Getting Started with ASP.NET MVC PDF Viewer Control
11 Dec 202424 minutes to read
The ASP.NET MVC PDF Viewer control is used to viewing and printing PDF files in any web application. It provides the best viewing experience available with core interactions such as zooming, scrolling, text searching, text selection, and text copying. Thumbnail, bookmark, hyperlink and table of contents support provides easy navigation within and outside the PDF files.
This section briefly explains about how to integrate ASP.NET MVC PDF Viewer control in your ASP.NET MVC application using Visual Studio.
Prerequisites
System requirements for ASP.NET MVC controls
Integrate PDF Viewer into an ASP.NET MVC application
- Start Visual Studio and select Create a new project.
- Create a new ASP.NET MVC Web Application project.
- Choose the target framework.
- Select Web Application pattern (MVC) for the project and then select Create button.
ASP.NET MVC PDF Viewer NuGet packages installation
To add .NET PDF Viewer control, the following NuGet packages need to be installed in your ASP.NET MVC application.
Add namespace
Add Syncfusion.EJ2 namespace reference in Web.config under Views folder.
<namespaces>
<add namespace="Syncfusion.EJ2"/>
</namespaces>
Add style sheet
The theme is referred using CDN inside the <head> of ~/Views/Shared/_Layout.cshtml file as follows,
<head>
...
<!-- Syncfusion ASP.NET MVC controls styles -->
<link rel="stylesheet" href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/29.1.33/fluent.css" />
</head>NOTE
Checkout the Themes topic to learn different ways (CDN, NPM package, and CRG) to refer styles in ASP.NET MVC application, and to have the expected appearance for Syncfusion® ASP.NET MVC controls.
Add script reference
Add the required scripts using CDN inside the <head> of ~/Views/Shared/_Layout.cshtml file as follows,
<head>
...
<!-- Syncfusion ASP.NET MVC controls scripts -->
<script src="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/29.1.33/dist/ej2.min.js"></script>
</head>Register Syncfusion® Script Manager
Open ~/Views/Shared/_Layout.cshtml page and register the script manager in the ASP.NET MVC application as follows.
NOTE
Add the script manager
EJS().ScriptManager()at the end of<body>.
Add ASP.NET MVC PDF Viewer control
Add the Syncfusion® ASP.NET MVC PDF Viewer control in ~/Views/Home/Index.cshtml page. You can load a PDF file in the PDF Viewer by specifying the document name in the DocumentPath property as below.
@{
ViewBag.Title = "Home Page";
}
<div>
<div style="height:500px;width:100%;">
@Html.EJS().PdfViewer("pdfviewer").ServiceUrl(VirtualPathUtility.ToAbsolute("~/Home/")).DocumentPath("https://cdn.syncfusion.com/content/pdf/pdf-succinctly.pdf").Render()
</div>
</div>Add the below code in the HomeController.cs file which is placed inside Controllers folder.
using Newtonsoft.Json;
using Syncfusion.EJ2.PdfViewer;
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.IO;
using System.Linq;
using System.Net;
using System.Net.Http;
using System.Reflection;
using System.Web;
using System.Web.Mvc;
namespace GettingStartedMVC.Controllers
{
public class HomeController : Controller
{
[System.Web.Mvc.HttpPost]
public ActionResult Load(jsonObjects jsonObject)
{
PdfRenderer pdfviewer = new PdfRenderer();
MemoryStream stream = new MemoryStream();
var jsonData = JsonConverter(jsonObject);
object jsonResult = new object();
if (jsonObject != null && jsonData.ContainsKey("document"))
{
if (bool.Parse(jsonData["isFileName"]))
{
string documentPath = GetDocumentPath(jsonData["document"]);
if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(documentPath))
{
byte[] bytes = System.IO.File.ReadAllBytes(documentPath);
stream = new MemoryStream(bytes);
}
else
{
string fileName = jsonData["document"].Split(new string[] { "://" }, StringSplitOptions.None)[0];
if (fileName == "http" || fileName == "https")
{
var WebClient = new WebClient();
byte[] pdfDoc = WebClient.DownloadData(jsonData["document"]);
stream = new MemoryStream(pdfDoc);
}
else
{
return this.Content(jsonData["document"] + " is not found");
}
}
}
else
{
byte[] bytes = Convert.FromBase64String(jsonData["document"]);
stream = new MemoryStream(bytes);
}
}
jsonResult = pdfviewer.Load(stream, jsonData);
return Content(JsonConvert.SerializeObject(jsonResult));
}
public Dictionary<string, string> JsonConverter(jsonObjects results)
{
Dictionary<string, object> resultObjects = new Dictionary<string, object>();
