Server Actions

6 Dec 202415 minutes to read

Syncfusion^® PDF Viewer control is client-server oriented. It processes the PDF document on the server-side and sends the processed PDF data to the client to render the PDF document and for further operations in the PDF Viewer.

The server actions or server methods in the Core PDF Viewer controller are:

Load
RenderPdfPages
RenderThumbnailImages
Bookmarks
RenderAnnotationComments
Unload
ExportAnnotations
ImportAnnotations
ImportFormFields
ExportFormFields
Download
PrintImages

Load action

NOTE

public IActionResult Load([FromBody] Dictionary<string, string> jsonObject)

The Load action will be triggered initially on loading a PDF file. Syncfusion^® PDF Viewer control will store the document in the cache based on the hashid during the initial loading of the pdf file. Initially, the request will be sent for 100 pages only and another request will be sent for the remaining pages. So the Load action will get triggered twice when loading a PDF file with pages more than 100, which is called virtual loading.

This action on its first trigger calls the GetDocumentPath method in the PdfViewerController.cs with which the path of the document is determined. The PDF file to be loaded must be located in the folder structure as specified in the GetDocumentPath method.

The Load action calls the Load method to load the PDF file in the PDF Viewer.

public IActionResult Load([FromBody] Dictionary<string, string> jsonObject)
{
    Console.WriteLine("Load called");
    //Initialize the PDF viewer object with memory cache object
    PdfRenderer pdfviewer = new PdfRenderer(_cache);
    MemoryStream stream = new MemoryStream();
    object jsonResult = new object();
    if (jsonObject != null && jsonObject.ContainsKey("document"))
    {
        if (bool.Parse(jsonObject["isFileName"]))
        {
            string documentPath = GetDocumentPath(jsonObject["document"]);
            if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(documentPath))
            {
                byte[] bytes = System.IO.File.ReadAllBytes(documentPath);
                stream = new MemoryStream(bytes);
            }
            else
            {
                return this.Content(jsonObject["document"] + " is not found");
            }
        }
        else
        {
            byte[] bytes = Convert.FromBase64String(jsonObject["document"]);
            stream = new MemoryStream(bytes);
        }
    }
    jsonResult = pdfviewer.Load(stream, jsonObject);
    return Content(JsonConvert.SerializeObject(jsonResult));
}

RenderPdfPages

NOTE

public IActionResult RenderPdfPages([FromBody] Dictionary<string, string> jsonObject)

Whenever a new page is loaded, RenderPdfPages action will be called. When a PDF file is loaded with PDF Viewer, only two pages will be loaded initially by hitting this action for loading each page. Further pages will be loaded on demand by hitting this action.

The RenderPdfPages action calls the GetPage method to render each PDF pages.

public IActionResult RenderPdfPages([FromBody] Dictionary<string, string> jsonObject)
{
    //Initialize the PDF Viewer object with memory cache object
    PdfRenderer pdfviewer = new PdfRenderer(_cache);
    object jsonResult = pdfviewer.GetPage(jsonObject);
    return Content(JsonConvert.SerializeObject(jsonResult));
}

RenderThumbnailImages action

NOTE

public IActionResult RenderThumbnailImages([FromBody] Dictionary<string, string> jsonObject)

The RenderThumbnailImages action will be triggered initially on loading a PDF file. It renders the thumbnails images of all the pages in the PDF file. When a thumbnail image is clicked, the RenderPdfPages action will be triggered to load the selected page.

This action calls the GetThumbnailImages method.

public IActionResult RenderThumbnailImages([FromBody] Dictionary<string, string> jsonObject)
{
    //Initialize the PDF Viewer object with memory cache object
    PdfRenderer pdfviewer = new PdfRenderer(_cache);
    object result = pdfviewer.GetThumbnailImages(jsonObject);
    return Content(JsonConvert.SerializeObject(result));
}

Bookmarks

NOTE

public IActionResult Bookmarks([FromBody] Dictionary<string, string> jsonObject)

The Bookmarks action will be triggered initially on loading a PDF file. All the headings in the PDF file will get added to the Bookmarks collection in the bookmarks panel with the help of this action. When a bookmark is selected, the page containing the selected heading will be rendered or opened.

