title	params.title	Moved into params
target=localfilesystem	params.target=filesystem	Updated value
target-file-name	params.filename	Renamed and moved into params
target-file-path	params.filesystem-path	Renamed and moved into params

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