Getting Started With .Net MAUI

Using IronPDF, we can create a new PDF in the MAUI app. But first, let's set up the UI for generating PDFs in the .NET MAUI app.

Setting Up Frontend

The .NET MAUI application can create multiple UI controls like buttons, text boxes, etc. We'll create a button for this task to help us create a PDF file. Open the "MainPage.xaml" file and paste the following code.

<Button
    x:Name="PdfBtn"
    Text="Generate PDF using HTML String"
    SemanticProperties.Hint="Generate PDF from HTML string"
    Clicked="HtmlToPdf"
    HorizontalOptions="Center" />

The above piece of code helps to create the button. Inside the tag, some properties of the button are defined, like Text, Name of the button, function to call when clicked, and positioning. You can change it according to your requirements. This code will add the button in the center position with the specified text. Now, we've to define the function to create a button.

Creating a function to Generate PDF File

We have to define the "HtmlToPdf" function to convert HTML to PDF files using IronPDF. First, open the "MainPage.xaml.cs" file and paste the following code.

ChromePdfRenderer renderer = new ChromePdfRenderer();
var doc = renderer.RenderHtmlAsPdf("<h1>Hello IronPDF!</h1> <p>I'm using IronPDF MAUI!</p>");
SaveService saveService = new();
saveService.SaveAndView("IronPDF HTML string.pdf", "application/pdf", doc.Stream);

This piece of code helps to generate PDF files using the HTML String. RenderHtmlAsPdf functions allow for conversion. After that, I created an object for SaveService class. After this section, I'll define the code for the "SaveService" class. SaveService class helps to download and open the generated File. You can get more tutorials about PDF processing using the following link.

Output PDF File

IronPDF will generate the following PDF file.

Save and Open the File in .NET MAUI

There is no direct option in MAUI to save and open the File. For the following functionality, we've to create a separate class and write code separately. Follow the next steps to develop Save and Open functionality in .NET MAUI.

Create a partial class named "SaveService.cs" and paste the following code:

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;
using System.Threading.Tasks;

namespace MAUI_Tutorial
{
    public partial class SaveService
    {
            public partial void SaveAndView(string filename, string contentType, MemoryStream stream);
    }
}

Now open the Windows folder inside the Platform folder. Create a new file named "SaveWindows.cs" and paste the following code.

using Windows.Storage;
using Windows.Storage.Pickers;
using Windows.Storage.Streams;
using Windows.UI.Popups;

namespace MAUI_Tutorial
{
    public partial class SaveService
    {
        public async partial void SaveAndView(string filename, string contentType, MemoryStream stream)
        {
            StorageFile stFile;
            string extension = Path.GetExtension(filename);
            //Gets process windows handle to open the dialog in application process. 
            IntPtr windowHandle = System.Diagnostics.Process.GetCurrentProcess().MainWindowHandle;
            if (!Windows.Foundation.Metadata.ApiInformation.IsTypePresent("Windows.Phone.UI.Input.HardwareButtons"))
            {
                //Creates file save picker to save a file. 
                FileSavePicker savePicker = new();
                savePicker.DefaultFileExtension = ".pdf";
                savePicker.SuggestedFileName = filename;
                //Saves the file as Pdf file.
                savePicker.FileTypeChoices.Add("PDF", new List<string>() { ".pdf" });
                

                WinRT.Interop.InitializeWithWindow.Initialize(savePicker, windowHandle);
                stFile = await savePicker.PickSaveFileAsync();
            }
            else
            {
                StorageFolder local = ApplicationData.Current.LocalFolder;
                stFile = await local.CreateFileAsync(filename, CreationCollisionOption.ReplaceExisting);
            }
            if (stFile != null)
            {
                using (IRandomAccessStream zipStream = await stFile.OpenAsync(FileAccessMode.ReadWrite))
                {
                    //Writes compressed data from memory to file.
                    using Stream outstream = zipStream.AsStreamForWrite();
                    outstream.SetLength(0);
                    //Saves the stream as file.
                    byte[] buffer = stream.ToArray();
                    outstream.Write(buffer, 0, buffer.Length);
                    outstream.Flush();
                }
                //Create message dialog box. 
                MessageDialog msgDialog = new("Do you want to view the document?", "File has been created successfully");
                UICommand yesCmd = new("Yes");
                msgDialog.Commands.Add(yesCmd);
                UICommand noCmd = new("No");
                msgDialog.Commands.Add(noCmd);

                WinRT.Interop.InitializeWithWindow.Initialize(msgDialog, windowHandle);

                //Showing a dialog box. 
                IUICommand cmd = await msgDialog.ShowAsync();
                if (cmd.Label == yesCmd.Label)
                {
                    //Launch the saved file. 
                    await Windows.System.Launcher.LaunchFileAsync(stFile);
                }
            }
        }
    }
}

The above code helps to save and open the file on a windows desktop. For android and IOS apps, you've to write different codes. You can get the working project from GitHub using the following link.

This is how we create PDF files using IronPDF in the .NET MAUI application.

Summary

This article teaches how the MAUI application works and the usage of .NET MAUI applications. Dot NET MAUI is an excellent tool for mobile development and desktop apps with a single code base.