Embed Sumatra PDF Reader into a Form

[kmlj]

Hi there lads,
I was wondering if it would be possible to embed Sumatra PDF reader into a given Form ?

https://www.sumatrapdfreader.org/free-pdf-reader.html

I've searched fairly a lot but most examples are in C++ and to be quite honest I'm relatively new to all this

[kmlj]

Would it be possible to run Sumatra PDF reader as a child process inside let's say a panel in my main form instead ?
I'm just looking for the easiest way to view pdf files using my form without Adobe Acrobat Reader.
iText Sharp isn't an option as it isn't meant to view pdf files but to generate some as far as I understand the lot.

[kebo]

I'm just looking for the easiest way to view pdf files using my form without Adobe Acrobat Reader.

The link below will take you to a some code I posted to extract pdf page as images. You could the display the image in a picture box.

http://www.vbforums.com/showthread.p...=1#post5130801

[kmlj]

The link below will take you to a some code I posted to extract pdf page as images. You could the display the image in a picture box.
http://www.vbforums.com/showthread.p...=1#post5130801

Yes indeed, I had already seen that but it relies on Ghostscript which is not installed by default. Images won't let me copy any text either.
For the time beeing, pdf2htmlEX is serving me very well. I subsequently load the *.html file using the WebBrowser control.
I'm just trying to find a way to load the pdf file without any conversion you see

[kmlj]

Alright, getting near the end .....
Based on this code, I've managed to make it work.
Now, how can make SumatraPDF fit the panel upon start? (Process1 is running inside Panel1)
I mean, I just want SumatraPDF to run maximized inside the panel without having to resize it myself.

[kebo]

Try using the ShowWindows api on the Sumatra window.

http://www.pinvoke.net/default.aspx/user32.showwindow

<DllImport("user32.dll", SetLastError:=True, CharSet:=CharSet.Auto)> _
Private Shared Function ShowWindow(ByVal hwnd As IntPtr, ByVal nCmdShow As ShowWindowCommands) As Boolean
End Function

ShowWindow(sumatraWindowHandle, 3)' maximize=3

[kmlj]

Try using the ShowWindows api on the Sumatra window.

Thanks for your prompt reply.

This is the working code:

Imports System.Diagnostics
Imports System.Runtime.InteropServices

Public Partial Class MainForm
<DllImport("user32.dll")> Public Shared Function SetParent(ByVal hwndChild As IntPtr, ByVal hwndNewParent As IntPtr) As Integer
End Function

Sub Button1Click(sender As Object, e As EventArgs)	
Dim p As Process() = Process.GetProcessesByName("SumatraPDF.exe")
Process1.StartInfo.FileName = ("e:\SumatraPDF\SumatraPDF.exe")
Process1.Start()
Do Until Process1.WaitForInputIdle = True
Loop
SetParent(Process1.MainWindowHandle, panel1.Handle)

End Sub

Now, if I use your code accordingly, this is what I've got:

[kebo]

Beware of copy and paste coding. Read and understand what you are coding.

The ShowWindow declaration has an enumeration type in its signature that is not defined in your code. You can either create the enum from the information in the pInvoke link in post 6, or I think you can change the declaration from

ByVal nCmdShow As ShowWindowCommands

to

ByVal nCmdShow As Int32

You also have to change sumatraWindowHandle to the correct window handle.

[kmlj]

No, no, not all
I'm trying to understand what's going on but I'm just a beginner you see .....
I'll try that, thanks.
While we're still at it, I'm trying to pass an argument to SumatraPDF.exe. Let's say, I click on button1 and I want Sumatra to open file 1.pdf right away, no need for the open file dialogue.
This works natively, but it doesn't inside the panel as it says "the system cannot find the file"

SumatraPDF.exe 1.pdf

[kebo]

You need to supply the file name as an Argument in Process.StartInfo

https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/lib...v=vs.110).aspx

[kmlj]

You need to supply the file name as an Argument in Process.StartInfo
https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/lib...v=vs.110).aspx

Thank you very much

[kmlj]

I've ended up adapting another piece of code to my needs ...

Declare Auto Function SetParent Lib "user32.dll" (ByVal hWndChild As IntPtr, ByVal hWndNewParent As IntPtr) As Integer
Declare Auto Function SendMessage Lib "user32.dll" (ByVal hWnd As IntPtr, ByVal Msg As Integer, ByVal wParam As Integer, ByVal lParam As Integer) As Integer


Private Const WM_SYSCOMMAND As Integer = &H112
Private Const SC_MAXIMIZE As Integer = &HF030
Dim proc As Process

Sub Button1Click(sender As Object, e As EventArgs)
		
proc = Process.Start("file:///" & IO.Path.GetFullPath(".\SumatraPDF.exe") , "1.pdf")
proc.WaitForInputIdle()

SetParent(proc.MainWindowHandle, Panel1.Handle)
SendMessage(proc.MainWindowHandle, WM_SYSCOMMAND, SC_MAXIMIZE, 0)

End Sub

This starts SumatraPDF maximized with file 1.pdf right away inside Panel1.