iTextSharp generate PDF and show it on the browser directly

Question

How to open the PDF file after created using iTextSharp on ASP.Net? I don't want to save it on the server, but directly when the new PDF is generated, it shows on the browser. Is it possible to do that?

Here is the example for what I mean: Click here . But on this example, the file directly downloaded.

How can I do that?

    Dim doc1 = New Document()

    'use a variable to let my code fit across the page...
    Dim path As String = Server.MapPath("PDFs")
    PdfWriter.GetInstance(doc1, New FileStream(path & "/Doc1.pdf", FileMode.Create))

    doc1.Open()
    doc1.Add(New Paragraph("My first PDF"))
    doc1.Close()

The code above do save the PDF to the server.

Thank you very much in advance! :)

score 6 · Answer 1 · edited May 23 '17 at 12:32

You need to set Content Type of the Response object and add the binary form of the pdf in the header

 private void ReadPdfFile()
    {
        string path = @"C:\Somefile.pdf";
        WebClient client = new WebClient();
        Byte[] buffer =  client.DownloadData(path);

        if (buffer != null)
        {
            Response.ContentType = "application/pdf"; 
            Response.AddHeader("content-length",buffer.Length.ToString()); 
            Response.BinaryWrite(buffer); 
        }

    }

(or) you can use System.IO.MemoryStream to read and display:

Here you can find that way of doing it

Open Generated pdf file through code directly without saving it onto the disk

So it means I still should have to save the PDF to the server and then read it? — mrjimoy_05, May 05 '12 at 14:51

score 5 · Accepted Answer · answered May 05 '12 at 15:09

The problem solved with the code below:

    HttpContext.Current.Response.ContentType = "application/pdf"
    HttpContext.Current.Response.AddHeader("content-disposition", "attachment;filename=GridViewExport.pdf")
    HttpContext.Current.Response.Cache.SetCacheability(HttpCacheability.NoCache)

    Dim pdfDoc As New Document()
    PdfWriter.GetInstance(pdfDoc, HttpContext.Current.Response.OutputStream)

    pdfDoc.Open()
    'WRITE PDF <<<<<<

    pdfDoc.Add(New Paragraph("My first PDF"))

    'END WRITE PDF >>>>>
    pdfDoc.Close()

    HttpContext.Current.Response.Write(pdfDoc)
    HttpContext.Current.Response.End()

Hope help! :)

@ mrjimoy.how to open it in new tab...currently open in same tab so that the web page is replaced and cannot go bak... — Sivajith, Jun 28 '13 at 20:28

iTextSharp generate PDF and show it on the browser directly

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