PDF file display on the browser

[smitha rai]

Hi,

I am using struts DispatchAction to display the existing file (on the server) on the web browser. My code works on FireFox and Google Chrome. But displays empty screen when executed on IE. Please refer to the Action class and kindly help me out what am I missing in the code inorder to work on all browsers.

Page Access URL: http://localhost:8080/pdfWeb/showpdf.do?action=displayPdf

Action Class

public class BaseAction extends DispatchAction {
	
	public ActionForward displayPdf(ActionMapping mapping, ActionForm form,
			HttpServletRequest request, HttpServletResponse response)
			throws Exception {

    	String filepath = "/test/pdf/sample.pdf";
    	
    	//For Local: 
    	String baseFolder = "/Users/raghu/Documents/Shared/personal/Final_Out";
    	    	
	    String contentType = getServlet().getServletContext().getMimeType(filepath);
    	response.setContentType(contentType);
		//New
    	response.setHeader("Expires", "0");
		response.setHeader("Cache-Control", "must-revalidate, post-check=0, pre-check=0");
		response.setHeader("Pragma", "public");
		
        OutputStream out = response.getOutputStream();
        byte[] pdfContent = this.loadFile(baseFolder + filepath);
        out.write(pdfContent, 0, pdfContent.length); 
        if (out != null) {
            out.close();
        }

		return null;
	}
		
	public static byte[] loadFile(String sourcePath) {
    	byte[] output = null;
    	InputStream inputStream = null;
		try {
			inputStream = new FileInputStream(sourcePath);
			output = readFully(inputStream);
			if (inputStream != null) {
				inputStream.close();
			}
		} 
		catch(IOException ioex) {
			//Handle Exception
		}		

		return output;
	}
}

[Tim Moores]

Is IE set up to display PDFs?

[Rob Spoor]

What's the actual content type that's being set? Make sure it's application/pdf which is the official PDF MIME type.

[Nitin Surana]

What is the code of your struts.xml ?

May be this example will help you.
http://www.onlinexamples.com/showfullexample.action?idexamples=20&title=Jasper%20Report%20Example

[smitha rai]

Thanks for all who responded. Here is the complete code.

struts-config.xml
------------------
<action path="/pdf" type="demo.struts.action.BaseAction" name="saform" parameter="action">
<forward name="home" path="/pdf/home.jsp"/>
</action>

JSP
---
<%
String pdfurl3 = request.getContextPath() + "/pdf.do?action=displayPdf";
%>
Click
<a href="#" onClick="showPdf('<%=pdfurl3%>'); return false;">here to see the pdf file

javascript
----------
var theChild;
function showPdf(url) {
if(theChild!=null) {
if(getCurrentBrowserName() != 'msie') {
theChild.close();
}
}
theChild = popupPdf(url);
theChild.focus();
}

function popupPdf(url) {
alert('Attention: The document will be opened in another window. Please close window after printing or viewing!');
var attributes = 'menubar=no,toolbar=no,scrollbars=yes,resizable=yes,fullscreen=no';
attributes = attributes + ',width=' + (screen.availWidth - 150);
attributes = attributes + ',height=' + (screen.availHeight - 250);
attributes = attributes + ',screenX=50,screenY=50,left=10,top=10';
var wOpen;
wOpen = window.open(url, 'theChild', attributes);

//wOpen.focus();
wOpen.moveTo(75,50);
wOpen.resizeTo(screen.availWidth, screen.availHeight);

return wOpen;

}

function getCurrentBrowserName() {
var browserName = "";

var ua = navigator.userAgent.toLowerCase();
if ( ua.indexOf( "opera" ) != -1 ) {
browserName = "opera";
}
else if ( ua.indexOf( "msie" ) != -1 ) {
browserName = "msie";
}
else if ( ua.indexOf( "safari" ) != -1 ) {
browserName = "safari";
}
else if ( ua.indexOf( "mozilla" ) != -1 ) {
if ( ua.indexOf( "firefox" ) != -1 ) {
browserName = "firefox";
}
else {
browserName = "mozilla";
}
}
else {
browserName = "";
}

return browserName;
}

Action Class
------------
public class BaseAction extends DispatchAction {

public ActionForward displayPdf(ActionMapping mapping, ActionForm form,
HttpServletRequest request, HttpServletResponse response)
throws Exception {

String filepath = "/test/pdf/sample.pdf";

//For Local:
String baseFolder = "/Users/raghu/Documents/Shared/personal/Final_Out";

String contentType = getServlet().getServletContext().getMimeType(filepath);
response.setContentType(contentType);
//New
response.setHeader("Expires", "0");
response.setHeader("Cache-Control", "must-revalidate, post-check=0, pre-check=0");
response.setHeader("Pragma", "public");

OutputStream out = response.getOutputStream();
byte[] pdfContent = this.loadFile(baseFolder + filepath);
out.write(pdfContent, 0, pdfContent.length);
if (out != null) {
out.close();
}

return null;
}

public static byte[] loadFile(String sourcePath) {
byte[] output = null;
InputStream inputStream = null;
try {
inputStream = new FileInputStream(sourcePath);
output = readFully(inputStream);
if (inputStream != null) {
inputStream.close();
}
}
catch(IOException ioex) {
//Handle Exception
}

return output;
}
}

[Tim Moores]

So what's the answer to my question?

[smitha rai]

Hi Tim,

Sorry I did not understand your question. Are there any specific settings to the IE?

[Tim Moores]

I don't know. But displaying PDFs is browser-specific (some browsers can do it on their own, some with the help of plugins, and some not at all). So I'd start by investigating whether your browser can display PDFs at all, before l'd fiddle with the code.