Getting Started with Xamarin.Android PDF Viewer

17 Mar 202224 minutes to read

This section demonstrates how to create an application that displays a PDF file using Xamarin.Android PDF Viewer (SfPdfViewer) control.

Assemblies Required

After installing Essential Studio for Xamarin, you can find all the required assemblies in the installation folders,

{Syncfusion Essential Studio Installed location}\Essential Studio{Essential Studio version}\Xamarin\lib\android\

Example: C:\Program Files (x86)\Syncfusion\Essential Studio\15.3.0.28\Xamarin\lib\android\

For creating a PDF Viewer for android, the following assemblies need to be referenced in your Android project.

Project	Required assemblies
Xamarin.Android	Syncfusion.Compression.Portable.dll Syncfusion.Pdf.Portable.dll Syncfusion.SfPdfViewer.Android.dll Syncfusion.SfBusyIndicator.Android.dll Syncfusion.SfRangeSlider.Android.dll Syncfusion.Licensing.dll Syncfusion.SfProgressBar.Android.dll

NOTE

Starting with v16.2.0.x, if you reference Syncfusion assemblies from trial setup or from the NuGet feed, you also have to include a license key in your projects. Please refer to this link to know about registering Syncfusion license key in your Xamarin.Android application to use our components.

Create a simple PDF Viewer

Create a new blank application for Android using Visual Studio and name it as “GettingStartedDroid”. Refer the above-mentioned assemblies to the project.

Add a PDF document you need to display in the PDF Viewer (here GIS Succinctly.pdf is used) and set the build action property as “AndroidAsset”.

Add the below code in the Main.axml to include PDF Viewer control.

XAML

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<LinearLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    android:orientation="vertical"
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="match_parent">
  <Syncfusion.SfPdfViewer.Android.SfPdfViewer
        android:layout_width="match_parent"
        android:layout_height="match_parent"
        android:id="@+id/pdfviewercontrol" />
</LinearLayout>

Please add the below code snippet in the MainActivity class

• In the MainActivity.cs class, declare an instance of SfPdfViewer globally.
• In the override method OnCreate, set the content view to Main, locate the PDF viewer and load the PDF document.

C#

SfPdfViewer pdfViewer;

protected override void OnCreate(Bundle bundle)
{
    base.OnCreate(bundle);
    SetContentView(Resource.Layout.Main);
    pdfViewer = FindViewById<SfPdfViewer>(Resource.Id.pdfviewercontrol);
    Stream PdfStream = Assets.Open("GIS Succinctly.pdf");
    pdfViewer.LoadDocument(PdfStream);
}

Deploying this project in the Android device would display the PDF document and allow you to scroll and zoom through the pages.

Loading a PDF from an URL

PDF documents can be loaded from a given URL into the PdfViewer by downloading the PDF and then loading the stream of the downloaded file into the PdfViewer. In the following code sample, the HttpClient.GetAsync( ) method sends a GET request to the specified Uri as an asynchronous operation and the HttpContent.ReadAsStreamAsync( ) method will serialize the HTTP content and returns a stream that represents the content as an asynchronous operation. Finally, the obtained stream is passed to the LoadDocument( ) method of SfPdfViewer.

C#

HttpClient httpClient = new HttpClient();
HttpResponseMessage response = await httpClient.GetAsync("https://www.syncfusion.com/downloads/support/directtrac/general/pd/GIS_Succinctly1774404643.pdf");
Stream pdfStream = await response.Content.ReadAsStreamAsync();
pdfViewerControl.LoadDocument(pdfStream);

The sample that illustrates loading a PDF from an URL can be downloaded from the link below,

https://www.syncfusion.com/downloads/support/directtrac/general/ze/LoadPDFFromURL-NativeAndroid-1933958599.zip

NOTE

An Internet connection is necessary to get the stream from an URL. Please ensure that the device has a proper internet connection before running the sample application.

Unloading PDF document from the Viewer

The Xamarin.Android PDF Viewer (SfPdfViewer) control allows you to unload the PDF document from the viewer, when the PDF document is not in use anymore. This releases the PDF document and all its associated resources of the application.

You need to call the Unload method of SfPdfViewer control as in the below code snippet to achieve the same.

C#

pdfViewerControl.Unload();

How to get & set the current page number?

