grizzley has asked for the wisdom of the Perl Monks concerning the following question:

Hi Monks! I am developing small system in HTML::Mason and as a part of it - trying to generate PDFs and display/print it. I wanted WWW page to open generated PDF in separate Acrobat window, but didn't succeeded.
Didn't know how to do it, tried with 'system'. From command line system("C:/<properpath>/AcroRd32.exe", "mypdf.pdf") is working, from WWW it isn't (no error is displayed, no new Acrobat window). I started scanning Perlmonks, but it seems everyone wants to display PDF in browser's window/tab (e.g. Opening PDF through CGI). OK, this form suits me too. I digged through Mason's documentation and found proper code and the only problem that remains is: how to open PDF in browser's new tab/new window instead of current one? Here is the code of some HTML page: 
% if($ddc_generatePDF)
% {
<& '/pdf_templates/generatePDF.html',
  data => $data,
  data2 => $data2,
  fileName => 'D:/project1/printouts/mypdf.pdf'
&>

<& '/pdf_templates/displayPDF.html',
  fileName => 'D:/project1/printouts/mypdf.pdf'
&>
% }

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Here code of generatePDF.html 
<%args>
data
data2
fileName
</%args>
<%init>
use constant mm => 25.4/72;
use constant in => 1/72;
use constant pt => 1;
</%init>
<%perl>
PDF::Reuse::prFile($fileName);
...some other commands...
PDF::Reuse::prEnd();

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Here, code of displayPDF.html: 
<%args>
$fileName
</%args>

<%init>
use Apache2::SubRequest;
my $subr = $r->lookup_file($fileName);
return 404 unless -f $fileName and $subr->status == 200;
$r->content_type($subr->content_type);
# $r->send_http_header;
return 200 if $r->header_only;
$subr->run;
$m->abort;
</%init>

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Any help appreciated. And virtual beer for one more hint: how to open print dialog programmatically after displaying PDF?

I am working on Win XP, but it will be installed on Linux.

Replies are listed 'Best First'.
Re: Open generated PDF in new tab/new page in HTML::Mason
by pc88mxer (Vicar) on May 11, 2008 at 14:51 UTC
    I wanted WWW page to open generated PDF in separate Acrobat window, but didn't succeeded
    It would be helpful if you described how it is not working. What do you get back, a blank page or a page full of garbage or does the server just hang?

    The best you can do is to generate and return a PDF document with the proper HTTP headers. What the client does with the document (opens Acrobat or whatever) depends on how the client is configured. You won't be able to invoke commands on the client's machine with system.

    Make the following checks:

    1. Use wget -S http://your/url to see if you are generating the right HTTP headers. You should be sending Content-Type: application/pdf.
    2. Also with wget make sure you are returning a valid PDF file.
    3. Finally, see how the client's browser is configured to handle PDF files. Acrobat should automatically take over handling PDF files when it is installed, but perhaps it got changed.

    To open the print dialog, you could put your document in an <iframe> and specify an onload handler for it: 

    <html>
<head>
  <script>
    function doit() { window.print(); }
  </script>
</head>
<body>
  <iframe src="your pdf url here" onload="doit()"></iframe>
</body>
</html>

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      It would be helpful if you described how it is not working. What do you get back, a blank page or a page full of garbage or does the server just hang?

      When I run following command in console:

      perl -le "system 'c:\Program Files\Adobe\Reader 8.0\Reader\AcroRd32.ex
+e', 'D:\www\my.pdf'"

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      Acrobat opens and displays my.pdf as expected. Then I add % system 'c:\Program Files\Adobe\Reader 8.0\Reader\AcroRd32.exe', 'D:\www\my.pdf'; in HTML file and load in browser. The page gets displayed correctly, but there is no additional Acrobat window with my.pdf. I am not sure if I can expect browser to open Acrobat window in such way... Anyway, Javascript suggested by Gangabass leads me in another direction and there will be place for 'normal' headers and standard redirection.

      ++ for the trick with iframe - it works. How to use it when I return 'application/pdf' in HTTP header?

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        Then I add % system 'c:\Program Files\Adobe\Reader 8.0\Reader\AcroRd32.exe', 'D:\www\my.pdf'; in HTML file and load in browser.
        You are doing this in your Mason file, right? This will run Acrobat on your server, not the client's machine.
        ++ for the trick with iframe - it works. How to use it when I return 'application/pdf' in HTTP header?
        You have to create a URL which returns your PDF file. You then specify that URL as the src= parameter to the iframe. For instance, try this in the above example HTML document: 
        <iframe src="http://www.niso.org/publications/rp/RP-6-2008.pdf"></ifra
+me>

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Re: Open generated PDF in new tab/new page in HTML::Mason
by quester (Vicar) on May 11, 2008 at 21:32 UTC
    Actually, you can open new windows (or tabs if the browser is set to force them) without Javascript, using target="_blank": 
    <a href="new_window.pdf" target="_blank">my pdf file</a>

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Re: Open generated PDF in new tab/new page in HTML::Mason
by Gangabass (Vicar) on May 11, 2008 at 14:17 UTC

    If you want to control client browser (tabs or windows) then you must use client side programming. So use Javascript to open new window.

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      One problem solved, thanks for hint!
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