Error or Blank Page When Viewing Redirected PDF in IE 3.0 or Later

Download PDF version of this faq: BlankPage_PDF_Redirect.pdf

Issue: After creating a Web page or script, such as an Active Server Page (*.asp) or a CGI script, that redirects the browser to a PDF file, the PDF file appears as a blank page in Microsoft Internet Explorer 3.0 to 5.01 with Service Pack 1. An Adobe Acrobat 4.0 or later product is installed, and it may return the error, "There was a problem reading this document (14)."

By using a scripting language (e.g., PERL or JavaScript), you can set up a script that dynamically creates PDF files from form data in a Web browser -- that is, it collects the form data, sends it to a server, creates the PDF file on the server, and then sends the PDF file to the browser. Adobe Acrobat Technical Support does not support these scripts.

Internet Explorer 5.0x and earlier use the header information of each file received to determine how to display the file. If a server sends a dynamically created PDF file, Internet Explorer cannot understand the header information and, therefore, cannot display the PDF file.

Internet Explorer 5.5 corrects display issues of PDF files sent dynamically using POST or Active Server Page (ASP) retrieval methods. For information about these methods, refer to the documentation for the Web or script authoring tool or refer to an HTML reference manual.

Solutions:

Do one of the following:

• Install Internet Explorer 5.5 or later, available from Microsoft's Web site at www.microsoft.com.
  
• If your Web page or script uses a Post method to display the PDF file, set it up to use a Get method instead. For instructions, refer the documentation for the application in which you're creating the Web page or script, or refer to an HTML reference manual.
  
• Set up your Web page or script to refer to an HTML document that has a link to the PDF file. Your readers can then click the link to view the PDF file. For instructions, refer the documentation for the application in which you're creating the Web page or script, or refer to an HTML reference manual.
  
• Set up your Web page or script so that the HEAD section of its HTML code includes a <META> tag with a refresh attribute that loads the PDF file. For instructions, refer to the documentation for the application in which you're creating the Web page or script, or refer to an HTML reference manual.
  
• Recommend that your readers view the page only in Netscape Navigator.
  
• If you've written the script that creates the PDF file dynamically from submitted form information, modify it so that it creates an HTML document with a link to the PDF file for your users to follow, rather than having the server send the PDF file back to the user dynamically.