This action calls the GetBookmarks method.

public IActionResult Bookmarks([FromBody] Dictionary<string, string> jsonObject)
{
    //Initialize the PDF Viewer object with memory cache object
    PdfRenderer pdfviewer = new PdfRenderer(_cache);
    var jsonResult = pdfviewer.GetBookmarks(jsonObject);
    return Content(JsonConvert.SerializeObject(jsonResult));
}

RenderAnnotationComments

NOTE

public IActionResult RenderAnnotationComments([FromBody] Dictionary<string, string> jsonObject)

The RenderAnnotationComments action will be triggered initially on loading a PDF file.

It calls the GetAnnotationComments method to retrieve the annotation comments in the PDF file.

public IActionResult RenderAnnotationComments([FromBody] Dictionary<string, string> jsonObject)
{
    //Initialize the PDF Viewer object with memory cache object
    PdfRenderer pdfviewer = new PdfRenderer(_cache);
    object jsonResult = pdfviewer.GetAnnotationComments(jsonObject);
    return Content(JsonConvert.SerializeObject(jsonResult));
}

Unload action

NOTE

public IActionResult Unload([FromBody] Dictionary<string, string> jsonObject)

The Unload action will be triggered on unloading a PDF file by closing or refreshing the browser.

This action calls the ClearCache method to clear the cache objects while closing the PDF Viewer.

public IActionResult Unload([FromBody] Dictionary<string, string> jsonObject)
{
    //Initialize the PDF Viewer object with memory cache object
    PdfRenderer pdfviewer = new PdfRenderer(_cache);
    pdfviewer.ClearCache(jsonObject);
    return this.Content("Document cache is cleared");
}

ExportAnnotations action

NOTE

public IActionResult ExportAnnotations([FromBody] Dictionary<string, string> jsonObject)

The ExportAnnotations action will be triggered by clicking either the “Export annotation to JSON file” option or the “Export annotation to XFDF file” option in the annotation toolbar.

This action calls the ExportAnnotation method to export the annotations in the PDF Viewer to a JSON file or an XFDF file.

public IActionResult ExportAnnotations([FromBody] Dictionary<string, string> jsonObject)
{
    PdfRenderer pdfviewer = new PdfRenderer(_cache);
    string jsonResult = pdfviewer.ExportAnnotation(jsonObject);
    return Content(jsonResult);
}

ImportAnnotations

NOTE

public IActionResult ImportAnnotations([FromBody] Dictionary<string, string> jsonObject)

The ImportAnnotations action will be triggered by clicking the “Import annotation from XFDF file” option in the annotation toolbar.

This action calls the ImportAnnotation method to import the annotations from an XFDF file.

public IActionResult ImportAnnotations([FromBody] Dictionary<string, string> jsonObject)
{
    PdfRenderer pdfviewer = new PdfRenderer(_cache);
    string jsonResult = string.Empty;
    object JsonResult;
    if (jsonObject != null && jsonObject.ContainsKey("fileName"))
    {
        string documentPath = GetDocumentPath(jsonObject["fileName"]);
        if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(documentPath))
        {
            jsonResult = System.IO.File.ReadAllText(documentPath);
        }
        else
        {
            return this.Content(jsonObject["document"] + " is not found");
        }
    }
    else
    {
        string extension = Path.GetExtension(jsonObject["importedData"]);
        if (extension != ".xfdf")
        {
            JsonResult = pdfviewer.ImportAnnotation(jsonObject);
            return Content(JsonConvert.SerializeObject(JsonResult));
        }
        else
        {
            string documentPath = GetDocumentPath(jsonObject["importedData"]);
            if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(documentPath))
            {
                byte[] bytes = System.IO.File.ReadAllBytes(documentPath);
                jsonObject["importedData"] = Convert.ToBase64String(bytes);
                JsonResult = pdfviewer.ImportAnnotation(jsonObject);
                return Content(JsonConvert.SerializeObject(JsonResult));
            }
            else
            {
                return this.Content(jsonObject["document"] + " is not found");
            }
        }
    }
    return Content(jsonResult);
}

ImportFormFields action

NOTE

public IActionResult ImportFormFields([FromBody] Dictionary<string, string> jsonObject)

The ImportFormFields action will be triggered by calling it from the UI code.

