ARender Horizon
ARender Horizon is a React-based document viewer distributed as an npm package (arender-ui). It registers an <arender-element> Web Component that you embed directly into your web application. No iframe, no standalone server needed — the viewer lives inside your page as a native HTML element.
Feature availability
| Feature | Status |
|---|---|
| Document viewing (all formats including AutoCAD) | Available |
| Full-text search (improved performance) | Available |
| Download (native format and PDF) | Available |
| Available | |
| Internationalization (15 languages) | Available |
| Web Component | Available |
| Full annotation types (zone highlight, freetext, text highlight, rectangle, stamp, arrow, ink, sticky note...) | Coming soon |
| Document comparison (text and image) | Coming soon |
| Split, merge, page manipulation (document builder) | Coming soon |
| Redaction | Coming soon |
| Bookmarks creation / deletion | Coming soon |
| Multi-view (horizontal split) | Coming soon |
| Download as PDF with annotations | Coming soon |
| Print with annotations | Coming soon |
Architecture overview
ARender Horizon runs entirely in the browser as a Web Component embedded in your host application. It communicates with the ARender backend over REST.
- Host application — your web application, built with any technology
- React UI — the
<arender-element>Web Component, bundled into your app via npm - Reverse proxy / Backend For Frontend (BFF) — sits between the viewer and the broker. At minimum, a reverse proxy (Nginx) routes API calls and solves CORS. When using providers, it also injects the
X-Provider-IDheader. When OAuth2 is enabled on the rendition backend, a full BFF handles token management on behalf of the viewer. If your environment already has a BFF or API gateway, you can reuse it. - Document Service Broker — the ARender backend that orchestrates rendition (conversion, rendering, text extraction)
- Provider — an optional microservice that loads documents from a repository (Alfresco, FileNet, or a custom source)
- Document Repository — the system where your documents are stored
ARender does not yet ship a built-in BFF component — this is planned for an upcoming release. In the meantime, use your own reverse proxy or BFF.
Deployment model
ARender Horizon is an npm package that you install and bundle into your own application. There is no separate viewer server to deploy.
The backend is a set of Docker containers:
- The broker container orchestrates all rendition services (converter, renderer, text handler, file storage). This is the only backend endpoint the viewer needs.
- If your documents are stored in a repository such as Alfresco or FileNet, you deploy an additional provider container. The provider is a lightweight microservice that the broker calls to fetch documents from the repository on behalf of the viewer.
If your host application supplies documents directly (for example, by uploading a file to the broker API), no provider is needed.
Next steps
- Getting started — install, embed, and open your first document
- Web Component — HTML attributes, JavaScript API, styling
- Configuration — CORS setup, reverse proxy, backend connection
- Providers — load documents from Alfresco, FileNet, or custom repositories
- Migrating from the Classic viewer — concept mapping and checklist