Downloading PDF files

[vandana murthy]

I have to download a pdf file and am using Servlets and xml, xsl.
I am facing a very peculiar problem, I am able to download the file in netscape v 4.73, but not in IE v 5.0.
The sample code is as mentioned below:
OutputStream outStream = response.getOutputStream();
response.setContentType("application/pdf");
FileInputStream fileInput = new FileInputStream(fileName);
int numOfBytes = fileInput.available();
byte byteArray[] = new byte[numOfBytes];
int nextByte = fileInput.read(byteArray);
fileInput.close();
OutputStream outStream = response.getOutputStream();
outStream.write(byteArray);
outStream.close();
Note: here response is HttpServletResponse.
I have changed the setContentType to application/x-filler & application/octet-stream. These two work fine in IE but donot work in netscape. In netscape the downloaded file is saved as .html.
When I retain the contentType as application/pdf, the IE download goes into a loop and hangs.
CAN ANYBODY HELP ME. I am in a very crucial stage of my project. Any help in this regard would be appreciated.
PS: Kindly feel free to reply to me regarding any other method by which I can download a pdf file using servlets.
Regards.
Vandana

[William Brogden]

It might help to also set the content length
response.setContentLength( numOfBytes );
that way the browser knows when it has the entire document.
Bill

------------------
author of:

• Java 2 Exam Prep
  
• Java 2 (Exam Cram)
  
• Java Developer's Guide to Servlets and JSP
  
• Java Developer's Guide to E-Commerce with XML and JS
  

[vandana murthy]

Hi Bill,
Thanks for the help, but to my utter dismay, setting the content length has not helped.
If I keep the content type as application/pdf, The servlet is being called more than once if I use IE, but netscape does it only once. In case the content type is application/x-filler, the servlet is called once, but download is not possible.
Is there any logical reason why a servlet should be called more than once if I click a link in IE which calls this servlet?
Regards.
Vandana.
PS: I am using Apache 1.3 as my web server.

[William Brogden]

This sure sounds weird. Are you sure your MSIE browser is set up to understand the application/pdf MIME type? (Grasping at straws here)
Bill

[Nitin Dubey]

Hi,
I want to upload the file to server and download the file to the HTML client. I m using servlets.
As I think some of you people know this thing please help me.
nitin

[vandana murthy]

Hi!
Hope this helps you...
To upload a file you can use the MultipartRequest class.
Create an instance of MultipartRequest class. Set maximum file size to whatever you want
multiPart=new MultipartRequest(request,saveDirectory,0x100000);
// Here
// saveDirectory = the url of the directory where you want to save the file
// request = HttpServletRequest
// 0x100000 = the post size, you could substitute this based on your own file size
For this code to work, you need to import com.oreilly.servlet.*; which is available in cos.jar. You could download this jar file from the net.

To download a file you can set the content type in your servlet as setContentType = application/x-filler or application/octet-stream or application/pdf etc (there are many content types).
If you are using just an html page where you need to download, you could also give the file name as a post data, i.e, after the
URL/nameoffile.extention

[Sunil Madipalli]

I am having the exact same problem where IE calls the servlet multiple times, but it only happens once with Netscape. Fortunately for me, IE seems to call only 3 times, it does not go into a loop.
Let us know when you find a solution.
[This message has been edited by Sunil Madipalli (edited February 01, 2001).]

[Beksy Kurian]

did any of you find a solution for IE problem. I am also having the same problem with IE 5.01.
Thanks
Beksy