This action calls the ImportFormFields method to import the form fields into the PDF Viewer from a JSON object or file.

public IActionResult ImportFormFields([FromBody] Dictionary<string, string> jsonObject)
{
    PdfRenderer pdfviewer = new PdfRenderer(_cache);
    jsonObject["data"] = GetDocumentPath(jsonObject["data"]);
    object jsonResult = pdfviewer.ImportFormFields(jsonObject);
    return Content(JsonConvert.SerializeObject(jsonResult));
}

ExportFormFields action

NOTE

public IActionResult ExportFormFields([FromBody] Dictionary<string, string> jsonObject)

The ExportFormFields action will be triggered by clicking the Submit Form option in the PDF Viewer toolbar. The Submit Form option is enabled only when there are form fields. It exports the form fields into a JSON file.

This action calls the ExportFormFields method to export the form fields into a JSON string.

public IActionResult ExportFormFields([FromBody] Dictionary<string, string> jsonObject)
{
    PdfRenderer pdfviewer = new PdfRenderer(_cache);
    string jsonResult = pdfviewer.ExportFormFields(jsonObject);
    return Content(jsonResult);
}

Download action

NOTE

public IActionResult Download([FromBody] Dictionary<string, string> jsonObject)

The Download action will be triggered by clicking the Download option in the PDF Viewer toolbar to download the PDF file.

This action calls the GetDocumentAsBase64 method to get the PDF file as a base64 string.

public IActionResult Download([FromBody] Dictionary<string, string> jsonObject)
{
    //Initialize the PDF Viewer object with memory cache object
    PdfRenderer pdfviewer = new PdfRenderer(_cache);
    string documentBase = pdfviewer.GetDocumentAsBase64(jsonObject);
    return Content(documentBase);
}

PrintImages

NOTE

public IActionResult PrintImages([FromBody] Dictionary<string, string> jsonObject)

The PrintImages action will be triggered by clicking the Print option in the PDF Viewer toolbar.

It calls the GetPrintImage method multiple times to get each page in the PDF file as images to print the entire file.

public IActionResult PrintImages([FromBody] Dictionary<string, string> jsonObject)
{
    //Initialize the PDF Viewer object with memory cache object
    PdfRenderer pdfviewer = new PdfRenderer(_cache);
    object pageImage = pdfviewer.GetPrintImage(jsonObject);
    return Content(JsonConvert.SerializeObject(pageImage));
}

GetDocumentPath method

NOTE

private string GetDocumentPath(string document)

The GetDocumentPath method will be called inside the Load method to get the path of the document to be loaded.

private string GetDocumentPath(string document)
{
    string documentPath = string.Empty;
    if (!System.IO.File.Exists(document))
    {
        var path = _hostingEnvironment.ContentRootPath;
        if (System.IO.File.Exists(path + "/Data/" + document))
            documentPath = path + "/Data/" + document;
    }
    else
    {
        documentPath = document;
    }
    Console.WriteLine(documentPath);
    return documentPath;
}

PdfViewerController constructor

NOTE

public PdfViewerController(IHostingEnvironment hostingEnvironment, IMemoryCache cache)

The IMemoryCache is required for rendering the PDF pages in the PDF Viewer control by storing the document in the cache. So, it has been initialized in the PdfViewerController and has to be used in all the controller methods.

private IHostingEnvironment _hostingEnvironment;
//Initialize the memory cache object
public IMemoryCache _cache;
public PdfViewerController(IHostingEnvironment hostingEnvironment, IMemoryCache cache)
{
    _hostingEnvironment = hostingEnvironment;
    _cache = cache;
    Console.WriteLine("PdfViewerController initialized");
}