Problem
I'd like to show a PDF inside my AIR application, but Flex does not provide a PDF display component.
Solution
While AIR does not provide a feature to display a PDF directly, it is simple to present a PDF through Flex' mx:HTML component. This entry wraps mx:HTML into a single window to show a PDF.
Detailed explanation
To present a preview window, you need to create an instance of CPDFPreview window first:
var aPreview:CPDFPreview = new CPDFPreview();
aPreview.open( true );
Then pass a file reference to loadFile(), which points to the PDF
aPreview.loadFile( fp );
or pass an URL string directly
aPreview.loadFile( "file://" + fp.nativePath );
loadFile() provides a second parameter which default to FALSE. In case you pass TRUE, CPDFPreview displays the PDFs URL-location in the windows status area:
Here is the simple component CPDFPreview, which wraps an mx:HTML component inside a window in such a way, that it fills the whole window.
In fact, the component visualizes any kind of stuff, the HTML component is able to visualize. I called it CPDFPreview, because Adobe might at some day in the future PDF feature and - in my case - I present PDFs created using AlivePDF.
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<mx:Window xmlns:mx="http://www.adobe.com/2006/mxml" layout="absolute" width="912" height="636"
creationComplete="init();"
>
<mx:HTML id="htMainView" right="0" left="0" top="0" bottom="0"/>
<mx:Script>
<![CDATA[
private const DEFAULT_TITLE:String = "PDF Preview";
private function init():void {
}
public function loadURL( anURL:String = "http://your.url.default/", showStatusLocation:Boolean = false ):void {
title = DEFAULT_TITLE;
if ( true == showStatusLocation ) {
status = ' Preview of: ' + anURL;
}
htMainView.location = anURL;
}
public function loadFile( anURL:File, showStatusLocation:Boolean = false ):void {
if ( null != anURL ) {
loadURL( "file://" + anURL.nativePath, showStatusLocation );
}
}
]]>
</mx:Script>
</mx:Window>
