CODEWITHSUNDEEP
javascriptc#pdf
Steve
Steve

Reputation: 4463

C# Bytes array to Javascript Blob to create and auto download PDF file

I have web api in C# which returns bytes array of PDF file. Here is the C# code

    [HttpGet]
    [Route("Download")]
    public async Task<ActionResult<byte[]>> DownloadFiles(int fileDocumentId)
    {

            var file = await _fileService.FetchFiles(fileDocumentId);
            return file.ArchiveData;
    }

This is how I call the web api using Javascript fetch.

function download(id) {
    fetch(`https://localhost:xxx/api/file/download?fileDocumentId=11`)
        .then(response => {
            debugger

            return response.json()
        })
        .then(result => {
            debugger
            console.log('Success:', result);       

            var file = new Blob([result], { type: 'application/pdf' });
            var fileURL = URL.createObjectURL(file);
            window.open(fileURL);         
        })

        .catch(function (error) {
            console.log('Request failed', error)
        });
}

The above did create and open a pdf file but it is corrupted.

In console.log('Success:', result);, the output in the console is something like below:

Success: 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

Since the actual output is too long, I have truncated it here.

After googling more, I also tried the below code which convert the bytes array into arrayBuffer before create the blob. It did create and download the PDF but when I open the PDF, that PDF is also corrupted.

function downloadpdf(pdfUrl) {
    debugger
    fetch(pdfUrl).then(resp => resp.arrayBuffer()).then(resp => {
        const file = new Blob([resp], { type: 'application/pdf' });

        const fileURL = URL.createObjectURL(file);
        const link = document.createElement('a');
        link.href = fileURL;
        link.download = "FileName" + new Date() + ".pdf";
        link.click();
    });
}

downloadpdf('https://localhost:xxx/api/file/download?fileDocumentId=11')

For FetchFiles method, basically it read the PDF file and convert it into bytes array.

byte[] fileBytes = await File.ReadAllBytesAsync(file);

Upvotes: 0

Views: 5991

Answers (1)

ElasticCode
ElasticCode

Reputation: 7867

Your code returning byte array to JavaScript and you don't need to do that, just return it as FileContentResult which will write a binary file to the response and the browser will download it as a file even if you call the API directly in the browser.

[HttpGet]
[Route("Download")]
public async Task<ActionResult> DownloadFiles(int fileDocumentId)
{
    string filePath = fileDocumentId=11;

    var file = await _fileService.FetchFiles(fileDocumentId);
    string fileName = "FileName" + DateTime.Now.ToString() + ".pdf";

    return File(file.ArchiveData, "application/force-download", fileName);
}

Upvotes: 2

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