How challenging is it to add these two functions to all SharePoint site pages?
Are there any 3rd party solutions for this?
We usually use print style sheets (<link rel="stylesheet" href="print.css" type="text/css" media="print" />) to do this.
Check this guide:
http://www.webcredible.co.uk/user-friendly-resources/css/print-stylesheet.shtml
I know Muhimbi has a good third party PDF generator, but I havent tried it.
It is not a good option if you require generic print functionality but SQL Reporting Services is great for building custom reports and it comes with different built in export functions.
However it requires some extra work eg. you need to build your reports separately, you need to take care of integration etc. so maybe it is overkill for your requirements.
Some additional info:
Overview of Reporting Services and SharePoint Technology Integration
For printing Lists you can use the http://spprintlistbutton.codeplex.com/.
I did this through a httpmodule that checks for the querystring PrinterFriendly=True and when that is set on any page in SharePoint, it swaps out the masterpage for a printerfriendly one. Here's some of the code:
public void Init(HttpApplication context)
{
context.PreRequestHandlerExecute += new EventHandler(PrinterFriendlyMasterPage_PreRequestHandlerExecute);
}
void PrinterFriendlyMasterPage_PreRequestHandlerExecute(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
Page page = HttpContext.Current.CurrentHandler as Page;
if (page == null) return;
// If the request originates from a Publishing Page then we have to
// change the master page on the current Sharepoint Web instance object
// (of course we don't want to persist this change since it would
// change the master page permanently..for all users).
if (page is PublishingLayoutPage || page is TemplateRedirectionPage)
{
HttpContext context = HttpContext.Current;
if (ShouldOverrideMasterPage(context))
{
SPContext.Current.Web.MasterUrl = Utility.GetSetting("PrinterFriendlyMasterPage_MasterPageUrl");
SPContext.Current.Web.CustomMasterUrl = Utility.GetSetting("PrinterFriendlyMasterPage_MasterPageUrl");
page.Load += new EventHandler(application_page_Load);
}
}
else
{
// Now, if this is a normal wss 3.0 page hook into
// the PreInit event (just before the ordinary Page event
// cycle starts.
page.PreInit += new EventHandler(PrinterFriendlyMasterPage_PreInit);
}
}
void PrinterFriendlyMasterPage_PreInit(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
try
{
Page page = sender as Page;
if (page == null) return;
if (page.MasterPageFile == null) return;
HttpContext context = HttpContext.Current;
if (ShouldOverrideMasterPage(context))
{
page.MasterPageFile = Utility.GetSetting("PrinterFriendlyMasterPage_MasterPageUrl");
}
}
catch { }
}
private bool ShouldOverrideMasterPage(HttpContext context)
{
return GetQueryStringSwitch(context, Utility.GetSetting("PrinterFriendlyMasterPage_QueryString"));
}
private bool GetQueryStringSwitch(HttpContext context, string queryString)
{
try
{
if (!String.IsNullOrEmpty(context.Request.QueryString[queryString]) &&
Boolean.Parse(context.Request.QueryString[queryString]))
{
return true;
}
}
catch { }
return false;
}
The PDF Converter for SharePoint adds a lot of PDF Related functionality to SharePoint, including the PDF button you are after.
It comes with both SharePoint Designer and Nintex workflow activities as well as a host of other PDF related functionality such as PDF Security, Merging and watermarking.
Note that I worked on this product so the usual disclaimers apply.
Check out also Smart Print Pro. It can print lists or list items according to user defined templates and export it to PDF
Check it out - http://www.infowisesolutions.com/product.aspx?id=SmartPrintPro