PageChanged event of the PDF viewer can be used to track the change in the current page being displayed in the PDF viewer.

This below code snippet demonstrates how to track the current page number being viewed using PageChanged event and how to navigate to the respective page in the PDF Viewer.

XAML

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<LinearLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    android:orientation="vertical"
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="match_parent"
    android:id="@+id/parentview">
  <FrameLayout
        android:id="@+id/parent"
        android:layout_width="match_parent"
        android:layout_height="50dp">
    <GridLayout
            android:id="@+id/toolbarGrid"
            android:background="#E9E9E9"
            android:layout_width="match_parent"
            android:columnCount="1"
            android:layout_height="50dp">
    <EditText
          android:id="@+id/pagenumberentry"
          android:layout_width="50dp"
          android:layout_height="30dp"
          android:layout_marginLeft="10dip"
          android:layout_marginTop="10dip"
          android:textAlignment="center"
          android:background="@drawable/edittextbg"
          android:textColor="@android:color/black"
          android:inputType="number"
          android:selectAllOnFocus="true"
          android:gravity="center" />
    </GridLayout>
  </FrameLayout>

  <Syncfusion.SfPdfViewer.Android.SfPdfViewer
        android:layout_width="match_parent"
        android:layout_height="match_parent"
        android:id="@+id/pdfviewercontrol" />
</LinearLayout>

C#

EditText pageNumberEntry;
SfPdfViewer pdfViewer;

protected override void OnCreate(Bundle bundle)
{
    base.OnCreate(bundle);
    SetContentView(Resource.Layout.Main);
    
    //Access the controls in the design.
    pdfViewer = FindViewById<SfPdfViewer>(Resource.Id.pdfviewercontrol);
    pageNumberEntry = FindViewById<EditText>(Resource.Id.pagenumberentry);

    //Wire up PageChanged event with PdfViewer_PageChanged
    pdfViewer.PageChanged += PdfViewer_PageChanged;
    //Wire up KeyPress event with PageNumberEntry_KeyPress
    pageNumberEntry.KeyPress += PageNumberEntry_KeyPress;
}

private void PdfViewer_PageChanged(object sender, PageChangedEventArgs args)
{
    //Set the text of PageNumberEntry EditText control to the PageNumber event argument of PageChanged event.
    pageNumberEntry.Text = args.PageNumber.ToString();
}

private void PageNumberEntry_KeyPress(object sender, Android.Views.View.KeyEventArgs e)
{
    e.Handled = false;
    if (e.Event.Action == KeyEventActions.Down && e.KeyCode == Keycode.Enter)
    {
        int pageNumber = 0;
        //Validated the entered text input is integer or validate.
        if (int.TryParse((pageNumberEntry.Text), out pageNumber))
        {
            if ((pageNumber > 0) && (pageNumber <= pdfViewer.PageCount))
                pdfViewer.GoToPage(pageNumber);
        }
         pageNumberEntry.ClearFocus();
        InputMethodManager inputMethodManager = (InputMethodManager)mainView.Context.GetSystemService(Context.InputMethodService);
        inputMethodManager.HideSoftInputFromWindow(mainView.WindowToken, HideSoftInputFlags.None);
    }
}

NOTE

When a page number which is not in the bounds (1 – page count) is provided as an input to the GoToPage method, no action will be performed.

How to dispose the managed resources of SfPdfViewer

The SfPdfViewer control allows you to dispose the managed resources which are associated with the viewer. You need to call the Dispose method of the SfPdfViewer control as shown in the following code sample to achieve the same.

C#

//Disposes all the managed resources of SfPdfViewer
pdfViewer.Dispose();

How to clear the undo and redo stack

The SfPdfViewer control allows you to clear the undo and redo stacks that contain the changes that are made to the annotations in the PDF document, by calling the ClearUndoRedoStack API. When this method is called, the CanUndo and CanRedo properties will be set to false.

C#

//To clear the undo and redo stack 
pdfViewer.ClearUndoRedoStack();

How to get the total page number?

PageCount property of the PDF viewer can be used to acquire the total number of pages in the PDF document that is being loaded. The PageCount property of the PDF viewer will be updated only after loading the PDF document, it can be tracked using DocumentLoaded event of the PDF viewer.

