C#-WEB:Open a PDF saved in the database

[ftech]

In my progr, users can upload PDF files which are saved in SQL Server. But when I try to retrieve the file, it just won't open. I am using the following code:

_ObjUC = new UserControls();
DataTable dt = new DataTable();

_ObjUC.DocumentID = Request.QueryString["id"].ToString().Trim();
dt = _ObjUC.getPDFdocument(_ObjUC.DocumentID);

byte[] buffer = (byte[])dt.Rows[0]["document_content"];

Response.ContentType = "application/pdf";
Response.AddHeader("Content-Type", "application/pdf");
Response.AddHeader("content-disposition", "inline;filename=file.pdf");
MemoryStream PageData = new MemoryStream(buffer);
PageData.WriteTo(Response.OutputStream);

We use a shared development environment. The funny thing is that it works on my collegues comp but not on mine. We both user IE 7.0. Am I doing something wrong here? Is there an alternate way?

[Motoma]

When you say "won't open" what do you mean? What happens? Do you get a save dialog and the file is corrupted, or will it not download at all?

[ftech]

No ... all I get is a blank screen

[Motoma]

Blank screen in what? Adobe? IE? Firefox? PLEASE WORK WITH ME HERE!
I can only be as helpful as you are!

[ftech]

the blank screen is IE

[ftech]

What I am doing is that I am displaying the name of the pdf files in a gridview. When the user clicks on a particular name, I grab the document's id and get the document (which was originally a pdf doc) from the database and display it to the user. But when I do this using the above code, I get a blank IE screen. I tried to debug this and it does not result in any errors. so i don't know whats wrong?

[Motoma]

And it works on your co-workers box? Have you tried other machines in your office to ensure this is not a browser problem?

[ftech]

yeah ... it just works on one of by colleague's machine ... I tried it on a few other folks machine but it does not work on theirs.

[Motoma]

yeah ... it just works on one of by colleague's machine ... I tried it on a few other folks machine but it does not work on theirs.

This may have to do with some sort of pathing issue. Where are the PDFs located in relation to your machine? How is this different from your co-worker's? You may be storing the wrong path to the PDF...did your co-worker upload it from his computer by any chance? Take a look at the database...do all of the paths look correct to you?

[ftech]

yeah it looks fine ... all I am doing is grabbing the file content from the database (SQL Server). I then cast it as a byte array and use the above code to display it. Path is certainly not the issue here.

[ftech]

I figured out that the above code works fine if I change the content-disposition to 'attachment' . But I don't know why it does not work when I change it to 'inline'