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Calling HTMLDOC from a Shell Script

Shell scripts are probably the easiest to work with, but are normally limited to GET type requests. Here is a script called topdf that acts as a portal, converting the named file to PDF:

    #!/bin/sh
    #
    # Sample "portal" script to convert the named HTML file to PDF on-the-fly.
    #
    # Usage: http://www.domain.com/path/topdf/path/filename.html
    #

    #
    # Tell HTMLDOC not to run in CGI mode...
    #

    HTMLDOC_NOCGI=1; export HTMLDOC_NOCGI

    #
    # The "options" variable contains any options you want to pass to HTMLDOC.
    #

    options='-t pdf --webpage --header ... --footer ..."

    #
    # Tell the browser to expect a PDF file...
    #

    echo "Content-Type: application/pdf"
    echo ""

    #
    # Run HTMLDOC to generate the PDF file...
    #

    htmldoc $options http://${SERVER_NAME}:${SERVER_PORT}$PATH_INFO

Users of this CGI would reference the URL "http://www.domain.com/topdf.cgi/index.html" to generate a PDF file of the site's home page.

The options variable in the script can be set to use any supported command-line option for HTMLDOC; for a complete list see Chapter 8 - Command-Line Reference.

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