Excessive page break of pdf using fpdf

Question

I want to show data from a MySQL database in a table form. When the data exceeds the first page, the next row is written correctly on the next page. But every row after that is written to a new page. This means the first page looks fine, but the second page and beyond will contain one row only. How can I prevent this? Below is my code:

<?php
require('fpdf17/fpdf.php');
require('db.php');

//create a FPDF object
$pdf=new FPDF();

//set font for the entire document
$pdf->SetFont('Times','B',20); //set font for the whole page (font family, style, size)
$pdf->SetTextColor(0,0,0); //using RGB value

//set up a page
$pdf->AddPage('P');  //potrait orientation
$pdf->SetDisplayMode('default'); //using 100 percent zoom and the viewer's default layout

//insert an image
$icon = "files/icon.png";
$pdf->Cell (10);
$pdf->Cell(60, 60, $pdf->Image($icon, $pdf->GetX(), $pdf->GetY(), 33.78), 0, 0, 'L', false);

$pdf->SetFillColor(0,0,0);
$pdf->SetFont('Times', '', 12);
$pdf->SetXY(10, 30);
$pdf->Cell(10);
$pdf->Cell(30, 6, 'Retrieval Date' , 0, 0, '', 0);
date_default_timezone_set("Asia/Kuala_Lumpur"); //set default time zone
$pdf->Cell(30, 6, ': '.date("d/m/Y"), 0, 2, 'B', 0);

//Set x and y position for the main text, reduce font size and write content
$pdf->SetXY(20,40); //setting the position
$pdf->SetFont('Times', 'BU', 14);
$pdf->Write(12,'Absenteeism record for:');

$fac = addslashes( filter_input( INPUT_GET,'fac',FILTER_SANITIZE_STRING ) );
$data = "SELECT * FROM faculty WHERE fac_code LIKE '$_GET[fac]'";

$result = $conn->query($data) or die("Error: ".mysqli_error($conn));
while($ser=mysqli_fetch_array($result)){

    $fac_name = $ser['fac_name'];
    $pdf->SetFillColor(0,0,0);
    $pdf->SetFont('Times', '', 12);
    $pdf->SetY(50);
    $pdf->Cell(10);
    $pdf->SetX(20);
    $pdf->Cell(30, 6, 'FACULTY' , 0, 0, '', 0);
    $pdf->Cell(30, 6, ': '.$fac.'-'.' '.$fac_name, 0, 2, 'B', 0);
}

//start first table
$pdf->SetFillColor(255,255,255);
$pdf->SetFont('Times', 'B', 12);
$pdf->SetXY(21,58);
$pdf->Cell(10, 6, 'No.', 1, 0, 'L', 1);
$pdf->Cell(25, 6, 'Matric no', 1, 0, 'L', 1);
$pdf->Cell(45, 6, 'Name', 1, 0, 'L', 1);
$pdf->Cell(31, 6, 'Programme', 1, 0, 'L', 1);
$pdf->Cell(20, 6, 'Course', 1, 0, 'L', 1);
$pdf->Cell(35, 6, 'Absenteeism %', 1, 0, 'L', 1);

$row_height = 6;
$y1_axis = 58;
$y1_axis = $y1_axis + $row_height;
$counter = 1;
$fac = addslashes( filter_input( INPUT_GET,'fac',FILTER_SANITIZE_STRING ) );
$data = "
    SELECT
        stud_matric, stud_name, fac_code, fac_name, group_group_code, prog_code, course_course_code,
        getid, SUM(studAtt_endTime - studAtt_startTime)/(course_contacthour_perWeek * 14) AS 'sum'
    FROM studentattendance";



$result = $conn->query($data)  or die("Error: ".mysqli_error($conn));
while($ser=mysqli_fetch_array($result)){

    $fac_name = $ser['fac_name'];
    $stud_matric = $ser['stud_matric'];
    $stud_name = $ser['stud_name'];
    $prog_code = $ser['prog_code'];
    $course_course_code = $ser['course_course_code'];
    $per= $ser['sum'];

    $pdf->SetFont('Times', '', 12);
    $pdf->SetXY(21, $y1_axis);
    $pdf->Cell(10, 6, $counter, 1, 0, 'L', 1);
    $pdf->Cell(25, 6, $stud_matric, 1, 0, 'L', 1);
    $pdf->Cell(45, 6, $stud_name, 1, 0, 'L', 1);
    $pdf->Cell(31, 6, $prog_code, 1, 0, 'L', 1);
    $pdf->Cell(20, 6, $course_course_code, 1, 0, 'L', 1);
    $pdf->Cell(35, 6, $per, 1, 0, 'L', 1);
    $pdf->Ln();

    $y1_axis = $y1_axis + $row_height;
    $counter++;
}
//end first table

//Output the document
$pdf->Output("$fac.pdf",'I'); 
?> 

Answer 1

change this

$data = "
    SELECT
        stud_matric, stud_name, fac_code, fac_name, group_group_code, prog_code, course_course_code,
        getid, SUM(studAtt_endTime - studAtt_startTime)/(course_contacthour_perWeek * 14) AS 'sum'
    FROM studentattendance";

to this

$data = "
    SELECT
        stud_matric, stud_name, fac_code, fac_name, group_group_code, prog_code, course_course_code,
        getid, ((studAtt_endTime - studAtt_startTime)/(course_contacthour_perWeek * 14)) AS sum
    FROM studentattendance";

Answer 2

I suspect the reason is that your $y1_axis grows too big; probably the easiest solution is to add to the bottom of your database loop:

$y1_axis = $y1_axis + $row_height;
$counter++;
if ($counter % 35 === 0) {
    $pdf->AddPage();
    $y1_axis = 20;
}

And make sure you disable automatic page breaks with $pdf->SetAutoPageBreak(false) when you create the PDF.