iTextSharp - Sending in-memory pdf in an email attachment

Question

I've asked a couple of questions here but am still having issues. I'd appreciate if you could tell me what I am doing wrong in my code. I run the code above from a ASP.Net page and get "Cannot Access a Closed Stream".

var doc = new Document();

MemoryStream memoryStream = new MemoryStream();

PdfWriter.GetInstance(doc, memoryStream);
doc.Open();
doc.Add(new Paragraph("First Paragraph"));
doc.Add(new Paragraph("Second Paragraph"));

doc.Close(); //if I remove this line the email attachment is sent but with 0 bytes 

MailMessage mm = new MailMessage("username@gmail.com", "username@gmail.com")
{
    Subject = "subject",
    IsBodyHtml = true,
    Body = "body"
};

mm.Attachments.Add(new Attachment(memoryStream, "test.pdf"));
SmtpClient smtp = new SmtpClient
{
    Host = "smtp.gmail.com",
    Port = 587,
    EnableSsl = true,
    Credentials = new NetworkCredential("username@gmail.com", "my_password")
};

smtp.Send(mm); //the "Cannot Access a Closed Stream" error is thrown here

Thanks!!!

EDIT:

Just to help somebody looking for the answer to this question, the code to send a pdf file attached to an email without having to physically create the file is below (thanks to Ichiban and Brianng):

var doc = new Document();
MemoryStream memoryStream = new MemoryStream();
PdfWriter writer = PdfWriter.GetInstance(doc, memoryStream);

doc.Open();
doc.Add(new Paragraph("First Paragraph"));
doc.Add(new Paragraph("Second Paragraph"));

writer.CloseStream = false;
doc.Close();
memoryStream.Position = 0;

MailMessage mm = new MailMessage("username@gmail.com", "username@gmail.com")
{
    Subject = "subject",
    IsBodyHtml = true,
    Body = "body"
};

mm.Attachments.Add(new Attachment(memoryStream, "filename.pdf"));
SmtpClient smtp = new SmtpClient
{
    Host = "smtp.gmail.com",
    Port = 587,
    EnableSsl = true,
    Credentials = new NetworkCredential("username@gmail.com", "password")

};

smtp.Send(mm);

Thanks for asking this question, it's exactly what I was looking for. — Hardwareguy, May 09 '10 at 13:40
Exactly what I need works perfectly thank you so much! I was stuck on closing the document but not the stream: writer.CloseStream = false; cleared it up for me. — Baxter, Jan 10 '14 at 19:37
@Semil when putting up a bounty on an old question with an accepted answer, you really should indicate somehow what you miss in the answer. — mkl, Jul 19 '15 at 07:14
writer.CloseStream = false; saved me as well, was missing that in a method that uses iTextSharp to turn HTML to PDF. Before, passing the memorystream to my mail function failed due to the stream being closed. Thanks. — Alec Menconi, Oct 02 '15 at 18:15
This question may also help somebody. [iText7 Create PDF in memory instead of physical file](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/40540741/itext7-create-pdf-in-memory-instead-of-physical-file/64671854#64671854) — Uriel Fernandez, Dec 23 '20 at 17:57

brianng · Accepted Answer · 2009-07-28T19:22:39.800

84

Have you tried:

PdfWriter writer = PdfWriter.GetInstance(doc, memoryStream);

// Build pdf code...

writer.CloseStream = false;
doc.Close();

// Build email

memoryStream.Position = 0;
mm.Attachments.Add(new Attachment(memoryStream, "test.pdf"));

If my memory serves me correctly, this solved a similar problem in a previous project.

See http://forums.asp.net/t/1093198.aspx

edited Jul 28 '09 at 19:22

answered Jul 28 '09 at 19:05

brianng

5,790
1
32
23

1

The set_CloseStream method is only available in the Java version. This is iTextSharp (.NET) – ichiban Jul 28 '09 at 19:11
Sorry, again I haven't used iTextSharp (.NET) in a while, though the version I used definitely had set_CloseStream. – brianng Jul 28 '09 at 19:18
1

Changed to writer.CloseStream, and included related link. – brianng Jul 28 '09 at 19:23
1

Brianng, I really appreciate your help. I realize you and Ichiban kind of held my hand through it. Thanks! – Gus Cavalcanti Jul 28 '09 at 22:13
If we keep the writer alive, when are we suppose to `writer.Flush()` then? – Blaise Sep 25 '14 at 15:05
1

`writer.ClosStream = false; doc.Close();` solved the problem, thank you – Hakan Fıstık Jul 28 '16 at 09:48
What does "PdfWriter.CloseStream" do? We have old Code, where somebody who is on holiday for the next weeks changed something which made all PDF creation failing. If I set CloseStream to false, everything works like before but I really want to understand why. – The incredible Jan Apr 24 '17 at 14:10
@the-incredible-jan PdfWriter.CloseStream tells itext if it may also close the PdfWriter stream when the doc.Close() method is called. [another example to achieve this](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/40540741/itext7-create-pdf-in-memory-instead-of-physical-file/64671854#64671854) – Uriel Fernandez Dec 23 '20 at 18:01

score 18 · Answer 2 · edited May 23 '17 at 12:03

18

I tried the code posted by brianng and it worked. Just change the top of the code to this:

var doc = new Document();
MemoryStream memoryStream = new MemoryStream();
PdfWriter writer = PdfWriter.GetInstance(doc, memoryStream); //capture the object
doc.Open();
doc.Add(new Paragraph("First Paragraph"));
doc.Add(new Paragraph("Second Paragraph"));
writer.CloseStream = false; //set the closestream property
doc.close(); //close the document without closing the underlying stream
memoryStream.Position = 0;

