PDF export

Save the grid as a PDF document with one call — fixed rows repeated as headers on every page, custom header/footer text per page, optional scale, and auto-open in the default PDF reader.

Overview

TTMSFNCDataGridPDFIO is a non-visual companion component that wraps the TMS FNC PDF library. Drop it on the form, point its DataGrid property at the grid, configure Options, and call Save. Multi-page output is automatic — fixed rows and columns are repeated on each page when the corresponding options are on.

Quick example

procedure TForm1.FormCreate(Sender: TObject);
begin
  PDF.DataGrid := Grid;
  PDF.Options.Header := 'TMS FNC Data Grid PDF Export';
  PDF.Options.OpenInPDFReader := True;       // open the result automatically
end;

procedure TForm1.ExportButtonClick(Sender: TObject);
begin
  PDF.Save('gridexport.pdf');
end;

procedure TForm1.PDFGetFooter(Sender, AExportObject: TObject;
  APageIndex: Integer; var AFooter: string);
begin
  AFooter := Format('Page %d', [APageIndex + 1]);
end;

Step by step

1. Drop the component

PDF.DataGrid := Grid;

If a TTMSFNCDataGrid already lives on the same form, the component auto-binds to it on construction.

2. Configure page settings

PDF.Options.Header          := 'Quarterly Report — 2026 Q1';
PDF.Options.Footer          := 'Confidential';
PDF.Options.OpenInPDFReader := True;      // open the file once written
PDF.Options.RepeatFixedRows    := True;   // repeat headers on every page
PDF.Options.RepeatFixedColumns := True;   // repeat fixed columns on every page
PDF.Options.FitToPage := True;            // shrink to one page wide
PDF.Options.Scale     := 0.85;            // or set an explicit scale factor

The ExportScale option on Options.IO provides an alternative global scale that applies to the rendering canvas when exporting.

3. Save

PDF.Save('report.pdf');

4. Dynamic header / footer per page

For "Page 3 of 12" or per-page metadata, hook the events:

procedure TForm1.PDFGetFooter(Sender, AExportObject: TObject;
  APageIndex: Integer; var AFooter: string);
begin
  AFooter := Format('Page %d', [APageIndex + 1]);
end;

procedure TForm1.PDFGetHeader(Sender, AExportObject: TObject;
  APageIndex: Integer; var AHeader: string);
begin
  AHeader := Format('Quarterly Report — Page %d', [APageIndex + 1]);
end;

5. Force a manual page break

procedure TForm1.PDFRowIsPageBreak(Sender: TObject;
  AExportObject: TTMSFNCPDFIOExportObject; ARow: Integer;
  var IsPageBreak: Boolean);
begin
  IsPageBreak := IsGroupHeader(ARow);     // your own predicate
end;

6. Skip controls or decorations during export

Use ACell.IsExporting inside OnBeforeDrawCell to detect PDF rendering and suppress on-screen-only elements:

procedure TForm1.GridBeforeDrawCell(Sender: TObject; AGraphics: TTMSFNCGraphics;
  ACell: TTMSFNCDataGridCell; var ACanDraw: Boolean);
begin
  if ACell.IsExporting and
     (Grid.HasButton[ACell.Column, ACell.Row] or Grid.HasCheckBox[ACell.Column, ACell.Row]) then
    ACell.DrawElements := [gcdText, gcdStroke];  // skip the embedded control
end;

Custom PDF reports with a standalone renderer

For full control over the PDF layout — combining grid output with custom text, charts, or summary banners on the same page — bypass TTMSFNCDataGridPDFIO and use TTMSFNCDataGridRenderer directly with the low-level TTMSFNCPDFLib.

This pattern creates a headless renderer (no visual component), connects a database adapter to it, and calls Renderer.Export to place the grid table inside a specific rectangle on the page.

procedure TForm1.BtnReportClick(Sender: TObject);
const
  PL = 40;   // page left margin
  PR = 570;  // page right margin
var
  Renderer  : TTMSFNCDataGridRenderer;
  PDFAdapter: TTMSFNCDataGridDatabaseAdapter;
  PDFLib    : TTMSFNCPDFLib;
  Stream    : TMemoryStream;
begin
  Renderer   := TTMSFNCDataGridRenderer.Create;
  PDFAdapter := TTMSFNCDataGridDatabaseAdapter.Create;
  try
    // Snippet 1 — Wire data to the headless renderer
    PDFAdapter.DataSource        := DataSource1;
    PDFAdapter.AutoCreateColumns := True;
    PDFAdapter.LoadMode          := almAllRecords;
    PDFAdapter.Renderer          := Renderer;
    PDFAdapter.Active            := True;

    // Snippet 2 — Apply appearance and filter/sort for the report view
    Renderer.CellAppearance.FixedLayout.Fill.Color := $FF1F3864;
    Renderer.CellAppearance.FixedLayout.Font.Color := gcWhite;
    Renderer.CellAppearance.BandLayout.Fill.Color  := $FFF0F4FF;
    Renderer.GlobalFont.Scale                      := 1.3;

    Renderer.Filter.Add(COL_STOCK, '<50');
    Renderer.ApplyFilter;
    Renderer.Sort(COL_STOCK, gsdAscending);

    // Snippet 3 — Conditional row formatting for the PDF only
    Renderer.OnGetCellLayout := RendererGetCellLayout;

