ItextSharp nested table on multiple pages causes NullReferenceException

Question

I am getting a NullReferenceException when the following code is executed. I have also noticed that the nested table appeared on a new page when I added in the code that wrote cells to the main table. It doesn't occur if I take out the two loops that write cells to the main table.

<%@ Page Title="" Language="C#" MasterPageFile="~/Main.master" %>

<%@ Import Namespace="iTextSharp.text" %>
<%@ Import Namespace="iTextSharp.text.pdf" %>

<%@ Import Namespace="System.IO" %>


<script runat="server">

protected void Page_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
{

    Document doc = new Document(PageSize.LETTER);

    // Here is some stuff needed to put the pdf into the users response stream
    Response.Clear();
    Response.ContentType = "application/pdf";
    MemoryStream memoryStream = new MemoryStream();

    PdfWriter writer = PdfWriter.GetInstance(doc, memoryStream);

    writer.CloseStream = false; // This is important, but it may work without it

    doc.SetMargins(20, 20, 36, 10);

    // write stuff to the documents
    doc.Open();

    doc.Add(GenerateNestedTableTest());


    doc.Close();

    // Now that all writing to the document is done lets send it to the user
    writer.Flush();
    Response.OutputStream.Write(memoryStream.GetBuffer(), 0, memoryStream.GetBuffer().Length);
    Response.OutputStream.Flush();
    Response.OutputStream.Close();
    Response.End();
}


private PdfPTable GenerateNestedTableTest()
{
    PdfPTable mainTable = new PdfPTable(5);

    // test adding cells to mainTable in groups of 5
    for (int i = 0; i <= 5 * 10; ++i)
    {
        PdfPCell mainTableCell = new PdfPCell(new Phrase("Test"));
        mainTable.AddCell(mainTableCell);
    }

    PdfPTable nestedTable = new PdfPTable(3);

    Font TitleFont = new Font(null, 20, Font.BOLD, Color.BLACK);

    PdfPCell TitleCell = new PdfPCell(new Phrase("This is the header of the nested table", TitleFont));
    TitleCell.Colspan = 3;

    nestedTable.AddCell(TitleCell);

    string[] headers = new string[] { "Header1", "Header2", "Header3" };

    foreach (string header in headers)
    {
        PdfPCell HeaderCell = new PdfPCell(new Phrase(header, new Font(null, 14, Font.BOLD, Color.BLUE)));
        HeaderCell.HorizontalAlignment = Element.ALIGN_CENTER;
        nestedTable.AddCell(HeaderCell);
    }




    for (int i = 0; i <= 3*556; ++i)
    {
        nestedTable.AddCell(new Phrase("Test Cell"));
    }


    PdfPCell nestedTableCell = new PdfPCell(nestedTable);
    nestedTableCell.Colspan = 4;

    mainTable.AddCell(new PdfPCell());
    mainTable.AddCell(nestedTableCell);


    // test adding cells to mainTable in groups of 5
    for (int i = 0; i <= 5 * 10; ++i)
    {
        PdfPCell mainTableCell = new PdfPCell(new Phrase("Test"));
        mainTable.AddCell(mainTableCell);
    }

    return mainTable;
}

</script>

<asp:Content ID="Content1" ContentPlaceHolderID="PageHeadContentPlaceHolder" Runat="Server">
</asp:Content>
<asp:Content ID="Content2" ContentPlaceHolderID="PageTitleContentPlaceHolder" Runat="Server">
</asp:Content>
<asp:Content ID="Content3" ContentPlaceHolderID="PageBodyContentPlaceHolder" Runat="Server">
</asp:Content>

Answer 1

After struggling with it for awhile, I finally decided it was a flaw in the library. I went to look and see if there was a newer version. There infact was. I was using version 4.1.6. There is now a version 5.0.0. This code runs correctly in that version.

After I replaced the dlls I also added

mainTable.SplitLate = false;
mainTable.SplitRows = true;

right after

private PdfPTable GenerateNestedTableTest()
{
    PdfPTable mainTable = new PdfPTable(5);

to fix the problem of the nested table being on a new page. Everything seems to work really well now. Maybe this post will help someone else that is on an old version.

Answer 2

Thanks for posting this. It was a big help.