Is there a way to view PDF files in Blob Storage without downloading them locally using .net?

Question

Is there a way to view PDF files in Blob Storage without downloading them locally using .net?

Murugan M 31

Using a Blob URL I can't open a PDF file in chrome. Whenever I used to open the PDF file using that blob URL its getting downloaded! Instead for View!

Anonymous

Hi @Murugan M

My sample code is tested using iframe or embed, which can be displayed.

<!DOCTYPE html>  
<html lang="en">  
<head>  
    <meta charset="UTF-8">  
    <meta http-equiv="X-UA-Compatible" content="IE=edge">  
    <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0">  
    <title>Document</title>  
</head>  
<body>  
    <iframe src="https://b**nt.blob.core.windows.net/testblob/GetImage-converted.pdf" height="600" width="800"></iframe>  
</body>  
</html>

Best regards,
Jason

Murugan M 31 Reputation points

2022-05-27T03:49:32.007+00:00

But this was only working on IE. what about other browsers?
Anonymous

2022-05-27T05:03:00.247+00:00

Hi @Murugan M

I have test it in Chrome, and Edge, it works well.
Murugan M 31 Reputation points

2022-05-27T11:30:47.137+00:00

but for me its not working. I have tried multiple times I don't know what happening. But I had found a solution for this.

2 answers

Your answer

Anonymous

2022-05-27T03:25:10.86+00:00

Hi @Murugan M

My sample code is tested using iframe or embed, which can be displayed.

<!DOCTYPE html> <html lang="en"> <head> <meta charset="UTF-8"> <meta http-equiv="X-UA-Compatible" content="IE=edge"> <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0"> <title>Document</title> </head> <body> <iframe src="https://b**nt.blob.core.windows.net/testblob/GetImage-converted.pdf" height="600" width="800"></iframe> </body> </html>

Best regards,
Jason
Murugan M 31 Reputation points

2022-05-27T03:49:32.007+00:00

But this was only working on IE. what about other browsers?
Anonymous

2022-05-27T05:03:00.247+00:00

Hi @Murugan M

I have test it in Chrome, and Edge, it works well.
Murugan M 31 Reputation points

2022-05-27T11:30:47.137+00:00

but for me its not working. I have tried multiple times I don't know what happening. But I had found a solution for this.

Answer 1

BlobContainerClient container = new BlobContainerClient("DefaultEndpointsProtocol=https;AccountName={{AzureAccountName}};AccountKey={{key}};EndpointSuffix={{endPoint}}", {{containernName}});
DateTime fileCreationDatetime = DateTime.Now;
string PDFName = fileCreationDatetime.ToString("yyyyMMddHHMMss") + '_' + ".pdf";
base64String = base64String.Substring(base64String.IndexOf(',') + 1);
byte[] imageBytes = Convert.FromBase64String(base64String);
Stream stream = new MemoryStream(imageBytes);
BlobClient blobClient = container.GetBlobClient(PDFName);
blobClient.Upload(stream, true);
PDFBlobPath = blobClient.Uri.AbsoluteUri;
BlobHttpHeaders blobHeaders = new BlobHttpHeaders();
blobHeaders.ContentType = "application/pdf";
blobClient.SetHttpHeaders(blobHeaders);

This will works if you all the namesoace and refrences correctly

SaiKishor-MSFT 17,336 Reputation points

2022-06-06T09:44:29.193+00:00

@Murugan M Thanks for updating the forum with the solution that worked for you.

Answer 2

Michael Taylor 60,326

Browsers control what happens when a URL points to a file. All browsers that I'm aware of today download the file and that's it. But it is up to the browser and the user's configuration. Your server app has no control over this. You cannot view a file from the browser without downloading irrelevant.

For Edge and PDFs specifically you can go to Settings\Cookies and Site permissions\PDF Documents and check/uncheck the Always download PDF files option. This controls whether Edge tries to open the PDF after downloading.

For Chrome and PDFs go to Privacy and security\Site Settinogs\Content\Additional Content settings\PDF documents and you can do the same thing.

Murugan M 31 Reputation points

2022-05-26T16:11:13.823+00:00

Although the settings were done as per your norms! Still its downloading!
Michael Taylor 60,326 Reputation points

2022-05-26T16:34:41.847+00:00

To clarify the file will always be download. There is no way around this. A browser (running on a client) cannot display a file without downloading it locally first.

If the default PDF reader is configured to be Edge/Chrome then it'll automatically open in the browser. However if it is something else AND Always download is unset then it'll just download the file. You can test that by going to this url.

If you get the behavior you want then things are configured properly. However that doesn't mean your storage URL is going to work. Blob storage is just that, a blob. It has no concept of PDF files or even files, it is just stores raw data. The name of the blob item is irrelevant as well. To get the browser to behave correctly the blob would need to be downloaded as application/pdf and properly named otherwise the browser is just going to see it as a binary file. Normally we would handle this on the client side.

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Is there a way to view PDF files in Blob Storage without downloading them locally using .net?

2 answers

Your answer