File download

[Andrew Chalk]

How do I do file download from an ASP.NET v1.x page?

Specifically if I have a link e.g. "Download" in a datagrid what code will
cause the file download dialog to appear to the user?

Many thanks.

 

[Rob Meade]

...

How do I do file download from an ASP.NET v1.x page?

Specifically if I have a link e.g. "Download" in a datagrid what code will
cause the file download dialog to appear to the user?

<a href="my_file_to_download.zip" title="Download me!">Download</a>

Rob

 

[Andrew Chalk]

What are the advantages and disadvantages of that versus the WebClient
class?

Thanks,

Andrew

 

[Patrice]

The webclient class allows to do this programmtically from an application.

Unless you do this from a client side application, it would be useless (that
is it would run server side so you would get the file on the server anyway).

--

 

[Andrew Chalk]

So I can't use WebClient on an ASP.NET page to download a file to a browser
client?

Thanks.

 

[Joerg Jooss]

So I can't use WebClient on an ASP.NET page to download a file to a
browser client?

No, because it's a *client*. On the server-side, you can either provide
"direct" download capability (i.e. a hyperlink to URL that represents a
physical file) or "programmed" downloads (i.e. a hyperlink to a ASP.NET
page or a HttpHandler, which performs the download).

cheers,

 

[Andrew Chalk]

I need the latter. I.e. an HttpHandler. Can you refer me to an example of
this?

Many thanks.

 

[Joerg Jooss]

I need the latter. I.e. an HttpHandler. Can you refer me to an
example of this?

Many thanks.

http://msdn.microsoft.com/asp.net/archive/default.aspx?pull=/library/en-
us/dnaspp/html/httphandl.asp

Cheers,

 

[Andrew Chalk]

Thanks, although that is really too general for this problem. A more general
reference is:

http://www.asp101.com/samples/download_sample_aspx.asp

- Andrew

 

[Andrew Chalk]

I do have one problem however: If I am downloading a file named
"AJC2.00.040.000001.wav"
the download dialog displays it as:

"AJC2[1].00.040.000001.wav"

AJC2, incidentally, is the server name.

Does anyone have any idea how to stop this?

Many thanks.

Thanks, although that is really too general for this problem. A more
general reference is:

http://www.asp101.com/samples/download_sample_aspx.asp

- Andrew

 

[Andrew Chalk]

FYI: The code I use is:
Response.Clear();

Response.ContentType = "application/x-download";

Response.AddHeader("Content-Disposition", "attachment; filename=" +
sFileName);

I do have one problem however: If I am downloading a file named
"AJC2.00.040.000001.wav"
the download dialog displays it as:

"AJC2[1].00.040.000001.wav"

AJC2, incidentally, is the server name.

Does anyone have any idea how to stop this?

Many thanks.

 

[Rob Meade]

...

FYI: The code I use is:
Response.Clear();

Response.ContentType = "application/x-download";

Response.AddHeader("Content-Disposition", "attachment; filename=" +
sFileName);

Did that get rid of the square brackets?

Regards

Rob

 

[Andrew Chalk]

No, that is the code under which they are produced. This is a very odd
problem.

- A

 

[Rob Meade]

...

No, that is the code under which they are produced. This is a very odd
problem.

As I suspected )

I've encountered this problem myself with a document management application
I wrote, I believe it happens for 2 reasons (1 more than the other I think)
....

1. If the file is already within the clients temporary internet files as a
cached version you'll get a [n] on the end,with the n referring to a numeric
value indicating another duplicate of the same file.

2. When you have more than one . (dot) in the file name it is then unable to
determine the file extension thus it adds some square brackets.

We completely removed this issue in our scenario by removing addition .'s
(dots) from the file names, you could perhaps replace them with underscores
or hyphens if you really need something.

It might not be what you want, but try it - you'll probably find you no
longer get the [ ] once you remove the additions dots..

HTH

Rob

 

[Andrew Chalk]

Thanks, Rob. That's very helpful.

Regards,

Andrew

...

No, that is the code under which they are produced. This is a very odd
problem.

As I suspected )

I've encountered this problem myself with a document management
application I wrote, I believe it happens for 2 reasons (1 more than the
other I think) ...

1. If the file is already within the clients temporary internet files as a
cached version you'll get a [n] on the end,with the n referring to a
numeric value indicating another duplicate of the same file.

2. When you have more than one . (dot) in the file name it is then unable
to determine the file extension thus it adds some square brackets.

We completely removed this issue in our scenario by removing addition .'s
(dots) from the file names, you could perhaps replace them with
underscores or hyphens if you really need something.

It might not be what you want, but try it - you'll probably find you no
longer get the [ ] once you remove the additions dots..

HTH

Rob

 

[Rob Meade]

...

Thanks, Rob. That's very helpful.

Hi Andrew,

No problem - let me know if it solves your problem )

Regards

Rob

 

[Andrew Chalk]

FYI: I can't delete the periods, so I think my users are going to live with
this quirk.

- A

 

[Rob Meade]

...

FYI: I can't delete the periods, so I think my users are going to live
with this quirk.

Hi Andrew,

Is this because of a technical reason or because of a "policy" within your
organisation (ie,someone saying - no they must have those periods there) ?

Regards

Rob

 

[Andrew Chalk]

policy-wolicy..

...


Hi Andrew,

Is this because of a technical reason or because of a "policy" within your
organisation (ie,someone saying - no they must have those periods there) ?

Regards

Rob

 

[Rob Meade]

...

policy-wolicy..

damn-it!

oh well - we tried )

Cheers

Rob