Datatable Export (PDF)

Every datatable can offer an export menu so users download the current dataset. This page covers PDF export specifically — turning it on, choosing the rendering engine, and supplying your own layout. See the Datatables overview for the other formats and the table surface in general.

Enabling PDF export

PDF is configured in config/datatables.php under the export block. Publish the config first:

php artisan vendor:publish --tag=datatables::config

PDF export needs a rendering library installed. The default uses mPDF — install it and you're done:

composer require mccarlosen/laravel-mpdf

If the export menu offers PDF but the library isn't installed, the export fails with a clear "missing dependency" error. Install the matching package to fix it.

Options

Configure these under export.pdf in config/datatables.php:

• enabled — whether PDF appears among the table's export choices.
• template — the Blade view rendered into the PDF. Defaults to the packaged template; point it at your own for a custom layout.
• adapter — which engine renders the PDF. Defaults to mPDF; switch to DomPDF here.
• options — passed straight to the engine (e.g. page format and orientation).

Examples

Switching to DomPDF

Install the library and point the adapter at it:

composer require barryvdh/laravel-dompdf

// config/datatables.php
'adapter' => \Redot\Datatables\Adapters\PDF\DomPdf::class,

Using your own PDF layout

Set template to your own Blade view. Your template receives $headings (an array of column labels) and $rows (each row as an array of already-rendered cells). Render the cells with {!! $cell !!} so column formatting comes through, and keep the <!-- chunk --> marker before each row if you stay on mPDF (it uses it to stream large tables):

{{-- resources/templates/pdf/datatable.blade.php --}}
<x-layouts::pdf>
    <table>
        <thead>
            <tr>
                @foreach ($headings as $heading)
                    <th>{{ $heading }}</th>
                @endforeach
            </tr>
        </thead>
        <tbody>
            @forelse ($rows as $row)
                <!-- chunk -->
                <tr>
                    @foreach ($row as $cell)
                        <td>{!! $cell !!}</td>
                    @endforeach
                </tr>
            @empty
                <tr>
                    <td colspan="{{ count($headings) }}">{{ __('No data available') }}</td>
                </tr>
            @endforelse
        </tbody>
    </table>
</x-layouts::pdf>

// config/datatables.php
'template' => 'templates.pdf.datatable',

To tweak the packaged template instead of replacing it, publish the views and edit your copy:

php artisan vendor:publish --tag=datatables::views

Per-table overrides

Want one table to use a different engine, layout, or page orientation? Override the engine, template, or options on that datatable class and leave the rest to fall back to config — for example a landscape orientation while keeping the configured A4 format. Exclude individual columns from exports with a column's exportable option (see Columns).

Related

• Add & configure columns
• Datatables overview