.net open pdf in client browser doesn't work...

Hi
I have a vb.net app that is required to open a pdf when the user clicks a link in a gridview..
The handler in the rowCommand event for the gridview fires, but I can't get the pdf to actually open...

This one is driving me nuts....

Error =  "The thread was being aborted"

If I comment out the "Response.end()" there's no error, but no document opening either...
Here's the relavent code snippet....

Try
                    Dim client As New WebClient()
                    Dim buffer As [Byte]() = client.DownloadData(strFileName)
                    Dim fileName As String = "EmploymentContract.pdf"
                    Response.Buffer = True
                    Response.Clear()
                    Response.ContentType = "application/pdf"

                    Response.AddHeader("content-length", buffer.Length.ToString())
                    Response.BinaryWrite(buffer)
                    Response.End()

                Catch ex As Exception
                    Session("errorMessage") = "FileName = " & strFileName & " -- " & ex.Message
                    Response.Redirect("errorPage.aspx")
End Try

Open in new window


I've tried it in both Chrome (preferred) and IE with the same results...
If I manually paste the file path into chrome the pdf opens without a hitch..

Can anyone shed any light on this please?

Thasnks in advance..

Dave
jcm4101Asked:
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käµfm³d 👽Commented:
Hmmm...  I put your code into a new project, and what I mentioned above was the only issue I encountered. Perhaps more code is necessary.

 Screenshot
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käµfm³d 👽Commented:
Response.End will throw a ThreadAbortException, so I think your Catch block is catching that. Try moving that call outside of the Catch block.
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jcm4101Author Commented:
Thanks for your response..
I should have mentioned that I had previously tried moving it all outside of the try/catch block with the result that nothing appears to download and nothing opens...

hmmmmmmmm
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jcm4101Author Commented:
Hi
Once again thanks for your response... I appreciate it..

I think I've worked out the issue....
The gridview is inside an update panel, and there was no full postback happening...
I placed a postback trigger (as opposed to async postback trigger) on the update panel and voila!! Document opened up right away....

Your sanity checking the code helped, so am happy to mark your answer as the solution  :-)

Thanks again for helping..

Dave
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