Convert Word to PDF in Google App Engine

13 Jun 20247 minutes to read

Syncfusion DocIO is a .NET Core Word library that allows you to create, read, edit, and convert Word documents programmatically, without the need for Microsoft Word or interop dependencies. Using this library, you can convert Word document to PDF in Google App Engine.

Set up App Engine

Step 1: Open the Google Cloud Console and click the Activate Cloud Shell button.

Step 2: Click the Cloud Shell Editor button to view the Workspace.

Step 3: Open Cloud Shell Terminal, run the following command to confirm authentication.

C#

gcloud auth list

Step 4: Click the Authorize button.

Create an application for App Engine

Step 1: Open Visual Studio and select the ASP.NET Core Web app (Model-View-Controller) template.

Step 2: Configure your new project according to your requirements.

Step 3: Click the Create button.

Step 4: Install the following Nuget packages in your application from Nuget.org.

• Syncfusion.DocIORenderer.Net.Core
• SkiaSharp.NativeAssets.Linux v2.88.6
• HarfBuzzSharp.NativeAssets.Linux v7.3.0

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.

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

C#

using Syncfusion.DocIO;
using Syncfusion.DocIO.DLS;
using Syncfusion.DocIORenderer;
using Syncfusion.Pdf;

Step 6: A default action method named Index will be present in HomeController.cs. Right click on Index method and select Go To View where you will be directed to its associated view page Index.cshtml.

Step 7: Add a new button in the Index.cshtml as shown below.

C#

@{Html.BeginForm("ConvertWordtoPDF", "Home", FormMethod.Get);
{
<div>
    <input type="submit" value="Convert Word Document to PDF" style="width:220px;height:27px" />
</div>
}
Html.EndForm();
}

Step 8: Add a new action method ConvertWordtoPDF in HomeController.cs and include the below code snippet to convert the Word document to Pdf and download it.

C#

//Open the file as Stream
using (FileStream docStream = new FileStream(Path.GetFullPath("Data/Template.docx"), FileMode.Open, FileAccess.Read))
{
    //Loads file stream into Word document
    using (WordDocument wordDocument = new WordDocument(docStream, FormatType.Automatic))
    {
        //Instantiation of DocIORenderer for Word to PDF conversion
        using (DocIORenderer render = new DocIORenderer())
        {
            //Converts Word document into PDF document
            PdfDocument pdfDocument = render.ConvertToPDF(wordDocument);
            //Saves the PDF document to MemoryStream.
            MemoryStream stream = new MemoryStream();
            pdfDocument.Save(stream);
            stream.Position = 0;
            //Download PDF document in the browser.
            return File(stream, "application/pdf", "Sample.pdf");
        }
    }
}

Move application to App Engine

Step 1: Open the Cloud Shell editor.

Step 2: Drag and drop the sample from your local machine to Workspace.

NOTE

If you have your sample application in your local machine, drag and drop it into the Workspace. If you created the sample using the Cloud Shell terminal command, it will be available in the Workspace.

Step 3: Open the Cloud Shell Terminal and run the following command to view the files and directories within your current Workspace.

C#

$ ls

Step 4: Run the following command to navigate which sample you want run.

C#

$ cd Convert-Word-Document-to-PDF

Step 5: To ensure that the sample is working correctly, please run the application using the following command.

C#

dotnet run --urls=http://localhost:8080

Step 6: Verify that the application is running properly by accessing the Web View -> Preview on port 8080.

Step 7: Now you can see the sample output on the preview page.

Step 8: Close the preview page and return to the terminal then press Ctrl+C for which will typically stop the process.

Publish the application

Step 1: Run the following command in Cloud Shell Terminal to publish the application.

C#

dotnet publish -c Release

Step 2: Run the following command in Cloud Shell Terminal to navigate to the publish folder.

C#

cd bin/Release/net6.0/publish/

Configure app.yaml and docker file

Step 1: Add the app.yaml file to the publish folder with the following contents.

C#

$ cat <<EOT >> app.yaml
env: flex
runtime: custom   
EOT

Step 2: Add the Docker file to the publish folder with the following contents.

C#

$ cat <<EOT >> Dockerfile
FROM mcr.microsoft.com/dotnet/aspnet:6.0
RUN apt-get update -y && apt-get install libfontconfig -y
ADD / /app
EXPOSE 8080
ENV ASPNETCORE_URLS=http://*:8080
WORKDIR /app
ENTRYPOINT [ "dotnet", "Convert-Word-document-to-PDF.dll"]
EOT

Step 3: You can ensure Docker and app.yaml files are added in Workspace.

Deploy to App Engine

Step 1: To deploy the application to the App Engine, run the following command in Cloud Shell Terminal. Afterwards, retrieve the URL from the Cloud Shell Terminal.

C#

$ gcloud app deploy --version v0

Step 2: Open the URL to access the application, which has been successfully deployed.

You can download a complete working sample from GitHub.

By executing the program, you will get the PDF document as follows. The output will be saved in bin folder.

Click here to explore the rich set of Syncfusion Word library (DocIO) features.

An online sample link to convert Word document to PDF in ASP.NET Core.