I want to display a PDF file in browser. I have the path to the pdf in JS and I am making a call to grab the PDF as a servlet from java. Here's what I have so far:

JavaScript:

RequestManager.getJSON(Config.server + "getPDF.json?pdfPath=" + this.pathToPdfFile, (function(data){
        $("#" + this.divId).append('<object id="' + this.pdfObjectId + '" data="' + data + '" type="application/pdf" width="600" height="800"></object>');
        ResizeManager.addResizeHandler(this.pdfObjectId, this.divId, -10, -10);
    }).bind(this));

Java:

@RequestMapping("/getPDF")
public void pdfPathToServlet(Model model, HttpServletRequest request, HttpServletResponse response) throws ServletException, IOException
{
    String pdfPath = request.getParameter("pdfPath");
    if (pdfPath == null || pdfPath.equals(""))
        throw new ServletException("Invalid or non-existent file parameter in UrlServlet servlet.");

    if (pdfPath.indexOf(".pdf") == -1)
        pdfPath += ".pdf";

    File pdf = new File(pdfPath);
    String pdfName = pdfPath.substring(pdfPath.lastIndexOf("/") + 1, pdfPath.length());
    logger.debug(pdfName);
    ServletOutputStream stream = null;
    BufferedInputStream buf = null;
    try 
    {
        stream = response.getOutputStream();
        response.setContentType("application/pdf");
        response.setHeader("Content-Disposition", "inline; filename='" + pdfName + "'");
        FileInputStream input = new FileInputStream(pdf);
        response.setContentLength((int) pdf.length());
        buf = new BufferedInputStream(input);
        int readBytes = 0;
        while ((readBytes = buf.read()) != -1)
            stream.write(readBytes);
    } 
    catch (IOException ioe) 
    {
        throw new ServletException(ioe.getMessage());
    } 
    finally 
    {
        if (stream != null)
            stream.close();
        if (buf != null)
            buf.close();
    }
}

My problem is that this is showing the binary output in my browser as text.

I'm not sure what I am doing incorrectly. I have tried changing the header to be attachment instead of inline, but that showed the same thing. I believe I want inline though, as I wish to show it in browser and not download it.

I want to display a PDF file in browser. I have the path to the pdf in JS and I am making a call to grab the PDF as a servlet from java. Here's what I have so far:

JavaScript:

RequestManager.getJSON(Config.server + "getPDF.json?pdfPath=" + this.pathToPdfFile, (function(data){
        $("#" + this.divId).append('<object id="' + this.pdfObjectId + '" data="' + data + '" type="application/pdf" width="600" height="800"></object>');
        ResizeManager.addResizeHandler(this.pdfObjectId, this.divId, -10, -10);
    }).bind(this));

Java:

@RequestMapping("/getPDF")
public void pdfPathToServlet(Model model, HttpServletRequest request, HttpServletResponse response) throws ServletException, IOException
{
    String pdfPath = request.getParameter("pdfPath");
    if (pdfPath == null || pdfPath.equals(""))
        throw new ServletException("Invalid or non-existent file parameter in UrlServlet servlet.");

    if (pdfPath.indexOf(".pdf") == -1)
        pdfPath += ".pdf";

    File pdf = new File(pdfPath);
    String pdfName = pdfPath.substring(pdfPath.lastIndexOf("/") + 1, pdfPath.length());
    logger.debug(pdfName);
    ServletOutputStream stream = null;
    BufferedInputStream buf = null;
    try 
    {
        stream = response.getOutputStream();
        response.setContentType("application/pdf");
        response.setHeader("Content-Disposition", "inline; filename='" + pdfName + "'");
        FileInputStream input = new FileInputStream(pdf);
        response.setContentLength((int) pdf.length());
        buf = new BufferedInputStream(input);
        int readBytes = 0;
        while ((readBytes = buf.read()) != -1)
            stream.write(readBytes);
    } 
    catch (IOException ioe) 
    {
        throw new ServletException(ioe.getMessage());
    } 
    finally 
    {
        if (stream != null)
            stream.close();
        if (buf != null)
            buf.close();
    }
}

My problem is that this is showing the binary output in my browser as text.

I'm not sure what I am doing incorrectly. I have tried changing the header to be attachment instead of inline, but that showed the same thing. I believe I want inline though, as I wish to show it in browser and not download it.

• java
• javascript
• pdf
• servlets

• Why is your url ending with .json when you return application/pdf? – Michael-O Commented Jan 7, 2013 at 20:02
• @Michael-O Honestly, I had put it in out of habit. The way the application is written there is one URL that the whole application runs under. It never actually changes. The .json is just normally used to prevent the page from actually redirecting to another URL that doesn't actually hold anything. – user856354 Commented Jan 7, 2013 at 20:11
• 1 That's not a servlet at all. That's a Spring MVC controller action. – BalusC Commented Jan 7, 2013 at 20:33

3 Answers 3

Your JavaScript part makes no sense. You're obtaining a PDF file as ajax response and then attempting to set it as data attribute of the <object> element. The data attribute must point to a real URL, not to the file content. Fix your JS accordingly:

$("#" + this.divId).append('<object id="' + this.pdfObjectId + '" data="' + Config.server + "getPDF.json?pdfPath=" + this.pathToPdfFile + '" type="application/pdf" width="600" height="800"></object>');

The webbrowser will take care about sending the appropriate HTTP request on the given URL and initializing/rendering the <object> element using the Adobe Acrobat Reader plugin — if any available, I'd rather enclose a <a href="pdfURL">PDF</a> inside the <object> so that there's at least a graceful degradation to a download link.

Unrelated to the concrete question, that Java code is not part of a servlet at all, but a Spring MVC action. I remend to get your terms straight and read in our Servlets wiki page to learn what they really are.

response.setHeader("Content-Disposition", "attachment;filename=" + pdfName);

 response.setHeader("Content-Disposition", "inline; filename='" + pdfName + "'");

You cannot display a PDF inline. It needs to be alone on its own page (or Iframe).