JSF cant render PDF from iTextPDF

Question

I'm trying to send a PDF to browser throught a JSF response, a very simple document, see:

public void gerarPDF() throws IOException{
     try {
         HttpServletResponse response = (HttpServletResponse) FacesContext.getCurrentInstance().getExternalContext().getResponse();

            // step 1
            Document document = new Document();
            // step 2
            ByteArrayOutputStream baos = new ByteArrayOutputStream();
            PdfWriter.getInstance(document, baos);
            // step 3
            document.open();
            // step 4
            document.add(new Paragraph("HELLO WORLD"));
            document.add(new Paragraph("ANOTHER LINE"));
            // step 5
            document.close();

            response.addHeader("Content-Type", "application/force-download");
            response.addHeader("Content-Disposition", "attachment; filename=report.pdf");
            response.setContentLength(baos.size());
            response.getOutputStream().write(baos.toByteArray());
            response.getOutputStream().flush();

            baos.flush();
            baos.close();
            FacesContext.getCurrentInstance().responseComplete();
        }
        catch(DocumentException e) {
            throw new IOException(e.getMessage());
        }
}

This method is called from a commandButton, the problem browser shows that:

%PDF-1.4 %2 0 obj <>stream x+S00SI

If i change my code to save in a file, everything works fine, see:

FileOutputStream fos = new FileOutputStream("C:\\"+UUID.randomUUID().toString()+".pdf");
        fos.write(baos.toByteArray());
        fos.close();

But i need show the PDF in browser. Someone can helpe me ?

Use a plain servlet for downloading, as in [Implementing a simple file download servlet](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/1442893). JSF is not the right tool for this. — f_puras, Nov 09 '15 at 15:49
BUt how can i send information from ManagedBean to Servlet ? — Ronaldo Lanhellas, Nov 09 '15 at 16:06
`response.setContentType("application/pdf");response.add(set)Header("Content-Disposition", "attachment; filename=\"report.pdf\"");` — Tiny, Nov 09 '15 at 17:23
Which browser are you trying with? Does that browser support a PDF reader? Is the one already installed on the browser? — Tiny, Nov 09 '15 at 17:31
@Scientist See [Get JSF managed bean by name in any Servlet related class](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/2633112) — f_puras, Nov 09 '15 at 17:33
I'm trying in Internet Explorer 8 and Google Chrome. Is just in my application, i tried this and works normally (http://itextpdf.com:8180/book/) — Ronaldo Lanhellas, Nov 09 '15 at 17:34
@f_puras : Downloading a file is only the matter of setting an appropriate content type and a few other response headers. Using a Servlet in place of a managed bean will not make an essential difference. — Tiny, Nov 09 '15 at 17:56
@Tiny All right, why not show us your solution using a managed bean? — f_puras, Nov 09 '15 at 18:07
@Tiny Ok, I see: [How to provide a file download from a JSF backing bean?](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/9391838). You're right! — f_puras, Nov 09 '15 at 18:09
THe problem was solved, thank you Tiny. I removed the "ajax" from my commandButton and everything works. — Ronaldo Lanhellas, Nov 09 '15 at 18:49

score 2 · Answer 1 · answered Nov 09 '15 at 18:24

2

Try changing the content type to application/pdf:

response.addHeader("Content-Type", "application/pdf");

Ref. Proper MIME media type for PDF files.

answered Nov 09 '15 at 18:24

f_puras

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JSF cant render PDF from iTextPDF

1 Answers1