Sending file through API endpoint - c#

I'm building a simple API using .NET core, and would like to send a simple .json file to the client once he reaches a certain endpoint on the API.
So far I'm having very little success, but what I currently have is the following:
public IActionResult yaddayadda(){
var filePath = "./Data/file.json";
using (var stream = new FileStream(#filePath, FileMode.Open))
{
return new FileStreamResult(stream, "application/json");
}
}
This gets me nothing. (The path for the file is correct)
Thanks!
EDIT: I've experimented with different content-types, and even though it's not the correct one, multipart/form-data allows me to download a file, but it has no extension.

Try this, by avoiding the disposal (so the closure) of the stream:
public IActionResult yaddayadda(){
var filePath = "./Data/file.json";
var stream = new FileStream(#filePath, FileMode.Open);
return new FileStreamResult(stream, "application/json");
}
UPDATE: Here is another way I use with pictures, although should behave the same:
public IActionResult yaddayadda()
{
var filePath = "./Data/file.json";
return this.PhysicalFile(filePath, "application/json");
}
Note that this solution implies that you're deriving from the Controller class, because the "PhysicalFile" method is exposed by.

Try to use
byte[] fileBytes = System.IO.File.ReadAllBytes(filePath);
string fileName = "file.json";
return File(fileBytes, System.Net.Mime.MediaTypeNames.Application.Octet, fileName);
Useful link.

Related

Can save stream as local file, but when returning it as HttpResponseMessage - always empty file

I want to write export/download functionality for files from external API.
I've created separate Action for it. Using external API I can get stream for that file.
When I am saving that stream to local file, everything is fine, file isn't empty.
var exportedFile = await this.GetExportedFile(client, this.ReportId, this.WorkspaceId, export);
// Now you have the exported file stream ready to be used according to your specific needs
// For example, saving the file can be done as follows:
string pathOnDisk = #"D:\Temp\" + export.ReportName + exportedFile.FileSuffix;
using (var fileStream = File.Create(pathOnDisk))
{
await exportedFile.FileStream.CopyToAsync(fileStream);
}
But when I return exportedFile object that contains in it stream and do next:
var result = await this._service.ExportReport(reportName, format, CancellationToken.None);
var fileResult = new HttpResponseMessage(HttpStatusCode.OK);
using (var ms = new MemoryStream())
{
await result.FileStream.CopyToAsync(ms);
ms.Position = 0;
fileResult.Content = new ByteArrayContent(ms.GetBuffer());
}
fileResult.Content.Headers.ContentDisposition = new ContentDispositionHeaderValue("attachment")
{
FileName = $"{reportName}{result.FileSuffix}"
};
fileResult.Content.Headers.ContentType = new MediaTypeHeaderValue("application/octet-stream");
return fileResult;
Exported file is always empty.
Is it problem with stream or with code that try to return that stream as file?
Tried as #Nobody suggest to use ToArray
fileResult.Content = new ByteArrayContent(ms.ToArray());
the same result.
Also tried to use StreamContent
fileResult.Content = new StreamContent(result.FileStream);
still empty file.
But when I'm using StreamContent and MemmoryStream
using (var ms = new MemoryStream())
{
await result.FileStream.CopyToAsync(ms);
ms.Position = 0;
fileResult.Content = new StreamContent(ms);
}
in result I got
{
"error": "no response from server"
}
Note: from 3rd party API I get stream that is readonly.
you used GetBuffer() to retrieve the data of the memory stream.
The function you should use is ToArray()
Please read the Remarks of the documentation of these functions.
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/api/system.io.memorystream.getbuffer?view=net-6.0
using (var ms = new MemoryStream())
{
ms.Position = 0;
await result.FileStream.CopyToAsync(ms);
fileResult.Content = new ByteArrayContent(ms.ToArray()); //ToArray() and not GetBuffer()
}
Your "mistake" although it's an obvious one is that you return a status message, but not the actual file itself (which is in it's own also a 200).
You return this:
var fileResult = new HttpResponseMessage(HttpStatusCode.OK);
So you're not sending a file, but a response message. What I'm missing in your code samples is the procedure call itself, but since you use a HttpResonseMessage I will assume it's rather like a normal Controller action. If that is the case you could respond in a different manner:
return new FileContentResult(byteArray, mimeType){ FileDownloadName = filename };
where byteArray is ofcourse just a byte[], the mimetype could be application/octet-stream (but I suggest you'd actually find the correct mimetype for the browser to act accordingly) and the filename is the filename you want the file to be named.
So, if you were to stitch above and my comment together you'd get this:
var exportedFile = await this.GetExportedFile(client, this.ReportId, this.WorkspaceId, export);
// Now you have the exported file stream ready to be used according to your specific needs
// For example, saving the file can be done as follows:
string pathOnDisk = #"D:\Temp\" + export.ReportName + exportedFile.FileSuffix;
using (var fileStream = File.Create(pathOnDisk))
{
await exportedFile.FileStream.CopyToAsync(fileStream);
}
return new FileContentResult(System.IO.File.ReadAllBytes(pathOnDisk), "application/octet-stream") { FileDownloadName = export.ReportName + exportedFile.FileSuffix };
I suggest to try it, since you still report a 200 (and not a fileresult)

