Prevent PDF auto download by idm using pdf.js

Question

I'm using PDF.Js to embed PDF file for preview, and I removed the script of download and open files from the viewer.js , but when I test the page and PDF file try to show, the Internet Download Manager download it and abort the preview .. after search I found that using object instead of iframe may solve the problem, but it didn't work the pdf viewer appeared white, what can I do to prevent auto download ? or using another way (Plugin) to show PDF file content.

<iframe 
  class="pdf" 
  webkitallowfullscreen="" 
  mozallowfullscreen="" 
  allowfullscreen="" 
  frameborder="no" 
  width="'.$width.'" 
  height="'.$height.'" 
  src="'.$baseurl.'/assets/pdf/web/viewer.html?file='.urlencode($pdf_url).'" 
  data-src="'.$pdf_url.'">
  '.$pdf_url.'
</iframe>

Solution 1

This is not something related to developing issue , this is something related to user specific environement.

The Issue :

Using IDM ,any URL that ends with a media extension (e.g *.JPG , *.PNG , *.MP4 , *.WMV , *.PDF ..etc ) will be downloaded automatically , However on the other hand if the user doesnt have IDM installed , the file will be viewed immediately in browser window.

Possible Solutions :

1. Remove PDF extension Handler from IDM , to prevent auto download, and i think the image explains it very well.

2. Modify response header for your PDF link to force your browser to view pdf inside its view , please consider that each browser may handle the response differently , more details about this method can be found here.

Final Note:

As a developer you shouldnt handle each user specific environment , we suppose that when user installs a specific app to handle generic files , then it is his/her role to handle that application , and not the developer role , cause if you follow this algorithm you jump inside infinite loop handling different users specific setup.

Solution 2

Just remove .pdf Extension from the main file. IDM cannot detect what kind of file it is. but the browser will handle its native way.

Solution 3

try with this

<embed src="'.$baseurl.'/assets/pdf/web/viewer.html?file='.urlencode($pdf_url).'" type="text/html" >

Solution 4

It is possible to prevent download automatically from idm (PdfJs). IDM find extention pdf file so we need to convert pdf file to base-64 and then read base64 of pdf into node DOM src:

1. Convert your file pdf to base64

document.getElementById('myfiles').addEventListener('change', function(event){

		var input = document.getElementById("myfiles"); 

		var fReader = new FileReader();
		fReader.readAsDataURL(input.files[0]);
		fReader.onloadend = function(event){ 
    document.getElementById("base64").innerHTML = event.target.result;
		 console.log(event.target.result); 
     
		}
	});

<input type="file" name="files" id="myfiles" value=""><br>
<textarea id="base64" cols="50"></textarea>

2. get all string base64 put to txt file

filename.txt

3. read base64 from file txt and past into iframe or with viewer.js (PDF JS)

-iframe should

<iframe scr="data:application/pdf,base64.....">prevent download from idm</iframe>

-with PDF viewer

 var xhr = new XMLHttpRequest();
     console.log(file);
     xhr.open('GET', folderFiles+filename+".txt", true);
     xhr.responseType = 'text';
     xhr.onload = function(e) {
     
        if (this.status == 200) {
     
           PDFViewerApplication.open(this.response);     
        
        }
      };

So, IDM won't force download pdf file automatically because it cannot find specific file. link : https://github.com/sokhasen/ViewerPDF.git

View more solutions

Comments

[Halayem Anis]

(1) - Click on "more information" and tell us what it is shown in "Unexpected server response" section (2) - have you tried with other browsers ? it is the same issue ?

[user3003810]

(1) PDF.js v1.0.1040 (build: 997096f) Message: Unexpected server response (204) while retrieving PDF. (2) Yes I tried on Firefox and the same issue there (the Internet download manager has an option (auto download (some extensions files) and PDF included) but I want to prevent it.

[user3003810]

I tried <object width="400" height="400" data="targetfile"></object> depending on many solutions on Internet, but the viewer does not appear the pdf file.

[Mohiyo Deen]

What about if my PDF Files are larger than 500MB to 1GB