Code

Background

Read background information on the design of the timeclock system!

Single vs. Multiple timesheets

Since each student’s timesheet is formated the same way, whether it is generated as a single timesheet or as part of multiple timesheets, I developed a class to create the timesheets.

Figure 1: A sample timesheet

In the class is a function called outputPDF which accepts one argument: an array of the timesheet values. Inside the function we begin creating the page.

function outputFPdf($app_data)
{
	$app_data;
	ob_start();
	$output = null;
	$output .= $this->fpdf->SetFont('Arial','B',15);
	$output .= $this->fpdf->Cell(80);
	$output .= $this->fpdf->Cell(30,10,'Complete Payroll Report',0,0,'C');
	$output .= $this->fpdf->Ln(8);
			$output .= $this->fpdf->SetFont('Arial','',10);
	$output .= $this->fpdf->Cell('',10,"Name: ".$app_data['name'],0,0,'C');
	$output .= $this->fpdf->Ln(6);
        <---- edited for brevity ---->
	ob_clean();
	return $output;
}

Now that we’ve got the timesheet ready let’s create a function that determines the timesheet type.

function createPdf($app_data, $type, $begin, $end, $section=null)
	{

There are a few things we want to accomplish with this function.

• include and instantiate the fpdf library

  include 'includes/fpdf.php';
  $this->fpdf = new fpdfHelper();

• Call the FPDF page numbering function and create the first page:

  $this->fpdf->AliasNbPages();
  $this->fpdf->AddPage();

• Set the page title:

  $this->fpdf->setTitle('Complete Payroll Report');

• check to see if the type is single and if so, generate the timesheet:

  if($type == 'single')
  {
  	//set the begin period and end period dates
  	$app_data['begin_period'] = $begin;
  	$app_data['end_period'] = $end;
  	//create the timesheet
  	$data = $this->outputPdf($app_data);
  	//get the current date so we can put it in the file name of the timesheet
  	$date = date("m_d_Y");
  	//create the file name with the employee's name and the date
  	$name = $app_data['name']."_".$date.".pdf";
  	//send it to the browser
  	echo $this->fpdf->fpdfOutput($name, $destination = 'd');
  }

• if the type isn’t single check to see if it is multiple and if so, generate the timesheets:

  elseif($type == 'multiple')
  {
  	//get the current date to use in the file name
  	$date = date("m_d_Y");
  	//do stuff to get all apps in pdf
  	$data = null; //create variable to hold the timesheets as we generate them
  	//loop through the data and create a timesheet for each employee
  	foreach ($app_data as $app)
  	{
  		//set up begin and end date variables for the pay period
  		$app['begin_period'] = $begin;
  		$app['end_period'] = $end;
  		//generate timesheet for the current employee and store it in the data variable
  		$data .= $this->outputPdf($app);
  		//create a new page
  		$data .= $this->fpdf->AddPage();
  	}
  	//create the file name and include the name of the department (section) in it
  	$name = "payroll_report_".$section."_".$date.".pdf";
  	//send it to the browser
  	echo $this->fpdf->fpdfOutput($name, $destination = 'd');
  }
  }

So all together it looks like this:

function createPdf($app_data, $type, $begin, $end, $section=null)
{
	include 'includes/fpdf.php';
	$this->fpdf = new fpdfHelper();

	$this->fpdf->AliasNbPages();
	$this->fpdf->AddPage();

	$this->fpdf->setTitle('Complete Payroll Report');

	if($type == 'single')
	{
		//set the begin period and end period dates
		$app_data['begin_period'] = $begin;
		$app_data['end_period'] = $end;
		//create the timesheet
		$data = $this->outputPdf($app_data);
		//get the current date so we can put it in the file name of the timesheet
		$date = date("m_d_Y");
		//create the file name with the employee's name and the date
		$name = $app_data['name']."_".$date.".pdf";
		//send it to the browser
		echo $this->fpdf->fpdfOutput($name, $destination = 'd');
	}
	elseif($type == 'multiple')
	{
		//get the current date to use in the file name
		$date = date("m_d_Y");
		//do stuff to get all apps in pdf
		$data = null; //create variable to hold the timesheets as we generate them
		//loop through the data and create a timesheet for each employee
		foreach ($app_data as $app)
		{
			//set up begin and end date variables for the pay period
			$app['begin_period'] = $begin;
			$app['end_period'] = $end;
			//generate timesheet for the current employee and store it in the data variable
			$data .= $this->outputPdf($app);
			//create a new page
			$data .= $this->fpdf->AddPage();
		}
		//create the file name and include the name of the department (section) in it
		$name = "payroll_report_".$section."_".$date.".pdf";
		//send it to the browser
		echo $this->fpdf->fpdfOutput($name, $destination = 'd');
	}
}