Returning a PDF from an ASP.NET Core 2 Controller

I am trying to return a PDF file from my ASP.NET Core 2 controller.
I have this code
(mostly borrowed from this SO question):
var net = new System.Net.WebClient();
//a random pdf file link
var fileLocation = "https://syntera.io/documents/T&C.pdf";/
var data = net.DownloadData(fileLocation);
MemoryStream content = null;
try
{
content = new MemoryStream(data);
return new FileStreamResult(content, "Application/octet-stream");
}
finally
{
content?.Dispose();
}
This code above is part of a service class that my controller calls. This is the code from my controller.
public async Task<IActionResult> DownloadFile(string fileName)
{
var result = await _downloader.DownloadFileAsync(fileName);
return result;
}
But I keep getting ObjectDisposedException: Cannot access a closed Stream.
The try and finally block was an attempt to fix it , from another SO question .
The main question is A) Is this the right way to send a PDF file back to the browser and B) if it isn't, how can I change the code to send the pdf to the browser?
Ideally , I don't want to first save the file on the server and then return it to the controller. I'd rather return it while keeping everything in memory.
The finally will always get called (even after the return) so it will always dispose of the content stream before it can be sent to the client, hence the error.
Ideally , I don't want to first save the file on the server and then return it to the controller. I'd rather return it while keeping everything in memory.
Use a FileContentResult class to take the raw byte array data and return it directly.
FileContentResult: Represents an ActionResult that when executed will write a binary file to the response.
async Task<IActionResult> DownloadFileAsync(string fileName){
using(var net = new System.Net.WebClient()) {
byte[] data = await net.DownloadDataTaskAsync(fileName);
return new FileContentResult(data, "application/pdf") {
FileDownloadName = "file_name_here.pdf"
};
}
}
No need for the additional memory stream
You must specify :
Response.AppendHeader("content-disposition", "inline; filename=file.pdf");
return new FileStreamResult(stream, "application/pdf")
For the file to be opened directly in the browser.

