[ASP.NET]How to implement file upload and download in ASP.NET MVC

[ASP.NET]How to implement file upload and download in ASP.NET MVC

File upload/download is very useful functionality in web application. Here is a simple implementation of file upload/download in ASP.NET MVC 1.0. The sample use a “FileManager” controller to handle file download and file upload requests. And for download, I created a custom ActionResult class to stream out the binary file content.

FileManager Controller

namespace MVCFileWeb.Controllers {     /// <summary>     /// MVC Controller class for file upload and download     /// </summary>     public class FileManagerController : Controller     {         /// <summary>         /// default Action         /// </summary>         public ActionResult Index()         {             var files = from f in System.IO.Directory.GetFiles(                                    Server.MapPath("~/App_Data/download/"),                                    "*.*",                                    SearchOption.TopDirectoryOnly)                              select System.IO.Path.GetFileName(f);             return View(files.ToList());         }         /// <summary>      /// action for file download         /// </summary>         public ActionResult Download(string fn)         {             string pfn = Server.MapPath("~/App_Data/download/" + fn);             if (!System.IO.File.Exists(pfn))             {                 throw new ArgumentException("Invalid file name or file not exists!");             }             return new BinaryContentResult(){                          FileName = fn,                         ContentType="application/octet-stream",      Content= System.IO.File.ReadAllBytes(pfn)             };                                     }         /// <summary>         /// Action for file upload         /// </summary>         [AcceptVerbs(HttpVerbs.Post)]         public ActionResult Upload()         {             string upload_dir = Server.MapPath("~/app_data/upload/");                         foreach (string f in Request.Files.Keys)             {                 if (Request.Files[f].ContentLength > 0)                     Request.Files[f].SaveAs(upload_dir + System.IO.Path.GetFileName(Request.Files[f].FileName));             }             return RedirectToRoute(new { Action = "Index", Controller = "FileManager" });         }     } }

Custom ActionResult for file download(as binary stream):

namespace MVCFileWeb {     public class BinaryContentResult: ActionResult     {             public BinaryContentResult()             {}             public string ContentType { get; set; }             public string FileName { get; set; }             public byte[] Content { get; set; }             public override void ExecuteResult(ControllerContext context)             {                                context.HttpContext.Response.ClearContent();                 context.HttpContext.Response.ContentType = ContentType;                                    context.HttpContext.Response.AddHeader("content-disposition",                                  "attachment; filename=" + FileName);                 context.HttpContext.Response.BinaryWrite(Content);                 context.HttpContext.Response.End();             }     } }

Index view of FileManager Controller:

<%@ Page Title="" Language="C#" MasterPageFile="~/Views/Shared/Site.Master" Inherits="System.Web.Mvc.ViewPage<List<String>>" %> <asp:Content ID="Content1" ContentPlaceHolderID="TitleContent" runat="server">        Index </asp:Content> <asp:Content ID="Content2" ContentPlaceHolderID="MainContent" runat="server">     <h2>Files for download</h2>     <%foreach (string file in Model)       {%>     <br /><%= Html.ActionLink(file,"Download",new {Action="Download", fn=file}) %>         <%} %> <hr />     <h2>Upload new file</h2>         <% using (Html.BeginForm("Upload", "FileManager", FormMethod.Post, new { enctype = "multipart/form-data" }))        {%>        <br />File1:<input type="file" name="file1" id="file1" />        <br />File2:<input type="file" name="file2" id="file2" />            <br /><input type="submit" value="submit" />     <% } %> </asp:Content>

You can also get the complete solution in attachment.

MVCFileWeb.zip

Comments

• Anonymous
  March 19, 2009
  PingBack from http://blog.a-foton.ru/index.php/2009/03/20/aspnethow-to-implement-file-upload-and-download-in-aspnet-mvc/

• Anonymous
  March 20, 2009
  Upload e download di file con ASP .NET MVC

• Anonymous
  March 20, 2009
  In questo post viene mostrato come realizzare un controller per ASP .NET MVC in grado di gestire l'upload

• Anonymous
  July 21, 2010
  Using Vs 2010, and convert application , everything is fine. but you cannot upload a file :(

• Anonymous
  September 14, 2010
  Tdar, make sure that if you are using Master Pages that you set the enctype in the master form tag.

• Anonymous
  December 30, 2010
  Kevin, what do you mean? Pls elaborate

• Anonymous
  August 22, 2011
  Hi Steven, I need some help on how to view the uploaded file to the data grid. Let us say, we uploaded an excel file containing columns lastname, firstname, middlename and birthdate. Thanks.