How to display pdf in a iframe from a byte array c# MVC .NET Core

Question

I have searched the web for an answer but without any luck. I'm wondering how and if I'm able to render a pdf-file using Razor into a iFrame located in my view. The pdf is a byte array and is loaded in my Model.

This is my code so far:

public ActionResult ByteConverter(byte[] pdfData)
{
    MemoryStream Stream = new MemoryStream(pdfData);
    Stream.Write(pdfData, 0 , pdfData.Length);
    Stream.Position = 0;
    return new FileStreamResult(Stream,"application/pdf");
}

My Model:

 public async Task<ActionResult> Index()
 {
     ApiClient api = new ApiClient("http://localhost:43674/ApiCore");
     var result = await api.GetAsync();

       RegulationViewModel viewModel = new RegulationViewModel
       {
         ConnectedToRoadMap = result.ConnectedToRoadMap,
         Decided = result.Decided,
         Enforced = result.Enforced,
         Id = result.Id,
         Paragraph = result.Paragraph,
         Pdf = result.Pdf,
         Published = result.Published,
         Region = result.Region,
         StructuredInfo = result.StructuredInfo,
         Title = result.Title,
         ValidThru = result.ValidThru  
        };

        ByteConverter(viewModel.Pdf);

        return View(viewModel);
}

And my view:

<div class="tab-pane active" id="dokument">
    <iframe src="@Url.Action("ByteConverter", "RegulationController")"></iframe>
</div>

Answer 1

Allright, so after a few days i managed to make it work by changing the Pdf value in my model to Convert.ToBase64String(result.Pdf) like this:

 public async Task<ActionResult> Index()
        {
            ApiClient api = new ApiClient("http://localhost:43674/ApiCore");
            var result = await api.GetAsync();

            RegulationViewModel viewModel = new RegulationViewModel
            {
                ConnectedToRoadMap = result.ConnectedToRoadMap,
                Decided = result.Decided,
                Enforced = result.Enforced,
                Id = result.Id,
                Paragraph = result.Paragraph,
                Pdf = Convert.ToBase64String(result.Pdf),
                Published = result.Published,
                Region = result.Region,
                StructuredInfo = result.StructuredInfo,
                Title = result.Title,
                ValidThru = result.ValidThru
            };

            return View(viewModel);
        }

And in my view I skiped the @Url.Action("ByteConverter", "RegulationController") completely and replaced it with:

<iframe src="data:application/pdf;base64,@Model.Pdf" type="application/pdf"></iframe>

Works like i charm in all webbrowsers exccept IE, and that's because Internet Explorer does not support the use of DATA URIs as the source of iframes.

Answer 2

You can modify your code like :

public ActionResult ByteConverter()
{
    ApiClient api = new ApiClient("http://localhost:43674/ApiCore");
    var result = await api.GetAsync();
    var pdfData = result.Pdf;
    MemoryStream Stream = new MemoryStream(pdfData);
    Stream.Write(pdfData, 0 , pdfData.Length);
    Stream.Position = 0;
    return new FileStreamResult(Stream,"application/pdf");
}

In view :

<div class="tab-pane active" id="dokument">
    <iframe src="@Url.Action("ByteConverter", "RegulationController")"></iframe>
</div>

Then delete ByteConverter(viewModel.Pdf); in your index view .And also confirm you have set correct controller name , use Home instead of HomeController.