Export to PDF not displaying extended ASCII characters

[benu]

I'm using some extended ASCII characters in a few reports, but sadly, they fail to show up in my PDF exports. Here's the scoop, and how to reproduce:

• Use the latest iReport (v5.1.0 at time of writing)
• Start a blank report
• Add a Text Field element
• Set the Text Expression to "▪" (this is the small square, like this: ▪ . Hey - I can paste it in here from a succesful print-to-PDF!)
• Set the Markup property to "HTML"
• Preview the report - you should get a small black square

Now, save the report to a PDF doc. Open it - NO black square.
Try printing from iReport to a PDF print driver (e.g. CutePDF). Open the PDF - voila! Small black square.

Now, try adding the report to Jasper Reports Server
Run the report - the viewer will show you the square.
Try  exporting the report to PDF - no-go, we still don't get a small black square.

Try exporting the report to DOCX - works! Good, but I still need a PDF.

 

I'm mystified, and there's no joy in Internet searches for solutions.

 

BTW, I'm using the Calibri font, which I've added in as a font extension to both iReport, and also packaged up as a resource for this particular report on JRS. Still no luck. And, obviously, it does work, just doesn't export to PDF properly. The built-in Sans Serif font shipped with iReport doesn't work either.

 

Anyone have any ideas?

 

 

 

 

[astrid.guenther]

I am very new here but I try an idea: You can change the encoding used for exporting here: Options | Export Options | Common. But I am sure you know this.

Did you use the properties pdfFontName, isPdfEmbedded and pdfEncoding in your textfield?

 

[benu]

Hi Astrid. Thanks for your suggestions. I've tried isPdfEmbedded - no luck. The other two properties are deprecated, so I've not tried them.

 

So, it's still not working for me, but thanks for your response!

 

Ben

[vn]

Benu,

I am facing with the same issue where I need to display square root in my PDF, did you get yours to work? If so, can you please share with us?

Thanks,
vn

[benu]

Hi vn. No, I did not get this to work. I'm pursuing a support incident to get this resolved, as this is a requirement for our organization. I'll post the solution once we get it figured out. Regards, Ben

[tchen]

Please use "DejaVu Sans" as pdf Font Name and "Identity-H" as pdfEncoding. This should work:

 

                <textElement textAlignment="Center" verticalAlignment="Middle" markup="html">
                    <font fontName="DejaVu Sans" size="11" pdfFontName="DejaVu Sans" pdfEncoding="Identity-H" isPdfEmbedded="true"/>
                </textElement>
                <textFieldExpression><![CDATA["☐"]]></textFieldExpression>

[benu]

This worked great - all I had to do was set fontName="DejaVu Sans". Good article here, too: http://www.tutorialspoint.com/jasper_reports/jasper_report_fonts.htm

 

Thanks Tom!