Web API: Download Multiple Files Separately

I have a Web Api controller method that gets passed document IDs and it should return the document files individually for those requested Ids. I have tried the accepted answer from the following link to achieve this functionality, but it's not working. I don't know where I did go wrong.
What's the best way to serve up multiple binary files from a single WebApi method?
My Web Api Method,
public async Task<HttpResponseMessage> DownloadMultiDocumentAsync(
IClaimedUser user, string documentId)
{
List<long> docIds = documentId.Split(',').Select(long.Parse).ToList();
List<Document> documentList = coreDataContext.Documents.Where(d => docIds.Contains(d.DocumentId) && d.IsActive).ToList();
var content = new MultipartContent();
CloudBlockBlob blob = null;
var container = GetBlobClient(tenantInfo);
var directory = container.GetDirectoryReference(
string.Format(DirectoryNameConfigValue, tenantInfo.TenantId.ToString(), documentList[0].ProjectId));
for (int docId = 0; docId < documentList.Count; docId++)
{
blob = directory.GetBlockBlobReference(DocumentNameConfigValue + documentList[docId].DocumentId);
if (!blob.Exists()) continue;
MemoryStream memStream = new MemoryStream();
await blob.DownloadToStreamAsync(memStream);
memStream.Seek(0, SeekOrigin.Begin);
var streamContent = new StreamContent(memStream);
content.Add(streamContent);
}
HttpResponseMessage httpResponseMessage = new HttpResponseMessage();
httpResponseMessage.Content = content;
httpResponseMessage.Content.Headers.ContentType = new MediaTypeHeaderValue("application/octet-stream");
httpResponseMessage.Content.Headers.ContentDisposition = new ContentDispositionHeaderValue("attachment");
httpResponseMessage.StatusCode = HttpStatusCode.OK;
return httpResponseMessage;
}
I tried with 2 or more document Ids but only one file was downloaded and that also is not in the correct format (without extension).
Zipping is the only option that will have consistent result on all browsers. MIME/multipart content is for email messages (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MIME#Multipart_messages) and it was never intended to be received and parsed on the client side of a HTTP transaction. Some browsers do implement it, some others don't.
Alternatively, you can change your API to take in a single docId and iterate over your API from your client for each docId.
I think only way is that you zip your all the files and then download one zip file. I guess you can use dotnetzip package because it is easy to use.
One way is that, you can first save your files on disk and then stream the zip to download. Another way is, you can zip them in memory and then download the file in stream
public ActionResult Download()
{
using (ZipFile zip = new ZipFile())
{
zip.AddDirectory(Server.MapPath("~/Directories/hello"));
MemoryStream output = new MemoryStream();
zip.Save(output);
return File(output, "application/zip", "sample.zip");
}
}

Can I directly stream from HttpResponseMessage to file without going through memory?

My program uses HttpClient to send a GET request to a Web API, and this returns a file.
I now use this code (simplified) to store the file to disc:
public async Task<bool> DownloadFile()
{
var client = new HttpClient();
var uri = new Uri("http://somedomain.com/path");
var response = await client.GetAsync(uri);
if (response.IsSuccessStatusCode)
{
var fileName = response.Content.Headers.ContentDisposition.FileName;
using (var fs = new FileStream(#"C:\test\" + fileName, FileMode.Create, FileAccess.Write, FileShare.None))
{
await response.Content.CopyToAsync(fs);
return true;
}
}
return false;
}
Now, when this code runs, the process loads all of the file into memory. I actually would rather expect the stream gets streamed from the HttpResponseMessage.Content to the FileStream, so that only a small portion of it is held in memory.
We are planning to use that on large files (> 1GB), so is there a way to achieve that without having all of the file in memory?
Ideally without manually looping through reading a portion to a byte[] and writing that portion to the file stream until all of the content is written?
It looks like this is by-design - if you check the documentation for HttpClient.GetAsync() you'll see it says:
The returned task object will complete after the whole response
(including content) is read
You can instead use HttpClient.GetStreamAsync() which specifically states:
This method does not buffer the stream.
However you don't then get access to the headers in the response as far as I can see. Since that's presumably a requirement (as you're getting the file name from the headers), then you may want to use HttpWebRequest instead which allows you you to get the response details (headers etc.) without reading the whole response into memory. Something like:
public async Task<bool> DownloadFile()
{
var uri = new Uri("http://somedomain.com/path");
var request = WebRequest.CreateHttp(uri);
var response = await request.GetResponseAsync();
ContentDispositionHeaderValue contentDisposition;
var fileName = ContentDispositionHeaderValue.TryParse(response.Headers["Content-Disposition"], out contentDisposition)
? contentDisposition.FileName
: "noname.dat";
using (var fs = new FileStream(#"C:\test\" + fileName, FileMode.Create, FileAccess.Write, FileShare.None))
{
await response.GetResponseStream().CopyToAsync(fs);
}
return true
}
Note that if the request returns an unsuccessful response code an exception will be thrown, so you may wish to wrap in a try..catch and return false in this case as in your original example.
Instead of GetAsync(Uri) use the the GetAsync(Uri, HttpCompletionOption) overload with the HttpCompletionOption.ResponseHeadersRead value.
The same applies to SendAsync and other methods of HttpClient
Sources:
docs (see remarks)
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/api/system.net.http.httpclient.getasync?view=netcore-1.1#System_Net_Http_HttpClient_GetAsync_System_Uri_System_Net_Http_HttpCompletionOption_
The returned Task object will complete based on the completionOption parameter after the part or all of the response (including content) is read.
.NET Core implementation of GetStreamAsync that uses HttpCompletionOption.ResponseHeadersRead https://github.com/dotnet/corefx/blob/release/1.1.0/src/System.Net.Http/src/System/Net/Http/HttpClient.cs#L163-L168
HttpClient spike in memory usage with large response
HttpClient.GetStreamAsync() with custom request? (don't mind the comment on response, the ResponseHeadersRead is what does the trick)
Another simple and quick way to do it is:
public async Task<bool> DownloadFile(string url)
{
using (MemoryStream ms = new MemoryStream()) {
new HttpClient().GetStreamAsync(webPath).Result.CopyTo(ms);
... // use ms in what you want
}
}
now you have the file downloaded as stream in ms.

