How to Download or Stream Files from URLs in ASP.NET?

Download or Stream Files from URLs in ASP.NET

You may encounter scenarios where you need to download or stream files from URLs in your ASP.NET applications. However, the challenges arise when these files reside in virtually mapped directories, making it impossible to determine their actual locations using Server.MapPath.

One solution to this is to use the HttpWebRequest class to retrieve the file and stream it back to the client. This allows you to access files via URLs instead of file paths.

Consider the following code snippet:

try
{
  // Create a WebRequest to retrieve the file
  HttpWebRequest fileReq = (HttpWebRequest)HttpWebRequest.Create(url);

  // Get a response for the request
  HttpWebResponse fileResp = (HttpWebResponse)fileReq.GetResponse();
  if (fileReq.ContentLength > 0)
    fileResp.ContentLength = fileReq.ContentLength;

  // Get the response stream
  Stream stream = fileResp.GetResponseStream();

  // Prepare the response to the client
  HttpContext.Current.Response.ContentType = MediaTypeNames.Application.Octet;
  HttpContext.Current.Response.AddHeader("Content-Disposition", "attachment; filename=\"" + fileName + "\"");
  HttpContext.Current.Response.AddHeader("Content-Length", fileResp.ContentLength.ToString());

  int length;
  byte[] buffer = new byte[10000]; // Chunk size for reading the file
  do
  {
    // Check if the client is connected
    if (HttpContext.Current.Response.IsClientConnected)
    {
      // Read data into the buffer
      length = stream.Read(buffer, 0, buffer.Length);

      // Write it out to the response's output stream
      HttpContext.Current.Response.OutputStream.Write(buffer, 0, length);

      // Flush the data
      HttpContext.Current.Response.Flush();

      // Clear the buffer
      buffer = new byte[buffer.Length];
    }
    else
    {
      // Cancel the download if the client has disconnected
      length = -1;
    }
  } while (length > 0);
}
catch
{
  // Handle any errors that may occur
}
finally
{
  if (stream != null)
  {
    // Close the input stream
    stream.Close();
  }
}

By implementing this approach, you can stream files from URLs and display them directly in the browser or allow users to save them to their local systems.

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