Resetting wait cursor in browser with Content-Disposition:attachment

Question

The following code works nicely:

<script type="text/javascript">
    var prm = Sys.WebForms.PageRequestManager.getInstance();
    prm.add_initializeRequest(InitializeRequest);
    prm.add_endRequest(EndRequest);

    function InitializeRequest(sender, args) {
        document.body.style.cursor = 'progress';
    }
    function EndRequest(sender, args) {
        document.body.style.cursor = 'default';
    }
</script>

When the response returns an attachment, though (a PDF from the ReportViewer control, for instance):

Response.AddHeader("Content-Disposition", "attachment; filename=some.pdf")

EndRequest() never fires and the "progress" cursor is not reset. A Javascript call, e.g.

ScriptManager.RegisterStartupScript(this, this.GetType(), "close", 
   "parent.EndRequest(...);", true);

would do the trick, but is not possible because of the content disposition. Can you think of a way to do this correctly - show a wait cursor while a PDF is rendered, and return to the normal cursor when the PDF is displayed? I am assuming a C# context here, but the problem is not language- or platform-specific.

Answer 1

The problem seems to be that the EndRequest function is not being fired. Have you tried to see if the pageLoading and the pageLoaded events are firing?

I have a feeling these events are not firing because there is nothing sent back to the page (the attachment doesn't reach the page the same way an inline document does).

I would move the file download into an iframe. Here is an example of how to do that:

function InitializeRequest(sender, args) {
    document.body.style.cursor = 'progress';

    var iframe = document.createElement("iframe");
    iframe.src = 'your pdf file';
    iframe.style.display = "none";
    document.body.appendChild(iframe); 
}

Then you can access the onload event of the iframe.

EDIT:

Further searching led me to this page. It seems to do all that you're looking to do.