PDF viewer — version history

u_pbt_pdfviewer · Introduced in 1.0

A PDF viewer built into the window: a document from the disk or published on the web, with paging, zoom and printing, without launching an external application. Introduced in 1.0.

4.0 — October 2026 #

New #

• ue_load_failed(as_source, as_reason) tells why a document is not displayed — missing file, not a PDF, unreachable site, certificate, insecure address, document too large… (REASON_* constants) — and the viewer stays empty.
• ue_link_clicked(as_url): a link followed in the document (simple click or Ctrl+click) hands you its address, and the viewer stays on the document. as_url is an https://… or a mailto:… as is, or a disk path for a link to a local file.
• ib_allow_save and ib_allow_print: offer or remove the Save (and Save as) and Print commands of the viewer toolbar.
• of_print prints the document (not the page around it); it returns -4 with no document.
• The addresses file:///C:/…, file://localhost/… and file:////server/share/… are accepted and converted into a path.
• Giving the focus to the component (Tab, of_focus_webview) gives it to the document: Page Down, arrows, Home and End scroll it.
• PDFs of 32 MB and more are displayed (served in chunks), as are paths longer than 260 characters; a displayed file can be rewritten by your application while it is on screen.
• The content follows the application's default theme, with no white rectangle before the first display.

Fixed #

• A PDF regenerated at the same path is displayed as it is on disk on of_refresh (the old version stayed for five minutes).
• A # in a file name (Quote #12.pdf) no longer cuts the path; the fragment of a web address no longer mixes with ii_page and ii_zoom.
• ii_page set before is_source is kept for that document instead of being lost.
• ue_load_completed is no longer raised on an error page.
• A remote PDF served "as a download" is no longer saved into the machine's Downloads folder.
• The viewer is born empty, in the same state as after of_reset().
• Enter or Esc pressed in the component, when it does not use them, goes back to the window: the PowerBuilder Default or Cancel CommandButton fires (the key was lost).
• With no language chosen by the application, the component announces English to screen readers (it announced French).
• is_theme_style, is_theme_mode and il_theme_accent read back the style and mode shown and the component's own accent (-1 when it has none); an unknown or badly written value is ignored instead of leaving the component without a theme, and an axis left empty follows the application's theme.
• The application accent (PBT_SetDefaultThemeAccent) survives a change of theme, is followed as long as the component has no accent of its own, and repaints everything derived from it (hover, pressed, selections); Windows high contrast is supported.

Behavior changes #

See the "Migrating from 3.0 to 4.0" guide, sections 11.3, 11.5 and 11.27.

• is_source read back and the as_source of ue_load_completed return what you wrote (doc\notice.pdf), no longer an internal address.
• The viewer only displays PDFs: an http:// address, a web page or a data: address of another type is refused through ue_load_failed; so is a data: address of more than 2 million characters (REASON_TOO_LARGE).
• of_refresh returns a long: 0 once requested, -4 with no document, -2 if the component is not created; after a refusal, it repeats the refusal through ue_load_failed.
• of_print_to_pdf returns -4 without writing anything: the document already is a PDF, copy the file of is_source.
• A link in the document no longer replaces the displayed document: it raises ue_link_clicked.

3.0 — September 2026 #

New #

• of_set_property, of_get_property and of_component_name: drive a property by its name (settings screen, saved configuration).

2.0 — September 2026 #

New #

• ue_script_error: a script error in the page reaches PowerBuilder with its message instead of being lost.

Fixed #

• A Windows path, or a text containing a quote, received in an event arrives intact (backslashes are no longer doubled, the text is no longer cut at the quote).

1.0 — August 2026 #

New #

• Displays a document from the disk (absolute path or relative to the application) or published on the web: setting is_source is enough, "" empties the viewer; ue_load_completed reports the load.
• Opening page (ii_page), zoom (ii_zoom) or fit (is_fit: FIT_PAGE, FIT_WIDTH, FIT_HEIGHT), viewer toolbar shown or hidden (ib_viewer_toolbar).
• of_refresh reloads the current document, for example after it was regenerated.