PDF won't display in browser window - c#

I am using a handler to get and display a PDF in the browser window using the code below:
byte[] byt = RetrieveDocument(int.Parse(context.Request.Params["id"]), context.Request.Params["title"]);
string file = WriteDocumentFilePDF(byt);
HttpContext.Current.Response.ContentType = "application/pdf";
HttpContext.Current.Response.AddHeader("content-length", byt.Length.ToString());
HttpContext.Current.Response.AddHeader("Content-Disposition", "inline; filename=programdetails.pdf");
HttpContext.Current.Response.BinaryWrite(byt);
HttpContext.Current.Response.End();
The function WriteDocumentFilePDF successfully writes the PDF to the temp directory. I have the above code working correctly in a different application. Am I missing something?

When debugging issues like this, I find that Fiddler is an invaluable tool; many many times it has saved me from simple mistakes. Also, this site http://www.c-sharpcorner.com/uploadfile/prathore/what-is-an-ashx-file-handler-or-web-handler/ gives an example of doing the same thing but with a GIF image. The difference between your example and his seems to be the use of Response.WriteFile() rather than the direct write to the Response using BinaryWrite().
I would perform a Response.ClearHeaders() before I set the content-type and I would remove the call to Response.End().

Does it make a difference if you pass the byte[] to memorystream first? So something like
byte[] byt = RetrieveDocument(int.Parse(context.Request.Params["id"]), context.Request.Params["title"]);
string file = WriteDocumentFilePDF(byt);
MemoryStream ms = new MemoryStream(byt);
And then add your headers
HttpContext.Current.Response.ContentType = "application/pdf";
HttpContext.Current.Response.AddHeader("Content-Disposition", "inline; filename=programdetails.pdf");
HttpContext.Current.Response.BinaryWrite(ms.ToArray());
HttpContext.Current.Response.End();

Related

Fail Network Error Download PDF using iis

I inherited an .net application that allows users to download a pdf. Now, I am able to download the pdf file when I run locally but when I deploy to IIS server I run into problems. The download works on Firefox but doesnt work on Chrome, and sometimes on IE. The fact that I can download it on my local development environment tells that it could be something with IIS configuration or maybe my code. The pdf is stored in ms sql server 2012 table as varbinary. I provided some code below that is used to read the data. Please let me know if there are other information you all need. Also, I checked the iis logs and I am getting 200 status codes for everything. Nothing stands out in there.
if(Session["DetailID"] != null)
{
//get the file
DataTable dt = sp_Attachment_Download(lblAttachmentIDD.Text);
DataRow row = dt.Rows[0];
string name = (string)row["AFileName"];
string contentType = (string)row["AFileType"];
Byte[] data = (Byte[])row["AFile"];
/// Send the file to the browser
Response.AddHeader("Content-type", contentType);
Response.AddHeader("Content-Disposition", "attachment; filename=" + name);
Response.BinaryWrite(data);
Response.Flush();
Response.Close();
}
EDITED----------
I am using the developer tools for IE and Chrome and found something interesting. Chrome gives me the following error when I click on the link:
interpreted as Document but transferred with MIME type application/pdf:
IE doesnt give an error but something caught my attention. I my REQUEST header, ACCEPT does not contain application/pdf and the RESPONSE Content-Type has application/pdf. Could this be something? How can I set the ACCEPT to include application/pdf in aspx page?
I had kinda similar issue when downloading pdf from chrome as in my case filename had a comma in it and that chrome apparently didn't like it, so I removed comma from filename and it worked.
PS: Please try not to use Response.Close(). It aborts the thread and throws exception.
Response.Clear();
Response.ContentType = "application/pdf";
Response.AddHeader("content-disposition", "attachment; filename=" + fileName.Replace(",",,");
Response.CacheControl = "No-cache";
Response.Write(data);
Response.Flush();
Response.SuppressContent = true;
HttpContext.Current.ApplicationInstance.CompleteRequest();
Maybe this will help, here's my code to do the same thing. One thing that I noticed is that you're not specifying the file length, which I believe is required. Please note that pFileData is class that contains FileName, a string, and FileData, a byte[].
System.Web.HttpResponse Response = System.Web.HttpContext.Current.Response;
Response.Clear();
Response.ClearHeaders();
Response.ContentType = "application/pdf";
Response.AddHeader("Content-Disposition", "attachment;filename=" + pFileData.FileName);
Response.AddHeader("Content-Length", pFileData.FileData.Length.ToString());
Response.BufferOutput = false;
Response.BinaryWrite(pFileData.FileData);
Response.Flush();
Response.SuppressContent = true;
HttpContext.Current.ApplicationInstance.CompleteRequest();
Response.End();

