Opening a PDF file in a web browser using PHP involves serving the PDF directly to the client’s browser. This is achieved by setting the appropriate HTTP headers (Content-Type and Content-Disposition) in PHP, which instructs the browser to display the PDF instead of downloading it.
Note: PHP doesn't read PDFs but passes them to the browser. If stored in XAMPP's htdocs, no file path is needed.
Example 1: This PHP script serves a PDF file to the browser by setting headers for content type and disposition. It uses @readfile($file) to pass the PDF for inline display or download.
<?php
// Store the file name into variable
$file = 'filename.pdf';
$filename = 'filename.pdf';
// Header content type
header('Content-type: application/pdf');
header('Content-Disposition: inline;
filename="' . $filename . '"');
header('Content-Transfer-Encoding: binary');
header('Accept-Ranges: bytes');
// Read the file
@readfile($file);
?>
Output:
Example : This PHP script displays a PDF in the browser by specifying its server path. It sets the Content-type to application/pdf and Content-Length headers, then uses readfile() to output the file.
<?php
// The location of the PDF file
// on the server
$filename = "/path/to/the/file.pdf";
// Header content type
header("Content-type: application/pdf");
header("Content-Length: " . filesize($filename));
// Send the file to the browser.
readfile($filename);
?>
Output:
PHP is a server-side scripting language designed specifically for web development. You can learn PHP from the ground up by following this PHP Tutorial and PHP Examples.