XAML

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<LinearLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    android:orientation="vertical"
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="match_parent"
    android:id="@+id/parentview">
  <FrameLayout
        android:id="@+id/parent"
        android:layout_width="match_parent"
        android:layout_height="50dp">
    <GridLayout
            android:id="@+id/toolbarGrid"
            android:background="#E9E9E9"
            android:layout_width="match_parent"
            android:columnCount="1"
            android:layout_height="50dp">
    <TextView
          android:id="@+id/pagecounttext"
          android:layout_width="50dp"
          android:textAlignment="center"
          android:textColor="@android:color/black"
          android:layout_marginLeft="10dip"
          android:layout_marginTop="10dip"
          android:textSize="18dp"
          android:gravity="center"
          android:text="0" />
    </GridLayout>
  </FrameLayout>

  <Syncfusion.SfPdfViewer.Android.SfPdfViewer
        android:layout_width="match_parent"
        android:layout_height="match_parent"
        android:id="@+id/pdfviewercontrol" />
</LinearLayout>

C#

TextView pageCountText;
SfPdfViewer pdfViewer;

protected override void OnCreate(Bundle bundle)
{
    base.OnCreate(bundle);
    SetContentView(Resource.Layout.Main);
    
    //Access the controls in the design.
    pdfViewer = FindViewById<SfPdfViewer>(Resource.Id.pdfviewercontrol);
    pageCountText = FindViewById<TextView>(Resource.Id.pagecounttext);

    //Wire up DocumentLoaded event with PdfViewer_DocumentLoaded
    pdfViewer.DocumentLoaded += PdfViewer_DocumentLoaded;
}

private void PdfViewer_DocumentLoaded(object sender, System.EventArgs args)
{
    //Set the text of the PageCountText TextView to PageCount of PDF viewer
    pageCountText.Text = pdfViewer.PageCount.ToString();
}

How to navigate to next page and previous page?

GoToPreviousPage and GoToNextPage methods of PDF viewer can be used to perform page navigation operations.

XAML

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<LinearLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    android:orientation="vertical"
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="match_parent"
    android:id="@+id/parentview">
  <FrameLayout
        android:id="@+id/parent"
        android:layout_width="match_parent"
        android:layout_height="50dp">
    <GridLayout
            android:id="@+id/toolbarGrid"
            android:background="#E9E9E9"
            android:layout_width="match_parent"
            android:columnCount="2"
            android:layout_height="50dp">
      <ImageButton
          android:id="@+id/pagedownbutton"
          android:background="#E9E9E9"
          android:layout_marginLeft="10dip"
          android:layout_marginTop="10dip"
          android:src="@drawable/pagedown" />
      <ImageButton
          android:id="@+id/pageupbutton"
          android:background="#E9E9E9"
          android:src="@drawable/pageup"
          android:layout_marginLeft="10dip"
          android:layout_marginTop="10dip" />
    </GridLayout>
  </FrameLayout>

  <Syncfusion.SfPdfViewer.Android.SfPdfViewer
        android:layout_width="match_parent"
        android:layout_height="match_parent"
        android:id="@+id/pdfviewercontrol" />
</LinearLayout>

C#

ImageButton pageDownButton;
ImageButton pageUpButton;
SfPdfViewer pdfViewer;

protected override void OnCreate(Bundle bundle)
{
    base.OnCreate(bundle);
    SetContentView(Resource.Layout.Main);
    
    //Access the controls in the design.
    pdfViewer = FindViewById<SfPdfViewer>(Resource.Id.pdfviewercontrol);
    pageDownButton = FindViewById<ImageButton>(Resource.Id.pagedownbutton);
    pageUpButton = FindViewById<ImageButton>(Resource.Id.pageupbutton);

    pageDownButton.Click += PageDownButton_Click;
    pageUpButton.Click += PageUpButton_Click;
}

private void PageUpButton_Click(object sender, System.EventArgs e)
{
    //Method navigates to the previous page of the PDF document
    pdfViewer.GoToPreviousPage();
}

private void PageDownButton_Click(object sender, System.EventArgs e)
{
    //Method navigates to the next page of the PDF document
    pdfViewer.GoToNextPage();
}

NOTE

When the current page is the first page, GoToPreviousPage method will not have any effect. Similarly, when in last page, GoToNextPage method will not have any effect.

