CSV_TO_PDF_REPORT/code/TEMPLATE_FORMAT.md

Text-Only Template Format (MVP)

Implementation: src/EnvelopeRenderer.Cli/Render. Sample: sample-data/sample-envelope-template.xml.

<envelopeTemplate pageWidth="297" pageHeight="684">
  <text x="120" y="240" font="Arial" size="12">Static label:</text>
  <text x="120" y="225" font="Arial [Bold]" size="12" column="Full Name" />
</envelopeTemplate>

<envelopeTemplate>

• pageWidth, pageHeight — required, PDF points. Not a named paper size: Debenu Quick PDF 10.13's only named-size function (SetPageSize) covers ISO/ANSI paper sizes and DL, but no US envelope sizes, so this template format goes straight to SetPageDimensions(width, height) instead and lets the operator supply exact points for any envelope. A #10 envelope (4.125” x 9.5”) is pageWidth="297" pageHeight="684" (1” = 72pt).

<text>

One page is rendered per CSV record, in the order the CSV rows appear, each carrying every <text> element in the template.

• x, y — required, PDF points, measured from the page's bottom-left corner (Debenu's default coordinate origin — this template format doesn't call SetOrigin, so that default holds).
• font — required. A TrueType font name as it appears in the Windows Fonts folder (e.g. "Arial"), optionally with a style suffix: "Arial [Bold]", "Arial [Italic]", "Arial [BoldItalic]". The font must be installed on the machine running the CLI; it is always embedded in the output PDF so the reader doesn't need it installed too.
• size — required, positive, points.
• Exactly one of:
  • inline text content — static, printed as-is on every page, e.g. <text ...>Static label:</text>
  • column="<CSV header>" — dynamic, pulled from that column per record. Column matching is case-insensitive. Interpolating a column into a literal string (e.g. "Dear {FirstName},") is out of scope for this template format — see the deferred story “Create a dynamic text token from a CSV column.”

A column that isn't a real CSV header fails the whole run before any page is rendered, not partway through a large batch.

Known gaps

• Font resolution failure is blocking, not a warning — matches the Definition of Done's “missing-font behavior remains blocking” rule. A page is never silently rendered with a substitute font.
• Rendering requires a Debenu Quick PDF Library license key at runtime — see the “Debenu license key” note in CLI_CONTRACT.md. Without one, every render fails at the save step (SaveToFile/SaveToString both return error code 999) even though every earlier step (page creation, font embedding, text drawing) succeeds — verified directly against the vendor DLL, not assumed.