Programmatically download a file as a pdf file

Question

Hello!

I have a web application that generates documents as rtf files. The user can download these files from a webpage by clicking on a link to them.

I would like the files to be automatically downloaded as PDF files and not as RTF files.

How could I do that?

Thank you.

Answer 1

You need to read and process your RTF files in C#, unfortunately there is no native .NET way how to convert that content to PDF format so you need to create a PDF file in C# yourself.
For example this is one of the simplest solutions to achieve the required conversion and also export that resulting PDF file to ASP.NET's client:

var document = DocumentModel.Load("Sample.rtf");
document.Save(this.Response, "Sample.pdf");

The code uses this .NET library for Word documents processing.

Answer 2

Hi
This you can do by using this code:
1. Add reference for CrystalDecisions.CrystalReports.Engine.
2. Add assembly in your page like this
        <%@ Register Assembly="CrystalDecisions.Web, Version=10.5.3700.0, Culture=neutral,         PublicKeyToken=692fbea5521e1304"
            Namespace="CrystalDecisions.Web" TagPrefix="CR" %>
3.   Add CrystalReportViewer in you page deign like this
        <CR:CrystalReportViewer ID="CRV" runat="server" AutoDataBind="true" />
4. Create a Crystal Report by using a view e.g. vw_VendorList.

VB.Net Code:

        Dim Rpt As New ReportDocument
        Rpt.Load(Server.MapPath("abc.rpt"))
        Dim ds As New Data.DataSet
        Dim dt As New SqlDataAdapter("Select * from VW_VendorList", ConnString)
        dt.Fill(ds, "VW_VendorList")
        Rpt.SetDataSource(ds)
        CRV.ReportSource = Rpt                Rpt.ExportToHttpResponse(CrystalDecisions.Shared.ExportFormatType.PortableDocFormat,         Response, True, "Vendor List Report")

After running this code, crystal report file will be exported in the form of Pdf.

Hope it will help.

Answer 3

It seems difficult to download the file as PDF automatically. Maybe you can try to convert RTF to PDF after downloading? 

Answer 4

Dear Kamal,

Thank you for your answer.

However, the documents are generated as rtf documents. What I want to do is for them to be converted to pdf when the user clicks download.

Is that possible?

How could I do it?

Thank you.

Answer 5

VB.Net

Dim FileName As String = Path.GetFileName(FullFileName) //Function provides file path
Response.ContentType = "application/octet-stream"
Response.AddHeader("Content-Disposition", "attachment; filename=" & FileName)
Response.WriteFile(FullFileName)
Response.[End]()

C# .NET
string FileName = Path.GetFileName(FullFileName); //Function provides file path Response.ContentType = "application/octet-stream";
Response.AddHeader("Content-Disposition", "attachment; filename=" + FileName); Response.WriteFile(FullFileName);
Response.End();

Please mark it as Accept, if it helps..

Answer 6

<a href="mypdf.pdf">Download pdf</a>