Download pdf file from JAX-RS

1. Put @Produces(“application/pdf”) on service method, with a Response return type. It means the output is a pdf file.
2. Set “Content-Disposition” in Response header to tell browser pop up a download box for user to download.

1. Download PDF file in JAX-RS

Full example to download an pdf file from JAX-RS.

package com.dineshonjava.ws.rest;

import java.io.File;

import javax.ws.rs.GET;
import javax.ws.rs.Path;
import javax.ws.rs.Produces;
import javax.ws.rs.core.Response;
import javax.ws.rs.core.Response.ResponseBuilder;

/**
 * @author Dinesh Rajput
 *
 */
@Path("/pdf")
public class PdfFileService {
 private static final String PDF_PATH = "d:mongodb.pdf";
  
 @GET
 @Path("/get")
 @Produces("application/pdf")
 public Response getSalarySlipFile() {
 
  File file = new File(PDF_PATH);
 
  ResponseBuilder response = Response.ok((Object) file);
  response.header("Content-Disposition",
   "attachment; filename="mongodb_pdf_file.pdf"");
  return response.build();
 
 }
}

2. Test

Deploy above JAX-RS service, access this URI pattern : “http://localhost:8181/sdnext/doj/pdf/get“.

Figure : PDF file “d:mongodb.pdf” from server is prompt for user to download, with a new pdf file name “mongodb_pdf_file.pdf”

Download SourceCode
Download pdf file from JAX-RS.zip

References
1. JAVA REST Web Services
2. Wikipedia for REST Web Service