How to Display PDFs in Android Applications?

Displaying PDFs in Android Applications

PDF files are commonly used to share documents and records. As a developer, it's essential to know how to effectively render and display PDFs within your Android applications.

Rendering PDFs

Once you have obtained the PDF file as a byte stream and stored it in the device's memory, rendering it for viewing requires a supported PDF library or viewer. Modern Android devices often include a pre-installed PDF viewer, such as the one found in Quickoffice on the Nexus One. This makes it convenient to render PDFs directly by opening them using an appropriate Intent.

Displaying the PDF

To display the PDF in an activity, you can use the code snippet below. It creates an Intent with the PDF file path, sets the correct MIME type, and starts the intent to open the viewer application:

public class OpenPdf extends Activity {
    @Override
    public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
        setContentView(R.layout.main);

        Button button = (Button) findViewById(R.id.OpenPdfButton);
        button.setOnClickListener(new View.OnClickListener() {
            @Override
            public void onClick(View v) {
                File file = new File("/sdcard/example.pdf");

                if (file.exists()) {
                    Uri path = Uri.fromFile(file);
                    Intent intent = new Intent(Intent.ACTION_VIEW);
                    intent.setDataAndType(path, "application/pdf");
                    intent.setFlags(Intent.FLAG_ACTIVITY_CLEAR_TOP);

                    try {
                        startActivity(intent);
                    } 
                    catch (ActivityNotFoundException e) {
                        Toast.makeText(OpenPdf.this, 
                            "No Application Available to View PDF", 
                            Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show();
                    }
                }
            }
        });
    }
}

This code assumes you have a button in your layout (main.xml) with the ID OpenPdfButton. When the user clicks this button, it checks if the PDF file exists. If it does, it creates an Intent and opens the PDF viewer application. If a suitable PDF viewer is not installed, the user will be notified accordingly.

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