Generate and download pdf file

Question

Is there any specific configuration to generate pdf file on the server ? The problem is that locally in my local project works perfectly and when I go up to the server the file is not generated, the page is processing eternally until it reaches the timeout, the code snippet is this:

protected string GerarPDF(string html)
    {
        //Nome arquivo
        string nome = "Laudo_" + System.DateTime.Now.ToString().Replace(" ", "_").Replace("/", "_").Replace(":", "_") + ".pdf";
        var path = Path.Combine(Server.MapPath("~/Content/Uploads/Laudos"), nome);

        try
        {
            var pechkin = Factory.Create(new GlobalConfig());

            var pdf = pechkin.Convert(new ObjectConfig()
                                .SetLoadImages(true)
                                .SetPrintBackground(true)
                                .SetScreenMediaType(true)
                                .SetCreateExternalLinks(true)
                                .SetAllowLocalContent(true), html);

            using (FileStream file = System.IO.File.Create(path))
            {
                file.Write(pdf, 0, pdf.Length);
            }

            //Return the PDF file to download
            Response.Clear();

            Response.ClearContent();
            Response.ClearHeaders();

            Response.ContentType = "application/pdf";
            Response.AddHeader("Content-Disposition", string.Format("attachment;filename=" + nome + ", size={0}", pdf.Length));
            Response.BinaryWrite(pdf);

            Response.Flush();
            Response.End();

            return nome;
        }
        catch
        {
            nome = string.Empty;
            return nome;
        }


    }

I implemented this solution but data type conversion error occurs:

cannot implicity convert type

Answer 1

This is the way much wrong to do. Nothing guarantees that you are actually manipulating the request with this.

There are two ways you can resolve this correctly:

1. Making GerarPDF return a byte[];
2. Do GerarPDF return a FileAction. In this case, GerarPDF would be a Action of your Controller.

In the first form, it looks like this:

protected byte[] GerarPDF(string html)
{
    //Retire isso aqui
    // string nome = "Laudo_" + System.DateTime.Now.ToString().Replace(" ", "_").Replace("/", "_").Replace(":", "_") + ".pdf";
    // var path = Path.Combine(Server.MapPath("~/Content/Uploads/Laudos"), nome);

    try
    {
        var pechkin = Factory.Create(new GlobalConfig());

        var pdf = pechkin.Convert(new ObjectConfig()
                            .SetLoadImages(true)
                            .SetPrintBackground(true)
                            .SetScreenMediaType(true)
                            .SetCreateExternalLinks(true)
                            .SetAllowLocalContent(true), html);

        using (MemoryStream file = new MemoryStream())
        {
            file.Write(pdf, 0, pdf.Length);
        }

        return pdf.ToArray();
    }
    catch
    {
        nome = string.Empty;
        return nome;
    }
}

And the Controller:

    public ActionResult GerarLaudo()
    {
        // Coloque aqui a lógica pra gerar o HTML.
        byte[] arquivo = GerarPDF(html);
        return File(arquivo, System.Net.Mime.MediaTypeNames.Application.Octet, "Laudo.pdf");
    }

The second method is the same thing, only you will not separate into a function called GerarPDF. He’ll call Pechkin and return the file, all in the same Action.