Question

I am creating a web application where users can upload/download/view online pdfs. I want to change the name of the pdf file to view in new tab link (like we see in all websites).

Does anyone know how to make any field in the database that gives a link that when user clicks, it opens the pdf in a new tab?

if($result) { 
    if($result->num_rows == 0) {
        echo '<p>There are no files in the database</p>';
    }
    else {
        // Print the top of a table
        echo '<table width="100%">
                <tr>
                    <td><b>Name</b></td>
                    <td><b>type</b></td>
                    <td><b>Size (bytes)</b></td>
                    <td><b>Created</b></td>
                    <td><b>&nbsp;</b></td>
                    <td><b>view><b/></td>
                </tr>';

        // Print each file
        while($row = $result->fetch_assoc()) {
            echo "
                <tr>
                    <td>{$row['name']}</td>
                    <td>{$row['type']}</td>
                    <td>{$row['size']}</td>
                    <td>{$row['created']}</td>

                </tr>";
        }

        // Close table
        echo '</table>';
    }

    // Free the result
    $result->free();

}
else
{
    echo 'Error! SQL query failed:';
    echo "<pre>{$dbLink->error}</pre>";
}

// Close the mysql connection
$dbLink->close();

Answer 1

The solution doesn’t have to be within the database.

You can use an anchor tag to redirect the user to the link :

<a href="{$path_to_pdf}" target="_blank" >Click here to view the PDF</a>
Put that in a cell in the table you are generating.

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I could be mistaken – but I do believe that the users browser is also a factor here. The browser has to be able to display pdf’s. The latest and greatest* browsers have it baked in but user preferences’ might also be a factor.

* Let your imagination run wild