RadPdfViewer Object

Updated on Mar 2, 2026

This article lists the client-side API of RadPdfViewer and how to use it.

To use the API, you must first get a reference to the control's client-side object. For example:

JavaScript

var pdfViewerObject = $find("<%=RadPdfViewer1.ClientID %>");

RadPdfViewer is a server-side wrapper over the Kendo UI PdfViewer Widget. Thus, it exposes the API of the underlying Kendo widget. To get a reference to the Kendo widget instance, you can do either of the following:

• Use the get_kendoWidget() method of the MS AJAX wrapper:

  JavaScript

    var pdfViewerObject  = $find("<%=RadPdfViewer1.ClientID %>"); //the standard script control object
    var kendoPdfViewerObject = pdfViewerObject.get_kendoWidget(); //the Kendo widget

• Get the Kendo Widget in its usual way. Make sure to use the $telerik._kendo.jQuery reference that has the Kendo widget data:

  JavaScript

    var kendoPdfViewer = $telerik._kendo.jQuery("#<%=RadPdfViewer1.ClientID %>").data("kendoPDFViewer"); //the jQuery selector must get the RadPdfViewer1 wrapper span element

As of the 2026 Q1 release, Kendo jQuery widget plugins and data are registered on $telerik._kendo.jQuery — a different jQuery instance from $telerik.$. If you use $telerik.$ with .data("kendoXxx"), it will return undefined. Always use $telerik._kendo.jQuery when accessing the underlying Kendo widget via the .data() method. The recommended approach, however, is to use the get_kendoWidget() method shown above.

In addition to using the Kendo method directly, you can also use their wrappers that follow the MS AJAX convention through the RadPdfViewer client object.

Table1: Client-side methods exposed by the MS AJAX RadPdfViewer object

Name	Parameters	Return Type	Description
activatePage	Number	none	Loads and scrolls to the page by number.
addToolBarItem	Object	none	Add new command to the nested in RadPdfViewer Toolbar widget. Accepts object with valid command configuration options.
dispose	none	none	Disposes the PdfViewer client-side object (calls its underlying Kendo widget's destroy method). Once you call it, you will not be able to use the widget or control.
execute	Object	none	Executes a command of the PDFViewer (calls its underlying Kendo widget's execute method). The available commands are: OpenCommand, PageChangeCommand, DownloadCommand, EnableSelectionCommandо, EnablePanCommand, ExportCommand, PrintCommand, OpenSearchCommand, ZoomCommand
fromFile	String	none	Displays the file which path is passed as a parameter in the PDFViewer.
get_activePage	none	Number	Returns the selected page number in the viewer.
get_defaultPageSize	none	Object	Returns the default page size.
get_document	none	Object	Returns a reference to the loaded document.
get_height	none	Number	Returns the height of the PDFViewer.
get_kendoWidget	none	object	Returns a reference to the underlying Kendo PdfViewer widget.
get_pageContainer	none	Object	Returns a reference to the current page container.
get_pages	none	Array	Returns a list of the pages in the loaded document.
get_processor	none	Object	Returns a reference to the current PDF proccessor instance.
get_toolBar	none	Object	Returns the a reference to the nested in the PdfViewer Kendo UI toolbar instance.
get_visible	none	Boolean	Returns a Boolean value indicating whether the PdfViewer is visible.
get_width	none	Number	Returns the width of the PDFViewer.
get_zoomMax	none	Number	Returns the maximum zoom that could be applied to the pages.
get_zoomMin	none	Number	Returns the minimum zoom that could be applied to the pages.
hide	none	none	Hides the PdfViewer element.
hideToolBar	none	none	Hides the element of the nested in the PdfViewer toolbar.
loadPage	Number	none	Renders page canvas by number.
repaint	Boolean	none	Repaints the control. The "force" argument determines whether the resizing routine should be executed even if the respective widget's outer dimensions have not changed.
set_activePage	Number	none	Loads and scrolls to the page by number.
set_height	Number	none	Specifies the height of the PDFViewer.
set_visible	Boolean	none	Shows/Hides the PdfViewer element.
set_width	Number	none	Specifies the width of the PDFViewer.
set_zoomMax	Number	none	Specifies the maximum zoom that could be applied to the pages.
set_zoomMin	Number	none	Specifies the minimum zoom that could be applied to the pages.
show	none	none	Shows the PdfViewer element.
showToolBar	none	none	Shows the element of the nested in the PdfViewer toolbar.

See Also

• Live Demo - RadPdfViewer Client-side API

• RadPdfViewer Client-side Events