[c#] Returning a file to View/Download in ASP.NET MVC

If, like me, you've come to this topic via Razor components as you're learning Blazor, then you'll find you need to think a little more outside of the box to solve this problem. It's a bit of a minefield if (also like me) Blazor is your first forray into the MVC-type world, as the documentation isn't as helpful for such 'menial' tasks.

So, at the time of writing, you cannot achieve this using vanilla Blazor/Razor without embedding an MVC controller to handle the file download part an example of which is as below:

using Microsoft.AspNetCore.Mvc;
using Microsoft.Net.Http.Headers;

[Route("api/[controller]")]
[ApiController]
public class FileHandlingController : ControllerBase
{
    [HttpGet]
    public FileContentResult Download(int attachmentId)
    {
        TaskAttachment taskFile = null;

        if (attachmentId > 0)
        {
            // taskFile = <your code to get the file>
            // which assumes it's an object with relevant properties as required below

            if (taskFile != null)
            {
                var cd = new System.Net.Http.Headers.ContentDispositionHeaderValue("attachment")
                {
                    FileNameStar = taskFile.Filename
                };

                Response.Headers.Add(HeaderNames.ContentDisposition, cd.ToString());
            }
        }

        return new FileContentResult(taskFile?.FileData, taskFile?.FileContentType);
    }
}

Next, make sure your application startup (Startup.cs) is configured to correctly use MVC and has the following line present (add it if not):

        services.AddMvc();

.. and then finally modify your component to link to the controller, for example (iterative based example using a custom class):

    <tbody>
        @foreach (var attachment in yourAttachments)
        {
        <tr>
            <td><a href="api/[email protected]" target="_blank">@attachment.Filename</a> </td>
            <td>@attachment.CreatedUser</td>
            <td>@attachment.Created?.ToString("dd MMM yyyy")</td>
            <td><ul><li class="oi oi-circle-x delete-attachment"></li></ul></td>
        </tr>
        }
        </tbody>

Hopefully this helps anyone who struggled (like me!) to get an appropriate answer to this seemingly simple question in the realms of Blazor…!

Examples related to c#

How can I convert this one line of ActionScript to C#? Microsoft Advertising SDK doesn't deliverer ads How to use a global array in C#? How to correctly write async method? C# - insert values from file into two arrays Uploading into folder in FTP? Are these methods thread safe? dotnet ef not found in .NET Core 3 HTTP Error 500.30 - ANCM In-Process Start Failure Best way to "push" into C# array

Examples related to asp.net-mvc

Using Lato fonts in my css (@font-face) Better solution without exluding fields from Binding Vue.js get selected option on @change You must add a reference to assembly 'netstandard, Version=2.0.0.0 How to send json data in POST request using C# VS 2017 Metadata file '.dll could not be found The default XML namespace of the project must be the MSBuild XML namespace How to create roles in ASP.NET Core and assign them to users? The model item passed into the dictionary is of type .. but this dictionary requires a model item of type How to use npm with ASP.NET Core

Examples related to asp.net-mvc-3

Better solution without exluding fields from Binding IIs Error: Application Codebehind=“Global.asax.cs” Inherits=“nadeem.MvcApplication” Can we pass model as a parameter in RedirectToAction? return error message with actionResult Why is this error, 'Sequence contains no elements', happening? Failed to load resource: the server responded with a status of 500 (Internal Server Error) in Bind function 500.19 - Internal Server Error - The requested page cannot be accessed because the related configuration data for the page is invalid String MinLength and MaxLength validation don't work (asp.net mvc) How to set the value of a hidden field from a controller in mvc How to set a CheckBox by default Checked in ASP.Net MVC

Examples related to download

how to download file in react js How do I download a file with Angular2 or greater Unknown URL content://downloads/my_downloads python save image from url How to download a file using a Java REST service and a data stream How to download file in swift? Where can I download Eclipse Android bundle? How to download image from url android download pdf from url then open it with a pdf reader Flask Download a File

Examples related to http-headers

Set cookies for cross origin requests Adding a HTTP header to the Angular HttpClient doesn't send the header, why? Passing headers with axios POST request What is HTTP "Host" header? CORS error :Request header field Authorization is not allowed by Access-Control-Allow-Headers in preflight response Using Axios GET with Authorization Header in React-Native App Axios get access to response header fields Custom header to HttpClient request Send multipart/form-data files with angular using $http Best HTTP Authorization header type for JWT