Display PDF Fillable Form Without using Adobe

Question

Display PDF Fillable Form Without using Adobe

Malam Malam 266

Is there a way to bring up a fillable pdf form in asp.net without using Adobe?
My user will not have Adobe Reader but I still want them to view and fill it.

AgaveJoe 30,126 Reputation points

2022-02-09T14:19:30.257+00:00

As far as I know, the clients must have Adobe Acrobat to display PDF files. Adobe support is better place to learn Adobe features and if there is a path to integrate Adobe into your application.

Otherwise, design an standard Web Forms application to capture user inputs.

4 answers

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AgaveJoe 30,126 Reputation points

2022-02-09T14:19:30.257+00:00

As far as I know, the clients must have Adobe Acrobat to display PDF files. Adobe support is better place to learn Adobe features and if there is a path to integrate Adobe into your application.

Otherwise, design an standard Web Forms application to capture user inputs.

Answer 1

Malam Malam 266

I have the following code that supposed to download Adobe Reader automatically but it does not work; I get "Initializing..." forever.

        string embed = "<object data=\"{0}\" type=\"application/pdf\" width=\"500px\" height=\"300px\">";
        embed += "If you are unable to view file, you can download from <a href = \"{0}\">here</a>";
        embed += " or download <a target = \"_blank\" href = \"http://get.adobe.com/reader/\">Adobe PDF Reader</a> to view the file.";
        embed += "</object>";

AgaveJoe 30,126 Reputation points

2022-02-09T15:26:53.443+00:00

Is this a new question? Are you asking how to provide a link to install Acrobat Reader? Or is there a problem rendering the HTML in Web Forms???

https://get.adobe.com/reader/
Yijing Sun-MSFT 7,096 Reputation points

2022-02-10T03:39:14.647+00:00

Hi @Malam Malam ,

I have the following code that supposed to download Adobe Reader automatically but it does not work; I get "Initializing..." forever.

Whether there are problems when you are downloading or just response slowly? Could you post to us?

Best regards，
Yijing Sun

Answer 2

Malam Malam 266

Actually, I just need the link "http://get.adobe.com/reader" clicked automatically and download if it is already not installed.

AgaveJoe 30,126 Reputation points

2022-02-14T19:18:20.003+00:00

Actually, I just need the link "http://get.adobe.com/reader" clicked automatically and download if it is already not installed.

The browser does not allow web sites to install arbitrary software on the client's machine. The user must chose to install Acrobat Reader.

Answer 3

Malam Malam 266

We should be able to download it using a hidden button programmatically clicked in code behind. It is just like a button click event without user interaction.

AgaveJoe 30,126 Reputation points

2022-02-14T20:46:14.94+00:00

We should be able to download it using a hidden button programmatically clicked in code behind. It is just like a button click event without user interaction.

You are mistaken. It is certainly possible to do an HTTP get from JavaScript and download an file but the user still has to click to install the software. Typically you explain that a PDF reader is needed to view PDF content on your site with a link to the PDF software. The user gets to determine if they want to install the software or not.

Answer 4

Malam Malam 266

That makes sense...

Any link to a site where I can find a simple asp.net code that will let export asp page to pdf?

AgaveJoe 30,126 Reputation points

2022-02-14T21:28:14.98+00:00

I provided one approach in your other thread related to PDFs.

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/734634/export-entire-user-input-form-to-pdf-in-c.html

But most likely you need to learn how to use a PDF library to get a nice looking document.

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Display PDF Fillable Form Without using Adobe

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