Push past Advanced PDF field limits in NetSuite. Render PDFs with data sourced from any record, search, or related transaction.
To show data that is not available on the record, a common approach is to create a button which then calls a Suitelet. This Suitelet uses saved searches or queries to generate the data needed on the Advanced PDF and then renders the PDF. This is fine but what if there was a way to natively print the PDF without the need for a custom button?
Solution
Create a User Event Script on the record. In the beforeLoad function get the data you need using Saved Searches or SuiteQL. Create a custom field to store the data.
/**
* @NApiVersion 2.1
* @NScriptType UserEventScript
* @NModuleScope Public
*
*/
define([
'N/record',
'N/search',
'N/ui/serverWidget'
]
, (
record,
search,
serverWidget
) => {
beforeLoad = (context) => {
if (context.type == context.UserEventType.PRINT) {
const newRecord = context.newRecord;
// Create the custom field to save data
let dataForPDF = context.form.addField({
id: 'custpage_data_for_pdf',
type: serverWidget.FieldType.LONGTEXT,
label: 'data for pdf'
});
dataForPDF.updateDisplayType({ displayType: serverWidget.FieldDisplayType.HIDDEN });
// Call Search function(s) to get all the data you need. This should return an object
let dataObject = getData();
dataForPDF.defaultValue = JSON.stringify(dataObject);
}
}
getData = () => {
// get all the data using searches or SuiteQL
return dataObject;
}
return {
beforeLoad: beforeLoad
};
});
In the Advanced PDF reference the generated field. Use “eval” to parse the data into an object.
<#assign data = record.custpage_data_for_pdf?eval>
${data.field}Conclusion
This simple solution allows you reach data you otherwise would not be able to on an advanced PDF. It does this without the need for a custom button.