resultObjects = results.GetType().GetProperties(BindingFlags.Instance | BindingFlags.Public)
.ToDictionary(prop => prop.Name, prop => prop.GetValue(results, null));
var emptyObjects = (from kv in resultObjects
where kv.Value != null
select kv).ToDictionary(kv => kv.Key, kv => kv.Value);
Dictionary<string, string> jsonResult = emptyObjects.ToDictionary(k => k.Key, k => k.Value.ToString());
return jsonResult;
}
[System.Web.Mvc.HttpPost]
public ActionResult ExportAnnotations(jsonObjects jsonObject)
{
PdfRenderer pdfviewer = new PdfRenderer();
var jsonData = JsonConverter(jsonObject);
string jsonResult = pdfviewer.ExportAnnotation(jsonData);
return Content((jsonResult));
}
[System.Web.Mvc.HttpPost]
public ActionResult ImportAnnotations(jsonObjects jsonObject)
{
PdfRenderer pdfviewer = new PdfRenderer();
string jsonResult = string.Empty;
var jsonData = JsonConverter(jsonObject);
if (jsonObject != null && jsonData.ContainsKey("fileName"))
{
string documentPath = GetDocumentPath(jsonData["fileName"]);
if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(documentPath))
{
jsonResult = System.IO.File.ReadAllText(documentPath);
}
else
{
return this.Content(jsonData["document"] + " is not found");
}
}
return Content(JsonConvert.SerializeObject(jsonResult));
}
[System.Web.Mvc.HttpPost]
public ActionResult ImportFormFields(jsonObjects jsonObject)
{
PdfRenderer pdfviewer = new PdfRenderer();
var jsonData = JsonConverter(jsonObject);
object jsonResult = pdfviewer.ImportFormFields(jsonData);
return Content(JsonConvert.SerializeObject(jsonResult));
}
[System.Web.Mvc.HttpPost]
public ActionResult ExportFormFields(jsonObjects jsonObject)
{
PdfRenderer pdfviewer = new PdfRenderer();
var jsonData = JsonConverter(jsonObject);
string jsonResult = pdfviewer.ExportFormFields(jsonData);
return Content(jsonResult);
}
[System.Web.Mvc.HttpPost]
public ActionResult RenderPdfPages(jsonObjects jsonObject)
{
PdfRenderer pdfviewer = new PdfRenderer();
var jsonData = JsonConverter(jsonObject);
object jsonResult = pdfviewer.GetPage(jsonData);
return Content(JsonConvert.SerializeObject(jsonResult));
}
[System.Web.Mvc.HttpPost]
public ActionResult Unload(jsonObjects jsonObject)
{
PdfRenderer pdfviewer = new PdfRenderer();
var jsonData = JsonConverter(jsonObject);
pdfviewer.ClearCache(jsonData);
return this.Content("Document cache is cleared");
}
[System.Web.Mvc.HttpPost]
public ActionResult RenderThumbnailImages(jsonObjects jsonObject)
{
PdfRenderer pdfviewer = new PdfRenderer();
var jsonData = JsonConverter(jsonObject);
object result = pdfviewer.GetThumbnailImages(jsonData);
return Content(JsonConvert.SerializeObject(result));
}
[System.Web.Mvc.HttpPost]
public ActionResult Bookmarks(jsonObjects jsonObject)
{
PdfRenderer pdfviewer = new PdfRenderer();
var jsonData = JsonConverter(jsonObject);
object jsonResult = pdfviewer.GetBookmarks(jsonData);
return Content(JsonConvert.SerializeObject(jsonResult));
}
[System.Web.Mvc.HttpPost]
public ActionResult RenderAnnotationComments(jsonObjects jsonObject)
{
PdfRenderer pdfviewer = new PdfRenderer();
var jsonData = JsonConverter(jsonObject);
object jsonResult = pdfviewer.GetAnnotationComments(jsonData);
return Content(JsonConvert.SerializeObject(jsonResult));
}
[System.Web.Mvc.HttpPost]
public ActionResult Download(jsonObjects jsonObject)
{
PdfRenderer pdfviewer = new PdfRenderer();
var jsonData = JsonConverter(jsonObject);
string documentBase = pdfviewer.GetDocumentAsBase64(jsonData);
return Content(documentBase);
}
[System.Web.Mvc.HttpPost]
public ActionResult PrintImages(jsonObjects jsonObject)
{
PdfRenderer pdfviewer = new PdfRenderer();
var jsonData = JsonConverter(jsonObject);
object pageImage = pdfviewer.GetPrintImage(jsonData);
return Content(JsonConvert.SerializeObject(pageImage));
}
private HttpResponseMessage GetPlainText(string pageImage)
{
var responseText = new HttpResponseMessage(HttpStatusCode.OK);
responseText.Content = new StringContent(pageImage, System.Text.Encoding.UTF8, "text/plain");
return responseText;
}
private string GetDocumentPath(string document)
{
string documentPath = string.Empty;
if (!System.IO.File.Exists(document))
{
var path = HttpContext.Request.PhysicalApplicationPath;
if (System.IO.File.Exists(path + "App_Data\\" + document))
documentPath = path + "App_Data\\" + document;
}
else
{
documentPath = document;
}
return documentPath;
}
public ActionResult Index()
{
return View();
}
public ActionResult About()
{
ViewBag.Message = "Your application description page.";
