Overview of PDF Merger
PDF Merger combines files from your Quickbase app into one PDF and saves it back to your app. The files don't have to be PDFs. PDF Merger converts Word (DOC, DOCX), Excel (XLS, XLSX), text (TXT), email (MSG, EML), and image files (JPG, JPEG, PNG, GIF, BMP, TIF, TIFF) to PDF before merging them.
Choose the files to merge. You can name specific files. For each one, you give the table, the record, and the field that holds the file: a file attachment field, or a field that stores the file's Amazon S3 key or Dropbox file name. For example, you can merge a cover page from a templates table, a document on the record you run PDF Merger from, and a closing page. Or you can merge the files on all the records a query or report returns—for example, the files on every child record of a project. PDF Merger merges the files in the order you list them, or in the query's sort order.
Where the merged file is saved. PDF Merger saves the merged PDF to a file attachment field on the record you run it from, or on a record in another table, such as a documents table. It can also save the merged PDF to your Amazon S3 bucket or Dropbox folder, and write the file's S3 key or Dropbox file name to a field on the record.
How it runs. PDF Merger runs in the background. A Quickbase email notification that you create starts each merge by sending the record's PDF Merger parameters to PDF Merger. You decide when the notification fires—for example, when a record is added, or when a status field changes to a certain value—so merges can run automatically, without anyone selecting a button. If you'd rather start merges by hand, the installation wizard in the Extensions Portal can add an Execute PDF Merger button to the table. The button updates a trigger field, and your notification fires on that change. When a merge is done, PDF Merger saves the merged file and updates the merged date and trigger fields, if your setup includes them. If the merge fails, PDF Merger writes the reason to the error field (Merger Error Details in a wizard setup). Refresh the record to see the result.
Learn more
PDF Merger features and functionality: supported file types, storage options, and other extensions PDF Merger works with.
Set up PDF Merger with the installation wizard: the whole setup, step by step.
PDF Merger setup: the installation wizard step where you choose the destination table and the files to merge.
PDF Merger finish: the fields the wizard adds to your table.
PDF Merger email notification setup: create the email notification that runs PDF Merger.
PDF Merger merge options: merge with a configuration or with a query.
Formula Text field parameters: every parameter PDF Merger accepts, with examples.
PDF Merger troubleshooting: common problems and error messages.