How to get the stream for a Multipart file in webapi upload?

I need to upload a file using Stream (Azure Blobstorage), and just cannot find out how to get the stream from the object itself. See code below.
I'm new to the WebAPI and have used some examples. I'm getting the files and filedata, but it's not correct type for my methods to upload it. Therefore, I need to get or convert it into a normal Stream, which seems a bit hard at the moment :)
I know I need to use ReadAsStreamAsync().Result in some way, but it crashes in the foreach loop since I'm getting two provider.Contents (first one seems right, second one does not).
[System.Web.Http.HttpPost]
public async Task<HttpResponseMessage> Upload()
{
if (!Request.Content.IsMimeMultipartContent())
{
this.Request.CreateResponse(HttpStatusCode.UnsupportedMediaType);
}
var provider = GetMultipartProvider();
var result = await Request.Content.ReadAsMultipartAsync(provider);
// On upload, files are given a generic name like "BodyPart_26d6abe1-3ae1-416a-9429-b35f15e6e5d5"
// so this is how you can get the original file name
var originalFileName = GetDeserializedFileName(result.FileData.First());
// uploadedFileInfo object will give you some additional stuff like file length,
// creation time, directory name, a few filesystem methods etc..
var uploadedFileInfo = new FileInfo(result.FileData.First().LocalFileName);
// Remove this line as well as GetFormData method if you're not
// sending any form data with your upload request
var fileUploadObj = GetFormData<UploadDataModel>(result);
Stream filestream = null;
using (Stream stream = new MemoryStream())
{
foreach (HttpContent content in provider.Contents)
{
BinaryFormatter bFormatter = new BinaryFormatter();
bFormatter.Serialize(stream, content.ReadAsStreamAsync().Result);
stream.Position = 0;
filestream = stream;
}
}
var storage = new StorageServices();
storage.UploadBlob(filestream, originalFileName);**strong text**
private MultipartFormDataStreamProvider GetMultipartProvider()
{
var uploadFolder = "~/App_Data/Tmp/FileUploads"; // you could put this to web.config
var root = HttpContext.Current.Server.MapPath(uploadFolder);
Directory.CreateDirectory(root);
return new MultipartFormDataStreamProvider(root);
}
This is identical to a dilemma I had a few months ago (capturing the upload stream before the MultipartStreamProvider took over and auto-magically saved the stream to a file). The recommendation was to inherit that class and override the methods ... but that didn't work in my case. :( (I wanted the functionality of both the MultipartFileStreamProvider and MultipartFormDataStreamProvider rolled into one MultipartStreamProvider, without the autosave part).
This might help; here's one written by one of the Web API developers, and this from the same developer.
Hi just wanted to post my answer so if anybody encounters the same issue they can find a solution here itself.
here
MultipartMemoryStreamProvider stream = await this.Request.Content.ReadAsMultipartAsync();
foreach (var st in stream.Contents)
{
var fileBytes = await st.ReadAsByteArrayAsync();
string base64 = Convert.ToBase64String(fileBytes);
var contentHeader = st.Headers;
string filename = contentHeader.ContentDisposition.FileName.Replace("\"", "");
string filetype = contentHeader.ContentType.MediaType;
}
I used MultipartMemoryStreamProvider and got all the details like filename and filetype from the header of content.
Hope this helps someone.

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