How to Display a PDF in an ASP.Net Application

It should be easier than it is.

In Q30654, Microsoft suggest the following:

private void Page_Load(object sender, System.EventArgs e)
{
//Set the appropriate ContentType.
Response.ContentType = "Application/pdf";

//Get the physical path to the file.
string FilePath = MapPath("acrobat.pdf");
//Write the file directly to the HTTP content output stream.
Response.WriteFile(FilePath);
Response.End();
}

The only thing is, for some versions of Acrobat Reader, this doesn’t actually work. On my desktop PC (IE 6.0.2800.1106 with Acrbat Reader 6.0.2.18) this results in a blank page.

For some wierd reason, the PDF is displayed if it is rendered into the page during a post-back. When I put a button on the page and included the code above in the click event, it displayed perfectly well.

To work-around the issue, I now post a (virtually) blank page to the user’s browser. On the page there is a script to post the page back. Then I render the PDF in the postback. Not exactly elegant, but it works.

Here is my code (VB.Net-ed because that is the language favoured by my employer):

''' <summary>
''' Handles the Load event of the Page control.
''' </summary>
''' <param name="sender">The source of the event.</param>
''' <param name="e">The <see cref="T:System.EventArgs" /> instance containing the event data.</param>
Protected Sub Page_Load(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles Me.Load
 
' HACK: There is a bug in some versions of
' AcrobatReader that prevent it from rendering a
' PDF during an initial page load - it will only
' render on postback. As a work-around, we generate
' a page that does nothing except post itself back.
' We can then render the report as a PDF in the
' postback. Unfortunately, the browser "refresh"
' still doesn't work very well.

' If this is not a postback...
If Not IsPostBack Then
 
' Pretend that there is a legitimate reason for
' the spurious round-trip to the client:
' display something informative.
Response.Write("Your report is loading...")
 
' Generate a script that will post-back the
' page.
Dim script As String = String.Empty
script = "<script language=javascript>" & Page.ClientScript.GetPostBackEventReference(Me, "") & "</script>"
 
' Inject the postback script into the page.
' When the page is rendered, it will post back
' immediately.
ClientScript.RegisterStartupScript(GetType(Page), "PostIt", script)
 
Else
 
' This is a postback. Render the report.
ShowReport()
 
End If
 
End Sub
 
 
''' <summary>
''' Shows the report.
''' </summary>
Private Sub ShowReport()
' Set the appropriate ContentType.
Response.ContentType = "Application/pdf"
' Get the physical path to the file.
Dim FilePath As String = MapPath("acrobat.pdf")
' Write the file directly to the HTTP content
' output stream.
Response.WriteFile(FilePath)
Response.End()
End Sub

All Wrong