How to lock or unlock all the annotations?

To lock or unlock all the annotations in a PDF, set the SfPdfViewer.AnnotationSettings.IsLocked API to true or false respectively. The default value of the API is false, and when it is set to true, annotations can be selected, but resizing, moving, editing, and removing actions will be disabled. Only the tapped and selected events from the annotations will be raised. The following code sample explains the same.

C#

//Lock all the annotations
pdfViewerControl.AnnotationSettings.IsLocked = true;

NOTE

The lock operation can also be enabled or disabled for a particular annotation type such as shape, free text, text markup, etc. Please find the code samples to enable or disable interaction for particular annotation from their respective sections.

How to enable or disable the annotation selection?

To enable or disable the annotation selection, set the SfPdfViewer.AnnotationSettings.Constraints API to AnnotationConstraints.Selectable or ~AnnotationConstraints.Selectable respectively. Annotations will be selected by default, and when this API is set to ~AnnotationConstraints.Selectable, annotation selection, moving, resizing, removing and attribute changes will be disabled. Only the tapped events of the annotations will be raised. The following code sample explains the same.

C#

//Disable the selection of all annotation types.
pdfViewerControl.AnnotationSettings.Constraints = ~AnnotationConstraints.Selectable;

NOTE

The selection operation can also be enabled or disabled for a particular annotation type such as shape, free text, text markup, etc. Please find the code samples to enable or disable interaction for particular annotation from their respective sections.

How to get the list of annotations present in the PDF?

By using Annotations property, You can get the list of annotations present in the PDF document.
.
Refer the following code sample.

C#

//Gets the list annotations present in the PDF
var annotations = pdfViewer.Annotations;

NOTE

The list remains empty if the PDF does not have any pre-existing annotations.

Rendering the appearance content of annotations

By default, the PDF Viewer does not render the appearance content of annotations. But the appearance can be rendered by flattening the annotations before loading the PDF. This can be achieved by setting the Flatten API to true. The default value of the API is set to false.

C#

//Sets a value whether the annotations should be flattened when the PDF is loaded or not.
pdfViewerControl.AnnotationSettings.Flatten = true;

//Loads the PDF. 
pdfViewerControl.LoadDocument(stream);

NOTE

Annotations are only flattened when the page displayed in the viewer is only for viewing the appearance of annotations. Once the annotations are flattened, the interactions such as select, edit, resize, and remove cannot be performed. Setting the Flatten property to true will does not affect the save and annotation export operations. The annotations will not be flattened in these operations.

Designing a toolbar

This section depicts how to design a toolbar for the PDF viewer and include functionalities such as page navigation options. This simple toolbar consists of options such as current page number, total page count in the PDF document, go to previous page and go to next page.

In Main.axml, please add this code snippet to design the toolbar to add the page navigation options.

XAML

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<LinearLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    android:orientation="vertical"
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="match_parent"
    android:id="@+id/parentview">
  <FrameLayout
        android:id="@+id/parent"
        android:layout_width="match_parent"
        android:layout_height="50dp">
    <GridLayout
            android:id="@+id/toolbarGrid"
            android:background="#E9E9E9"
            android:layout_width="match_parent"
            android:columnCount="2"
            android:layout_height="50dp">
      <ImageButton
          android:id="@+id/pagedownbutton"
          android:background="#E9E9E9"
          android:layout_marginLeft="10dip"
          android:layout_marginTop="10dip"
          android:src="@drawable/pagedown" />
      <ImageButton
          android:id="@+id/pageupbutton"
          android:background="#E9E9E9"
          android:src="@drawable/pageup"
          android:layout_marginLeft="10dip"
          android:layout_marginTop="10dip" />
    </GridLayout>
  </FrameLayout>

  <Syncfusion.SfPdfViewer.Android.SfPdfViewer
        android:layout_width="match_parent"
        android:layout_height="match_parent"
        android:id="@+id/pdfviewercontrol" />
</LinearLayout>

In MainActivity.cs, please add the below code snippet which contains the implementation for the following operations

• Access & display the current page number being displayed and navigate to the specified page.
• Display the total number of pages
• Navigate to the previous page
• Navigate to the next page

