Chapter 1. Overview

A very simple FileHandler which allows to view PDF files.

Note that this FileHandler requires a commercial library for loading and displaying the PDF contents. This library is available as a free trial download, the only limitation of which is a DEMO watermark on all displayed pages.

The chosen library is simply the best available option (or at least was at the time of evaluation, 2015-04-03). It covers the broadest range of PDF features, runs very stable and has a very clean and easy to use SW-architecture. All alternatives were falling short in comparison, most of them very much so. And another big plus is its being totally 100% pure Java, without any native libraries or other such nonsense to which some products resolve. And in terms of usability it is very close to the industry standard, Adobe Acrobat Reader.

In order to use this FileHandler, it is necessary to download the trial version of the BFO PDF Viewer and place that .jar file into the lib directory of the FileBrowser installation.

In case a licensed version is available, the corresponding license key can be configured as an application variable with name PdfViewer.LicenseKey and should thus unlock the trial and make the DEMO watermark go away.