z3c-rml

library5.1.1pypypi✓ verified 83d ago

An alternative implementation of Report Markup Language (RML) for generating PDFs. Provides a Pythonic API to produce RML XML that can be rendered by ReportLab. Current version 5.0.1, requires Python >=3.9. Maintained by the Zope Foundation with a slow release cadence.

serialization

pip install z3c-rml

github ↗package ↗changelog ↗

INSTALL

IMPORT

SIG · Z3C-RML

z3c-rml

serializationpythonv5.1.1

Install

5.4s avg

Import

1814ms

Disk

86MB

Pass rate

8/ 10

Env Coverage8 / 10

glibc

3.9–3.13

musl

3.9–3.13

Install & Compatibility

Where this runs

tested against v5.1.1 · pip install

no network on importno background threads

Install × environment matrix

Each cell = how many times install + import succeeded across repeated harness runs. Partial = flaky.
glibc = Debian/Ubuntu slim · musl = Alpine Linux

musl

glibc

py 3.10

✓ —

✓ 6.6s

py 3.11

✓ —

✓ 5.3s

py 3.12

✓ —

✓ 4.8s

py 3.13

✓ —

✓ 5s

py 3.9

✕ build_error

86MB installed

● package 86MB

Code

Verified usage

Verified import paths — ran on the pinned version, not inferred.

RML2PDF

✓ from z3c.rml import rml2pdf

✗ from z3c.rml.rml2pdf import RML2PDF

RML2PDF is obtained via the module, not directly imported; use the module-level functions.

story

✓ from z3c.rml import story

✗ import z3c.rml.story

Access story elements via attribute of the module, not submodule import.

Minimal example: create a document, add a paragraph, and render to PDF.

from z3c.rml import rml2pdf, story from io import BytesIO # Create a simple RML document (this is a Pythonic representation, not raw XML) doc = story.DocTemplate( pagesize=(595.27, 841.89), # A4 title="Hello World" ) story = doc.story story.append(story.Paragraph("Hello, World!", style=story.ParagraphStyle(name='Normal'))) # Generate PDF buf = BytesIO() rml2pdf.go(doc, buf) buf.seek(0) print("PDF generated, size:", len(buf.read()))

z3c-rml --version

Debug

Known issues

gotchaz3c.rml uses a Pythonic object model, not raw RML XML. Do not try to pass raw RML strings; use the story objects.

fix

Use `z3c.rml.story` classes (DocTemplate, Paragraph, etc.) instead of manually constructing XML.

affects: all

deprecatedThe old `z3c.rml.rml2pdf` module had different function signatures. In version 5.0, the preferred method is `rml2pdf.go(doc, output)`. The old direct class instantiation may still work but is not recommended.

fix

Use `from z3c.rml import rml2pdf; rml2pdf.go(doc, output)`.

affects: >=5.0

gotchaThe library expects a `BytesIO` or a file path for output. Passing a string path works, but avoid passing a file-like object that is not seekable.

fix

Ensure output is a writable bytes buffer or a string path to a file.

affects: all

Errors

Common errors & fixes

AttributeError: module 'z3c.rml' has no attribute 'story'

Incorrect import. The library is structured so that `z3c.rml` is a namespace package; you must import submodules explicitly.

fix

Use `from z3c.rml import story` instead of `import z3c.rml.story`.

ImportError: cannot import name 'RML2PDF' from 'z3c.rml'

Trying to import the old class directly from the package root. In modern versions, use `from z3c.rml import rml2pdf`.

fix

Replace `from z3c.rml import RML2PDF` with `from z3c.rml import rml2pdf`.

TypeError: go() takes at least 2 positional arguments (0 given)

Calling `rml2pdf.go()` without arguments or with incorrect arguments. The function expects a doc and an output.

fix

Correct usage: `rml2pdf.go(doc, output)` where doc is a story.DocTemplate and output is a file path or BytesIO.

Upgrade

Version history

5.1.1latest on PyPI · released May 21, 2026

Audit

Dependencies

reportlabrequiredRequired for PDF generation from RML

Agent activity

29 hits · last 30 days

node

OpenAI (training)

Resources

githubhttps://github.com/zopefoundation/z3c.rml ↗

packagehttps://pypi.org/project/z3c-rml/ ↗

changeloghttps://raw.githubusercontent.com/zopefoundation/z3c.rml/master/CHANGES.rst ↗