C#

using Android.App;
using Android.Widget;
using Android.OS;
using Syncfusion.SfPdfViewer.Android;
using System.IO;
using Android.Views;
using Android.Views.InputMethods;
using Android.Content;

namespace GettingStartedDroid
{
    [Activity(Label = "GettingStartedDroid", MainLauncher = true, Icon = "@drawable/icon")]
    public class MainActivity : Activity
    {
        SfPdfViewer pdfViewer;
        EditText pageNumberEntry;
        TextView pageCountText;
        ImageButton pageDownButton;
        ImageButton pageUpButton;
        LinearLayout mainView;
        protected override void OnCreate(Bundle bundle)
        {
            base.OnCreate(bundle);
            SetContentView(Resource.Layout.Main);

            //Access the controls in the design.
            pdfViewer = FindViewById<SfPdfViewer>(Resource.Id.pdfviewercontrol);
            pageNumberEntry = FindViewById<EditText>(Resource.Id.pagenumberentry);
            pageCountText = FindViewById<TextView>(Resource.Id.pagecounttext);
            pageDownButton = FindViewById<ImageButton>(Resource.Id.pagedownbutton);
            pageUpButton = FindViewById<ImageButton>(Resource.Id.pageupbutton);
            mainView = FindViewById<LinearLayout>(Resource.Id.parentview);

            //Wire up events.
            pageNumberEntry.KeyPress += PageNumberEntry_KeyPress;
            pageDownButton.Click += PageDownButton_Click;
            pageUpButton.Click += PageUpButton_Click;
            pdfViewer.DocumentLoaded += PdfViewer_DocumentLoaded;
            pdfViewer.PageChanged += PdfViewer_PageChanged;

            //Access the document in the resource as stream and load it in the PDF viewer.
            Stream PdfStream = Assets.Open("GIS Succinctly.pdf");
            pdfViewer.LoadDocument(PdfStream);
        }

        private void PdfViewer_PageChanged(object sender, PageChangedEventArgs args)
        {
            pageNumberEntry.Text = args.PageNumber.ToString();
        }

        private void PdfViewer_DocumentLoaded(object sender, System.EventArgs args)
        {
            //Set the text of the PageCountText TextView to PageCount of PDF viewer
            pageCountText.Text = pdfViewer.PageCount.ToString();
        }

        private void PageUpButton_Click(object sender, System.EventArgs e)
        {
            //Method navigates to the previous page of the PDF document
            pdfViewer.GoToPreviousPage();
        }

        private void PageDownButton_Click(object sender, System.EventArgs e)
        {
            //Method navigates to the next page of the PDF document
            pdfViewer.GoToNextPage();
        }

        private void PageNumberEntry_KeyPress(object sender, Android.Views.View.KeyEventArgs e)
        {
            e.Handled = false;
            if (e.Event.Action == KeyEventActions.Down && e.KeyCode == Keycode.Enter)
            {
                int pageNumber = 0;
                if (int.TryParse((pageNumberEntry.Text), out pageNumber))
                {
                    //Validated the entered text input is integer or validate.
                    if ((pageNumber > 0) && (pageNumber <= pdfViewer.PageCount))
                        pdfViewer.GoToPage(pageNumber);
                    else
                    {
                        DisplayAlertDialog();
                        pageNumberEntry.Text = pdfViewer.PageNumber.ToString();
                    }
                }
                pageNumberEntry.ClearFocus();
                InputMethodManager inputMethodManager = (InputMethodManager)mainView.Context.GetSystemService(Context.InputMethodService);
                inputMethodManager.HideSoftInputFromWindow(mainView.WindowToken, HideSoftInputFlags.None);
            }
        }

        void DisplayAlertDialog()
        {
            AlertDialog.Builder alertDialog = new AlertDialog.Builder(mainView.Context);
            alertDialog.SetTitle("Error");
            alertDialog.SetMessage("Please enter the valid page number");
            alertDialog.SetPositiveButton("OK", (senderAlert, args) => { });
            Dialog dialog = alertDialog.Create();
            dialog.Show();
        }
    }
}

The final output will look as like in the below screenshot.

This demo can be downloaded from the below link.

http://www.syncfusion.com/downloads/support/directtrac/general/ze/GettingStartedDroid-1943126494.zip