/* remainder of your code stays the same*/

edited May 23 '17 at 12:03

Community

1
1

answered Jul 28 '09 at 19:46

ichiban

6,162
3
27
34

3

Thanks for taking the time to verify! – brianng Jul 28 '09 at 19:48
1

Hi Ichiban, It compiles and it actually sends the email with the attachment, but the attached pdf document come across with 0kb. Did you actually open the pdf an email sent? – Gus Cavalcanti Jul 28 '09 at 20:37
2

@Gustavo, the file opens correctly in Acrobat viewer. It is about 900 Bytes. Make sure you keep the line: memoryStream.Position=0; right after doc.Close(). I forgot to mention that. (see update above) – ichiban Jul 28 '09 at 21:39
1

YES! Thank you so much guys. It finally worked. Since Ichiban's answer was based on brianng's, I think it's fair to mark brianng's answer as correct. – Gus Cavalcanti Jul 28 '09 at 22:11

huseyint · Answer 3 · 2009-07-28T19:16:58.047

3

Probably calling doc.Close() Disposes the underlying stream. Try removing doc.Close() and instead of that line set memoryStream.Position = 0;

Alternatively you can use a temp file:

var tempFilePath = Path.GetTempFileName();

try 
{           
    var doc = new Document();

    PdfWriter.GetInstance(doc, File.OpenWrite(tempFilePath));
    doc.Open();
    doc.Add(new Paragraph("First Paragraph"));
    doc.Add(new Paragraph("Second Paragraph"));

    doc.Close();

    MailMessage mm = new MailMessage("username@gmail.com", "username@gmail.com")
    {
        Subject = "subject",
        IsBodyHtml = true,
        Body = "body"
    };

    mm.Attachments.Add(new Attachment(tempFilePath, "test.pdf"));
    SmtpClient smtp = new SmtpClient
    {
        Host = "smtp.gmail.com",
        Port = 587,
        EnableSsl = true,
        Credentials = new NetworkCredential("username@gmail.com", "my_password")
    };

    smtp.Send(mm);
}
finally
{
    File.Delete(tempFilePath);
}

edited Jul 28 '09 at 19:16

answered Jul 28 '09 at 18:58

huseyint

14,953
15
56
78

huseyint, I did what you suggested and the pdf file is sent, but it is only 15 bytes long. When I try opening it, it is corrupted. I feel I am almost there with your suggestion. Any other ideas? Thanks! – Gus Cavalcanti Jul 28 '09 at 19:08
Then try memoryStream.Flush(); before setting the Position – huseyint Jul 28 '09 at 19:13
Same thing. The file is sent almost empty and corrupted. :( – Gus Cavalcanti Jul 28 '09 at 19:21
Did you give "Creating a temp file" a try? – huseyint Jul 28 '09 at 19:24
I am working on it right now and let you know shortly. Thanks! – Gus Cavalcanti Jul 28 '09 at 20:28
Huseyint, thanks for your answer. I am pretty sure it would work but Brianng's answer is simpler as it doesn't require dealing with the server's file system. Thanks a lot though! – Gus Cavalcanti Jul 28 '09 at 22:15
Yes, definitely brianng's answer is the right way to achieve this. Glad you solved it! – huseyint Jul 29 '09 at 06:40

score 3 · Answer 4 · answered Jul 28 '09 at 18:59

3

Can you flush the document or memory stream and then close it after you attach it?

answered Jul 28 '09 at 18:59

James Conigliaro

3,809
19
22

Hi James. I did this and the result did not change - I still get the "Cannot Access a Closed Stream" error. :( Other ideas? – Gus Cavalcanti Jul 28 '09 at 19:25

score 1 · Answer 5 · answered Sep 28 '10 at 23:17

1

I had the same problem and I used this post to solve it.In the code written by brianng

PdfWriter writer = PdfWriter.GetInstance(doc, memoryStream);

// Build pdf code...

writer.CloseStream = false;
doc.Close();

// Build email

memoryStream.Position = 0;
mm.Attachments.Add(new Attachment(memoryStream, "test.pdf"));

I think instead of writing

writer.CloseStream = false and memoryStream.Position = 0;

Just create a new Stream

MemoryStream m = new MemoryStream(memoryStream);

and then call

mm.Attachments.Add(new Attachment(memoryStream, "test.pdf"));

Both work but I think it is better to create the new stream

answered Sep 28 '10 at 23:17

Zein Sleiman

254
2
11

Why is it better to create a new stream? – Andy Mar 15 '11 at 19:45
It's not. It's a waste of memory and CPU time because the bytes have to be copied from one to the other. – Serguei Fedorov Jun 04 '15 at 21:09
Dont remember why I said it is better. I think I might meant it is clearer. Sorry just saw this. Been a long time :) – Zein Sleiman Feb 10 '16 at 00:15

iTextSharp - Sending in-memory pdf in an email attachment

EDIT:

5 Answers5

Linked