Create PowerPoint Presentation in Azure Functions (Flex Consumption)

21 Jul 202613 minutes to read

Syncfusion^® PowerPoint is a .NET Core PowerPoint library used to create, read, edit and convert PowerPoint documents programmatically without Microsoft PowerPoint or interop dependencies. Using this library, you can create a PowerPoint Presentation in Azure Functions deployed on a Flex (Consumption) plan.

Steps to create a PowerPoint Presentation in Azure Functions (Flex Consumption)

NOTE

Prerequisites: An active Azure subscription and Visual Studio with the Azure development workload installed.

Step 1: Create a new Azure Functions project.

Step 2: Create a project name and select the location.

Step 3: Select function worker as .NET 8.0 (Long Term Support) (isolated worker) and target Flex/Consumption hosting suitable for isolated worker.

Step 4: Install the Syncfusion.Presentation.Net.Core NuGet package as a reference to your project from NuGet.org.

NOTE

Starting with v16.2.0.x, if you reference Syncfusion^® assemblies from trial setup or from the NuGet feed, you also have to add “Syncfusion.Licensing” assembly reference and include a license key in your projects. Please refer to this link to know about registering Syncfusion^® license key in your application to use our components.

Register the Syncfusion license key once at startup, for example in Program.cs of the Azure Functions project:

C#

Syncfusion.Licensing.SyncfusionLicenseProvider.RegisterLicense("YOUR_LICENSE_KEY");

Step 5: Include the following namespaces in the Function1.cs file.

C#

using System.IO;
using System.Reflection;
using Microsoft.AspNetCore.Mvc;
using Microsoft.Azure.Functions.Worker;
using Microsoft.Azure.Functions.Worker.Http;
using Microsoft.Extensions.Logging;
using Syncfusion.Presentation;

Step 6: Add a folder named Data inside the project, place an image (for example, Image.jpg) into it, and set its Build Action to Embedded Resource. The sample code in the next step loads this image as a manifest resource stream from Create_PowerPoint_Presentation.Data.Image.jpg (replace Create_PowerPoint_Presentation with your project’s default namespace).

Step 7: Add the following code snippet in Run method of Function1 class to create a PowerPoint document in Azure Functions and return the resultant PowerPoint document to the client end.

C#

public class Function1
{
    private readonly ILogger<Function1> _logger;

    public Function1(ILogger<Function1> logger)
    {
        _logger = logger;
    }

     [Function("CreatePowerPointPresentation")]
    public async Task<IActionResult> Run([HttpTrigger(AuthorizationLevel.Function, "post")] HttpRequest req)
    {
        try
        {
            //Create a new instance of PowerPoint Presentation file.
            using IPresentation pptxDoc = Presentation.Create();
            //Add a new slide to file and apply background color.
            ISlide slide = pptxDoc.Slides.Add(SlideLayoutType.TitleOnly);
            //Specify the fill type and fill color for the slide background.
            slide.Background.Fill.FillType = FillType.Solid;
            slide.Background.Fill.SolidFill.Color = ColorObject.FromArgb(232, 241, 229);
            //Add title content to the slide by accessing the title placeholder of the TitleOnly layout-slide.
            IShape titleShape = slide.Shapes[0] as IShape;
            titleShape.TextBody.AddParagraph("Company History").HorizontalAlignment = HorizontalAlignmentType.Center;
            //Add description content to the slide by adding a new TextBox.
            IShape descriptionShape = slide.AddTextBox(53.22, 141.73, 874.19, 77.70);
            descriptionShape.TextBody.Text = "IMN Solutions PVT LTD is the software company, established in 1987, by George Milton. The company has been listed as the trusted partner for many high-profile organizations since 1988 and got awards for quality products from reputed organizations.";
            //Add bullet points to the slide.
            IShape bulletPointsShape = slide.AddTextBox(53.22, 270, 437.90, 116.32);
            //Add a paragraph for a bullet point.
            IParagraph firstPara = bulletPointsShape.TextBody.AddParagraph("The company acquired the MCY corporation for 20 billion dollars and became the top revenue maker for the year 2015.");
            //Format how the bullets should be displayed.
            firstPara.ListFormat.Type = ListType.Bulleted;
            firstPara.LeftIndent = 35;
            firstPara.FirstLineIndent = -35;
            // Add another paragraph for the next bullet point.
            IParagraph secondPara = bulletPointsShape.TextBody.AddParagraph("The company is participating in top open source projects in automation industry.");
            //Format how the bullets should be displayed.
            secondPara.ListFormat.Type = ListType.Bulleted;
            secondPara.LeftIndent = 35;
            secondPara.FirstLineIndent = -35;
            //Get a picture as stream.
            var assembly = Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly();
            var pictureStream = assembly.GetManifestResourceStream("Create_PowerPoint_Presentation.Data.Image.jpg");
            //Add the picture to a slide by specifying its size and position.
            slide.Shapes.AddPicture(pictureStream, 499.79, 238.59, 364.54, 192.16);
            //Add an auto-shape to the slide.
            IShape stampShape = slide.Shapes.AddShape(AutoShapeType.Explosion1, 48.93, 430.71, 104.13, 80.54);
            //Format the auto-shape color by setting the fill type and text.
            stampShape.Fill.FillType = FillType.None;
            stampShape.TextBody.AddParagraph("IMN").HorizontalAlignment = HorizontalAlignmentType.Center;
            using MemoryStream memoryStream = new MemoryStream();
            //Saves the PowerPoint document file.
            pptxDoc.Save(memoryStream);
            memoryStream.Position = 0;
            var bytes = memoryStream.ToArray();
            return new FileContentResult(bytes, "application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.presentationml.presentation")
            {
                FileDownloadName = "presentation.pptx"
            };
        }
        catch (Exception ex)
        {
            // Log the error with details for troubleshooting
            _logger.LogError(ex, "Error creating PPTX");
            // Prepare error message including exception details
            var msg = $"Exception: {ex.Message}\n\n{ex}";
            // Return a 500 Internal Server Error response with the message
            return new ContentResult { StatusCode = 500, Content = msg, ContentType = "text/plain; charset=utf-8" };
        }
    }
}

