Home Discussions Questions & Answers Audit Archiving: Automating PDF Output Generation via Blitz Report Postprocessing Feature

Audit Archiving: Automating PDF Output Generation via Blitz Report Postprocessing Feature

Avatar photoCustomer November 8, 2025 at 8:04 am

While Blitz Report excels at generating fast Excel output, our compliance requirements dictate that certain period-end reports must be archived in an uneditable PDF format. Using BI Publisher’s Output Post-Processing (OPP) is unreliable and complex for basic PDF conversion. Can the Blitz Report postprocessing feature be used to automatically invoke an external tool to Generate PDF output from the Excel file directly after report execution, satisfying our audit needs?

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    • Support November 8, 2025 at 10:38 am  

      Yes, the powerful Blitz Report postprocessing feature is designed exactly for this purpose, allowing users to perform additional actions on the final output files, such as conversion via external tools. This bypasses traditional reliance on OPP management.

    • Avatar photoCustomer November 8, 2025 at 2:14 pm  

      What external tools are typically recommended for the conversion from Excel/XLSX to PDF on a Linux server, and how do we integrate them via script?

    • Support November 8, 2025 at 5:07 pm  

      A highly recommended tool is Libre Office, which offers headless conversion capability on Linux. The conversion logic is placed within a custom post-process script (e.g., `generate_pdf.sh`) saved in the custom top directory, utilizing `libreoffice –headless –convert-to ‘pdf’` command syntax.

    • Avatar photoCustomer November 8, 2025 at 10:42 pm  

      How do we trigger this script automatically, and can we ensure the PDF retains clear formatting, including cell borders?

    • Support November 9, 2025 at 1:05 am  

      The script is triggered by setting the `Custom Postprocess` field value when running the report. To ensure clear visual formatting, users can enable the Blitz Report XLSX Cell Borders profile option, which applies borders to the Excel output, resulting in a cleaner, formatted PDF document upon conversion.

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