How to return a file but not attachment in .net web api?

Question

How to return a file but not attachment in .net web api?

mc 5,531

I am using .net 6 web api and I want to response a pdf file.

I want to display a pdf file in ie11 but it will download directly.

so I google and get a answer that I should set "Content-Disposition" to "inline" not "attchment" but still failed.

how to return a file that ie11 will not open but display it?

[HttpGet]
        public IActionResult Get()
        {
            var file = System.IO.File.ReadAllBytes("1.pdf");

            HttpContext.Response.Headers.ContentDisposition = "inline;filename=1.pdf";


            return File(file, "application/pdf", "1.pdf");
        }

Anonymous

Hi @mc ,

Could you please test this method inside the edge or chrome? If you could open it in edge, you should firstly make sure the IE11 could open the PDF.

Besides, I suggest you could try to use below codes and try again:

            [HttpGet]  
            [Route("load-from-server-physical-location")]  
            public IActionResult PhysicalLocation()  
            {  
                string physicalPath = "wwwroot/pdf/mvc.pdf";  
                byte[] pdfBytes = System.IO.File.ReadAllBytes(physicalPath);  
                MemoryStream ms = new MemoryStream(pdfBytes);  
                return new FileStreamResult(ms, "application/pdf");  
            }

mc 5,531 Reputation points

2022-01-26T08:13:29.36+00:00

I test it in ie11
Alberto Poblacion 1,571 Reputation points

2022-01-26T12:10:25.72+00:00

I test it in ie11

Yes, that is the problem. If you ONLY test it in IE11, then you do not know if the problem is in your code or in the IE configuration. This is why you were told to test in other browsers, because it would help to isolate the problem and determine whether there is a problem in the code, or whether the problem is that the IE in which you are testing is not appropriately configured for displaying PDFs.

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Anonymous

2022-01-26T07:29:57.157+00:00

Hi @mc ,

Could you please test this method inside the edge or chrome? If you could open it in edge, you should firstly make sure the IE11 could open the PDF.

Besides, I suggest you could try to use below codes and try again:

[HttpGet] [Route("load-from-server-physical-location")] public IActionResult PhysicalLocation() { string physicalPath = "wwwroot/pdf/mvc.pdf"; byte[] pdfBytes = System.IO.File.ReadAllBytes(physicalPath); MemoryStream ms = new MemoryStream(pdfBytes); return new FileStreamResult(ms, "application/pdf"); }
mc 5,531 Reputation points

2022-01-26T08:13:29.36+00:00

I test it in ie11
Alberto Poblacion 1,571 Reputation points

2022-01-26T12:10:25.72+00:00

I test it in ie11

Yes, that is the problem. If you ONLY test it in IE11, then you do not know if the problem is in your code or in the IE configuration. This is why you were told to test in other browsers, because it would help to isolate the problem and determine whether there is a problem in the code, or whether the problem is that the IE in which you are testing is not appropriately configured for displaying PDFs.

Answer 1

Alberto Poblacion 1,571

Most likely it is not a problem in your code but in IE. Contrary to modern browsers, IE does not have a built-in PDF viewer, you need to install it as a plug-in from third parties. For instance, if I recall correctly when you install Acrobat Reader it adds a plugin for IE.
If the plugin is not installed, then IE treats it as an "unknown file type" and just downloads it without displaying.

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How to return a file but not attachment in .net web api?

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