Response BinaryWrite not working on Android browser

I have a byte array in the database and i need to show that in a pdf file format. Here is the way i did that. However, this doesn't work on Android tablets(checked in 2.3.5 and 3.2).
Response.Clear();
Response.ContentType = "application/octet-stream";
Response.BufferOutput = true;
Response.Buffer = false;
Response.AddHeader("Content-Length", binaryData.Length.ToString());
Response.AppendHeader("Content-Disposition", "inline;filename=ClientDocument.PDF");
// Response.BinaryWrite(binaryData);
Response.OutputStream.Write(binaryData, 0, binaryData.Length);
Response.End();
Can you guys think of any way i could make it work on all the browsers?
Appreciate the help
Thanks
Couple of things...
Change the content type to correct mime-type of PDF files. There are vast array of these in use application/pdf, application/x-pdf, application/acrobat, applications/vnd.pdf, text/pdf, text/x-pdf", we just use application/pdf.
Response.ContentType = "application/pdf";
Then if you want the browser to open and display the PDF file, remove the Content-Disposition header.
... or ... if you want the browser to download the PDF file change the Content-Disposition type to "attachment" rather than "inline".
Response.AppendHeader("Content-Disposition", "attachment;filename=ClientDocument.PDF");
Have you upgraded to latest version of Android on the test tablets/phones?
That fixed it for me when I had a similar problem (PDFs not opening or downloading when sent to browser from stream or byte[] on Android only).

Can I download an Excel file made from a memory stream off an ASP.NET page?

I have an ASP.NET page where a user provides an ID, and then we pull some data from the DB and put it into an Excel spreadsheet. I would like to create the Excel file in memory and then allow the user to download the file. I could create a file on the server, and then delete it afterwards, but it seems unnecessary. Depending on error handling I could potentially orphan a file with that approach, etc.
Is something like this possible? Or do I need to use a file stream?
On a side note, I'm using EPPlus as an API (quick plug for it).
You want to specify the content-type and content-dispisition headers like so - Response.ContentType = "application/vnd.ms-excel" works in IE and firefox but not in Safari, then stream your file. Once complete, call Response.End() to stop the application execution
Code Sample:
void StreamExcelFile(byte[] bytes)
{
Response.Clear();
Response.ContentType = "application/force-download";
Response.AddHeader("content-disposition", "attachment; filename=name_you_file.xls");
Response.BinaryWrite(bytes);
Response.End();
}
ExcelPackage pck = new ExcelPackage();
.....
.....
.....
byte[] bfr = pck.GetAsByteArray();
Response.ContentType = "application/application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.spreadsheetml.sheet";
Response.AppendHeader("content-disposition", "attachment; filename=ExcelFileName.xlsx");
Response.OutputStream.Write(bfr, 0, bfr.Length);
Response.Flush();
Response.Close();
Yes, look into using an HTTP Handler to stream the file to the browser from memory.
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms972953.aspx
What you're looking for is called a generic handler:
http://www.dotnetperls.com/ashx
In a nutshell, what you need to do is define the context type. Which in your case will be a xls or xlsx. Set the response, and direct the user to the handler.
They will be prompted to download the file.

opening a file in the browser instead of downloading it

Im using ssrs through a reports server to generate a resultStream byte array using ReportExecutionService.Render() which I am currently serving to the user with the following code. Is there a way I can use this same byte array to automatically open the report in a new browser window instead of going to the save/open dialog?
public void RenderReport (byte[] reportDigits, ReportItem reportItem)
{
HttpResponse response = HttpContext.Current.Response;
response.Clear();
response.ContentType = reportItem.ReportMimeType;
response.AddHeader("Content-Disposition", string.Format("attachment; filename={0}", reportItem.ExportName));
response.OutputStream.Write(reportDigits, 0, reportDigits.Length);
response.End();
}
In the past I have used a separate ReportViewer.aspx page that I would open first then display the report but would like to do it all in code behind if that is possible.
Thanks
It's this line:
response.AddHeader("Content-Disposition", string.Format("attachment; filename={0}", reportItem.ExportName));
Thats causing it to be downloaded. Comment out that line, and as long as the browser can handle the mime type, it will render in the browser window.
Simply change the Header that you are adding to something other than an attachement. Make it the format of your data--and hopefully the browser will recognize it.

View PDF in IE6

I am trying to open a PDF document to display within IE6. I am using the following snippet:
response.ContentType = healthMedia.MediaKey.MimeType;
response.ClearHeaders();
response.AddHeader("Content-Disposition", "inline; filename=" + mediaKeyId);
int contentLength = healthMedia.Content.Length;
response.AppendHeader("content-length", Convert.ToString(contentLength));
response.OutputStream.Write(healthMedia.Content, 0, contentLength);
healthMedia.MediaKey.MimeType; is equal to 'application/pdf'
This brings up the Save dialog. If I comment out Response.ClearHeaders(); I get a new window to popup but it's contents is a bunch of jibberish (random encoding text).
How can I get IE6 to open the PDF correctly?
-Nick
Have you tried Response.End() and also Response.Buffer = true? You may also need to set a caching policy.
In case it helps, here's a method I've used before to render in-browser PDFs...
Use response.BinaryWrite() instead of response.OutputStream.Write()

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