Step 8: Right-click the project and select Publish. Then, create a new profile in the Publish Window.

Step 9: Select the target as Azure and click the Next button.

Step 10: Select the specific target as Azure Function App and click the Next button.

Step 11: Select the Create new button.

Step 12: Click the Create button.

Step 13: After creating the Function App, click the Finish button.

Step 14: Click the Publish button.

Step 15: Publish succeeded.

Step 16: Now, go to the Azure portal and select the Function App. After running the function, click Get Function URL and copy it. Then, paste it in the client sample below (which will request the Azure Function to create a PowerPoint Presentation). You will get the output PowerPoint Presentation as follows.

Steps to post the request to Azure Functions

Step 1: Create a console application to request the Azure Functions API.

Step 2: Create a folder named Output inside the project to store the generated PowerPoint file.

Step 3: Add the following code snippet into the Main method to post the request to the Azure Function and get the resultant PowerPoint Presentation. Include the following namespaces at the top of the Program.cs file: System, System.IO, System.Net.Http, and System.Threading.Tasks.

C#

static async Task Main()
    {
        try
        {
            Console.Write("Please enter your Azure Function URL: ");
            string url = Console.ReadLine();
            if (string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(url)) return;
            // Create a new HttpClient instance for sending HTTP requests
            using var http = new HttpClient();
            using var content = new StringContent(string.Empty);
            using var res = await http.PostAsync(url, content);
            // Read the response body as a byte array
            var resBytes = await res.Content.ReadAsByteArrayAsync();
            // Extract the media type from the response headers
            string mediaType = res.Content.Headers.ContentType?.MediaType ?? string.Empty;
            // Decide the output file path: the response is a pptx or txt
            string outputPath = mediaType.Contains("presentation", StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase)
                || mediaType.Contains("powerpoint", StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase)
                || mediaType.Equals("application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.presentationml.presentation", StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase)
                ? Path.GetFullPath("../../../Output/Output.pptx")
                : Path.GetFullPath("../../../Output/function-error.txt");
            // Write the response bytes to the output file
            await File.WriteAllBytesAsync(outputPath, resBytes);
            Console.WriteLine($"Saved: {outputPath}");
        }
        catch (Exception ex)
        {
            throw;
        }
    }

From GitHub, you can download the console application and Azure Functions Flex Consumption.

Looking for the full .NET PowerPoint Library component overview, features, pricing, and documentation? Visit the .NET PowerPoint Library page.