    PDFLib := TTMSFNCPDFLib.Create;
    try
      // Snippet 4 — Page header, footer, page numbers
      PDFLib.Header              := 'LOW STOCK REPORT';
      PDFLib.HeaderFont.Size     := 18;
      PDFLib.HeaderFont.Style    := [TFontStyle.fsBold];
      PDFLib.Footer              := FormatDateTime('"Generated: "dd mmm yyyy', Now);
      PDFLib.PageNumber          := pnFooter;
      PDFLib.PageNumberFormat    := 'Page %d';
      PDFLib.PageNumberAlignment := gtaTrailing;

      PDFLib.BeginDocument;
      PDFLib.NewPage;

      // Snippet 5 — Draw a custom summary banner before the table
      PDFLib.Graphics.Fill.Kind  := gfkSolid;
      PDFLib.Graphics.Fill.Color := $FFF0F4FF;
      PDFLib.Graphics.DrawRectangle(RectF(0, 40, 612, 66));
      PDFLib.Graphics.DrawText('Low-stock items only — sorted by stock level',
        RectF(PL, 46, PR, 62));

      // Snippet 6 — Render the grid table into a page rectangle
      // MakeCellRange(col1, row1, col2, row2) defines which cells to include
      Renderer.Export(
        PDFLib,
        RectF(PL, 68, PR, 756),                              // table area on page
        MakeCellRange(COL_NAME, 0, COL_STOCK, Renderer.RowCount - 1),
        False,  // scale to fit width
        True,   // repeat fixed rows as table header
        True,   // repeat fixed columns
        False,  // clip to rect
        1.0,    // scale factor
        procedure begin PDFLib.NewPage; end   // callback for additional pages
      );

      Stream := PDFLib.EndDocument(False);
      if Assigned(Stream) then
      try
        Stream.SaveToFile('low_stock_report.pdf');
        TTMSFNCUtils.OpenFile('low_stock_report.pdf');
      finally
        Stream.Free;
      end;
    finally
      PDFLib.Free;
    end;
  finally
    PDFAdapter.Free;
    Renderer.Free;
  end;
end;

// The renderer gets its own OnGetCellLayout — independent of the screen grid
procedure TForm1.RendererGetCellLayout(Sender: TObject;
  ACell: TTMSFNCDataGridCell);
var
  R    : TTMSFNCDataGridRenderer;
  Stock: Integer;
begin
  if ACell.Row = 0 then Exit;
  R     := Sender as TTMSFNCDataGridRenderer;
  Stock := Round(R.Floats[COL_STOCK, ACell.Row]);
  if Stock < 10 then
    ACell.Layout.Fill.Color := $FFFFE0E0    // critical
  else if Stock < 25 then
    ACell.Layout.Fill.Color := $FFFFF0D0;  // urgent
end;

The key differences from TTMSFNCDataGridPDFIO:

Aspect	TTMSFNCDataGridPDFIO	Standalone renderer
Setup	Drop component, set DataGrid	Create renderer + adapter in code
Appearance	Follows the screen grid	Independent — style it separately
Filter / sort	Uses the screen grid's current state	Apply to the renderer itself
Conditional formatting	Uses the screen grid's event	Wire Renderer.OnGetCellLayout
Custom page content	Not supported	Full TTMSFNCPDFLib access
Multi-section reports	Not supported	Interleave Export calls with custom drawing

MakeCellRange(col1, row1, col2, row2) is a helper that constructs a TTMSFNCDataGridCellRange record. Pass it to Renderer.Export to restrict which columns and rows are included in the table.

Combining page setup, dynamic footers, and manual page breaks

For repeatable reports, configure the document-level options, dynamic footer callback, and page-break callback together. The export component can then repeat headers, fit the table to the page width, and insert page breaks at meaningful rows with one Save call.

procedure TForm1.FormCreate(Sender: TObject);
begin
  PDF.DataGrid := Grid;
  PDF.Options.Header := 'Quarterly Report';
  PDF.Options.OpenInPDFReader := True;
  PDF.Options.RepeatFixedRows := True;
  PDF.Options.FitToPage := True;
  PDF.OnGetFooter := PDFGetFooter;
  PDF.OnRowIsPageBreak := PDFRowIsPageBreak;
end;

procedure TForm1.PDFGetFooter(Sender, AExportObject: TObject;
  APageIndex: Integer; var AFooter: UnicodeString);
begin
  AFooter := Format('Page %d', [APageIndex + 1]);
end;

procedure TForm1.PDFRowIsPageBreak(Sender: TObject;
  AExportObject: TTMSFNCPDFIOExportObject; ARow: Integer;
  var IsPageBreak: Boolean);
begin
  IsPageBreak := IsGroupHeader(ARow);
end;

Related API

• TTMSFNCDataGridPDFIO
• PDF.Options.Header / Footer / OpenInPDFReader
• PDF.Options.Scale / FitToPage
• PDF.Options.RepeatFixedRows / RepeatFixedColumns
• PDF.Save(FileName)
• OnGetHeader, OnGetFooter
• OnRowIsPageBreak
• OnBeforeDrawHeader / OnAfterDrawHeader
• OnBeforeDrawFooter / OnAfterDrawFooter
• OnBeforeDrawContent / OnAfterDrawContent
• TTMSFNCDataGridRenderer — headless renderer for custom reports
• Renderer.Export(PDFLib, PageRect, CellRange, ...) — low-level page render
• MakeCellRange(col1, row1, col2, row2) — construct a cell range record
• TTMSFNCPDFLib — direct PDF document API (header, footer, page numbers, graphics)

See also

• Printing — same options, sent to the system printer instead.
• Import & export (XLS) — for editable Excel output.
• Headless data layer — using TTMSFNCDataGridData without a visual component.
• Demo: Demo/FMX/DataGrid/Basic/PDF Export