How to view document in Android with DocumentActivity

This section will show you how to open a document in a DocumentActivity. This is an AppCompatActivity which contains a PdfViewCtrlTabHostFragment2 and packages all the standard features used during document viewing. You can learn more in our document viewer overview.

1. The AndroidManifest.xml file needs to be updated to request permissions to allow DocumentActivity to function properly. You also need to add some attributes to the <application> tag as well as a new <activity> tag to define the DocumentActivity. For more, see detailed description of permission requirements.

XML

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<!-- Include existing attributes in manifest -->
<manifest>
    <!-- Required permissions are added here -->
    <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.INTERNET"/>
    <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.RECORD_AUDIO" />

    <!-- Add multidex support and enable largeHeap. Also enable usesCleartextTraffic in application attributes if you are working with HTTP files. If you are only working with HTTPS files, this is not required. -->
    <!-- Include existing attributes in application -->
    <application android:name="androidx.multidex.MultiDexApplication" android:largeHeap="true" android:usesCleartextTraffic="false">

        <!-- Add license key in meta-data tag here. This should be inside the application tag. -->
        <!-- This is from the Integration stage-->
        <meta-data android:name="pdftron_license_key" android:value="${pdftronLicenseKey}" />

        <!-- Document viewer activity declaration-->
        <activity android:name="com.pdftron.pdf.controls.DocumentActivity" android:configChanges="keyboardHidden|orientation|screenSize|screenLayout|smallestScreenSize" android:windowSoftInputMode="adjustPan" android:theme="@style/PDFTronAppTheme"/>
    </application>
</manifest>

Storage Permission

Please follow the latest Android best practices and guidelines.

Warn

If your app targets Android SDK version 28 or higher, add the android:usesCleartextTraffic="true" attribute in your application tag to open HTTP files in the viewer. If you're only working with HTTPS files, this is not required.

1. Import the following in your MainActivity.java file.

Java

import android.net.Uri;
import java.io.File;
import com.pdftron.pdf.config.ViewerConfig;
import com.pdftron.pdf.controls.DocumentActivity;

Kotlin

import android.net.Uri
import java.io.File
import com.pdftron.pdf.config.ViewerConfig
import com.pdftron.pdf.controls.DocumentActivity

1. Inside the onCreate method for your MainActivity class, add the following lines to open a demo PDF from a URL. You can open documents using DocumentActivity in many ways.

Java

ViewerConfig config = new ViewerConfig.Builder().openUrlCachePath(this.getCacheDir().getAbsolutePath()).build();
final Uri fileLink = Uri.parse("https://pdftron.s3.amazonaws.com/downloads/pl/PDFTRON_mobile_about.pdf");
DocumentActivity.openDocument(this, fileLink, config);

Kotlin

val config = ViewerConfig.Builder().openUrlCachePath(this.getCacheDir().getAbsolutePath()).build();
val fileLink = Uri.parse("https://pdftron.s3.amazonaws.com/downloads/pl/PDFTRON_mobile_about.pdf")
DocumentActivity.openDocument(this, fileLink, config)

DocumentActivity has limited runtime customizability.

If you require more customizability options, please use PdfViewCtrlTabHostFragment2 since it gives you full control over UI and behavior customization. Read more on the different components in the viewer overview guide for Andriod .

Your app should look something like this:

You can explore the features of the viewer and also many customization options.

More loading options

DocumentActivity can open documents from various resources including internal storage, URIs, web servers and the application's res folder.

You can open files from the these sources using the code below:

Java

import android.net.Uri;
import java.io.File;
import com.pdftron.pdf.config.ViewerConfig;
import com.pdftron.pdf.controls.DocumentActivity;

// Set the cache location using the config to store the cache file
ViewerConfig config = new ViewerConfig.Builder().openUrlCachePath(this.getCacheDir().getAbsolutePath()).build();

// from internal storage
final Uri uri = Uri.fromFile(new File("myLocalFilePath"));
// from content uri
final Uri uri = Uri.parse("myContentUri");
// from http/https
final Uri uri = Uri.parse("myFileLink");
// from assets
final Uri uri = Uri.parse("file:///android_asset/my_file.pdf");

// intent builder
Intent intent = DocumentActivity.IntentBuilder.fromActivityClass(this, DocumentActivity.class)
        .withUri(uri)
        .usingConfig(config)
        .usingTheme(R.style.PDFTronAppTheme)
        .build();
startActivity(intent);

Kotlin

import android.net.Uri
import java.io.File
import com.pdftron.pdf.config.ViewerConfig
import com.pdftron.pdf.controls.DocumentActivity

// Set the cache location using the config to store the cache file
val config = ViewerConfig.Builder().openUrlCachePath(this.getCacheDir().getAbsolutePath()).build();

// from internal storage
val uri = Uri.fromFile(new File("myLocalFilePath"))
// from content uri
val uri = Uri.parse("myContentUri")
// from http/https
val uri = Uri.parse("myFileLink")
// from assets
val uri = Uri.parse("file:///android_asset/my_file.pdf")

// intent builder
val intent: Intent = DocumentActivity.IntentBuilder.fromActivityClass(this, DocumentActivity::class.java)
        .withUri(uri)
        .usingConfig(config)
        .usingTheme(R.style.PDFTronAppTheme)
        .build()
startActivity(intent)

A cache location is preferred when loading contents from web servers.

If you did not request Storage permission, the app sandbox is recommended for cache path, otherwise you have control over where you would like to store the cache file.

Next step

Customize