return View();
}
public ActionResult Contact()
{
ViewBag.Message = "Your contact page.";
return View();
}
}
public class jsonObjects
{
public string document { get; set; }
public string password { get; set; }
public bool isClientsideLoading { get; set; }
public string organizePages { get; set; }
public string zoomFactor { get; set; }
public string isFileName { get; set; }
public string xCoordinate { get; set; }
public string yCoordinate { get; set; }
public string pageNumber { get; set; }
public string documentId { get; set; }
public string hashId { get; set; }
public string sizeX { get; set; }
public string sizeY { get; set; }
public string startPage { get; set; }
public string endPage { get; set; }
public string stampAnnotations { get; set; }
public string textMarkupAnnotations { get; set; }
public string stickyNotesAnnotation { get; set; }
public string shapeAnnotations { get; set; }
public string measureShapeAnnotations { get; set; }
public string action { get; set; }
public string pageStartIndex { get; set; }
public string pageEndIndex { get; set; }
public string fileName { get; set; }
public string elementId { get; set; }
public string pdfAnnotation { get; set; }
public string importPageList { get; set; }
public string uniqueId { get; set; }
public string data { get; set; }
public string viewPortWidth { get; set; }
public string viewportHeight { get; set; }
public string tilecount { get; set; }
public bool isCompletePageSizeNotReceived { get; set; }
public string freeTextAnnotation { get; set; }
public string signatureData { get; set; }
public string fieldsData { get; set; }
public string formDesigner { get; set; }
public bool isSignatureEdited { get; set; }
public string inkSignatureData { get; set; }
public bool hideEmptyDigitalSignatureFields { get; set; }
public bool showDigitalSignatureAppearance { get; set; }
public bool digitalSignaturePresent { get; set; }
public string tileXCount { get; set; }
public string tileYCount { get; set; }
public string digitalSignaturePageList { get; set; }
public string annotationCollection { get; set; }
public string annotationsPageList { get; set; }
public string formFieldsPageList { get; set; }
public bool isAnnotationsExist { get; set; }
public bool isFormFieldAnnotationsExist { get; set; }
public string documentLiveCount { get; set; }
public string annotationDataFormat { get; set; }
}
}ServiceUrl is necessary to communicate with the server which also specifies the path of the controller. Here, PdfViewer is the name of the controller.
DocumentPath is the property needed to load a PDF file in the PDF Viewer.
Press Ctrl+F5 (Windows) or ⌘+F5 (macOS) to run the app. Then, the Syncfusion® ASP.NET MVC PDF Viewer control will be rendered in the default web browser.
NOTE
We have provided the support to dynamically change the
serviceURL. So, after changing theserviceURLdynamically, you need invoke thepdfViewer.dataBind()method to update theserviceURLquickly. This will effectively change theserviceURLdynamically. Ensure that this step is performed after version 23.1.36.
string serviceUrl = VirtualPathUtility.ToAbsolute(“~/Home/”);
function load() {
var pdfViewer = document.getElementById(‘pdfviewer’).ej2_instances[0];
pdfViewer.serviceUrl = ‘@serviceUrl’
pdfViewer.documentPath = “https://cdn.syncfusion.com/content/pdf/pdf-succinctly.pdf”;
pdfViewer.dataBind();
pdfViewer.load(pdfViewer.documentPath, null);
}
NOTE
NOTE
You can refer to our ASP.NET MVC PDF Viewer feature tour page for its groundbreaking feature representations. You can also explore our ASP.NET MVC PDF Viewer example to understand the core features of PDF Viewer.
NOTE
When configuring the server-backed PDF viewer, it’s essential to understand that there is no need to include the pdfium.js and pdfium.wasm files. Unlike the standalone PDF viewer, which relies on these files for local rendering, the server-backed PDF viewer fetches and renders PDFs directly from the server. Consequently, you can exclude the copy command for deployment process, as they are not required to load and display PDFs in this context.
NOTE
For hosting the web service on the Linux platform, ensure to include the SkiaSharp.NativeAssets.Linux. Additionally, for AWS environments, utilize the following packages:
| Amazon Web Services (AWS) | NuGet package name |
|---|---|
| AWS Lambda | SkiaSharp.NativeAssets.Linux |
| AWS Elastic Beanstalk | SkiaSharp.NativeAssets.Linux.NoDependencies v2.88.6 |