Maximum request length exceeded error but files sizes not exceeded

Question

I have two file input elements on the same page. Both allow multiple file uploads. I am using jquery ajax and an asmx web service to upload image files. For some reason files are uploaded without any errors when the first file input elements is used, but gives a Maximum length exceeded error when the second input element is used. I am using test image files which do not exceed 4MB in size. This is the javascript code for the first input element.

   function addCrs(){
    var nme = $("#crsName").val();
    var stp = "carousel";
    var upd = $("#crsAction option:selected").val();
    var fileUpload = $("#FileUpload1").get(0);
    var files = fileUpload.files;
    var test = new FormData();
    for (var i = 0; i < files.length; i++) {
        var fsize = files[i].size;
        var ftype = files[i].type;
        var fname = files[i].name;

        var fl = files.length;
        if (fl == 0 || fsize > 3774873.6 || ftype != 'image/jpeg') {
            $("label[for$=FileUpload1]").css("color", "Red");
        } else {
            $("label[for$=FileUpload1]").css("color", "#000000");
            test.append(files[i].name, files[i]);
        };
    }

    test.append("stype", stp);

    test.append("rname", nme);

    test.append("upd", upd);

        $.ajax({
            url: "pgCde.asmx/SaveFiles",
            type: "POST",
            enctype: 'multipart/form-data',
            contentType: false,
            processData: false,
            cache: false,
            dataType: "xml",
            data: test,
            success: function (result) {
                $xml = $(result),
      $str = $xml.find("string");
                var str = $str.text();


                if (str !== "This Carousel name already exists please type another name.") {
                    var n = str.split("_");

                    var crsl = Object();

                    crsl.crslName = $("#crsNameLst option:selected").val();
                    crsl.crslWidth = n[0];
                    crsl.crslHeight = n[1];
                    crsl.crslNumPhoto = n[2];
                    crsl.crslPage = $("#pgNameCrs option:selected").val();


                    var crsObj = { 'crsl': crsl };

                    $.ajax({
                        url: "pgCde.asmx/addCarousel",
                        type: "POST",
                        dataType: "json",
                        data: JSON.stringify(crsObj),
                        contentType: "application/json; charset=utf-8",
                        success: function (data) {
                            $("#crsConfirm").html(data.d);
                        },
                        error: function (e) {
                            $("#crsConfirm").html("Unavailable");
                        }


                    });
                } else {
                    $("#crsConfirm").html(str);
                }
            },
            error: function (err) {
                $("#crsConfirm").html(err.statusText);
            }
        });
}

This is the code in the web service:

Public Function uploadImage(ByVal fCnt As Integer, ByVal cnt As Integer, ByVal reNme As String) As String
    Dim rsp As String = ""
    If Context.Request.Files.Count > 0 Then
        Dim files As HttpFileCollection = Context.Request.Files

        Dim cntStr As String = ""

        cntStr = cnt.ToString
        For i As Integer = 0 To files.Count - 1

            cnt = cnt + 1

            If cnt <= 9 Then
                cntStr = "0" & cnt.ToString
            ElseIf cnt >= 10 Then
                cntStr = cnt.ToString
            End If
            Dim file As HttpPostedFile = files(i)
            Dim fname As String
            If HttpContext.Current.Request.Browser.Browser.ToUpper() = "IE" OrElse HttpContext.Current.Request.Browser.Browser.ToUpper() = "INTERNETEXPLORER" Then
                Dim testfiles As String() = file.FileName.Split(New Char() {"\"c})
                fname = testfiles(testfiles.Length - 1)
            Else
                fname = file.FileName
            End If


            Dim extF = file.ContentType
            Dim flLngth = file.ContentLength
            Dim fNme = fname.Split(".")
            Dim flExt = fNme(fNme.Length - 1)
            If flLngth <= 3774873.6 AndAlso extF = "image/jpeg" Then
                Dim nwPath = Path.Combine(Context.Server.MapPath("../Content/images/"), reNme & "_" & cntStr & "." & flExt)


                file.SaveAs(nwPath)
                Dim bmp As New Bitmap(nwPath)
                Dim wdth As String = bmp.Width.ToString()
                Dim hgt As String = bmp.Height.ToString()
                rsp = wdth & "_" & hgt & "_" & fCnt.ToString

                bmp.Dispose()

            Else
                rsp &= "Only jpeg files less than 3.6MB allowed."

            End If


        Next
    End If

    Return rsp
End Function
<WebMethod()>
Public Function SaveFiles() As String
    Dim rsp As String = ""
    Dim fCnt As Integer = Context.Request.Files.Count
    Dim reNme As String = Regex.Replace(Context.Request.Form("rname"), "\W", "_")
    Dim updt As String = Context.Request.Form("upd")
    Dim stp As String = Context.Request.Form("stype")
    Dim cnt As Integer = 0

    Dim thlm As New thalMem2DataContext
    If updt = "Add" Then
        If stp = "slideshow" Then

            Dim sEx = (From s In thlm.Slideshow_Infos Where s.sldName = reNme Select s).Count()
            If sEx = 0 Then
                rsp &= uploadImage(fCnt, cnt, reNme)
            Else
                rsp &= "This SlideShow name already exists please type another name."
            End If
        ElseIf stp = "carousel" Then

            Dim cEx = (From c In thlm.Carousel_Infos Where c.Carousel_Name = reNme Select c).Count()
            If cEx = 0 Then
                rsp &= uploadImage(fCnt, cnt, reNme)
            Else
                rsp &= "This Carousel name already exists please type another name."
            End If
        End If
    ElseIf updt = "Update" Then
        Dim numP As Integer

        If stp = "slideshow" Then
            numP = (From n In thlm.Slideshow_Infos Where n.sldName = reNme Select n.numSlides).Single

        ElseIf stp = "carousel" Then
            numP = (From n In thlm.Carousel_Infos Where n.Carousel_Name = reNme Select n.Num_Photos).Single
        End If

        Dim fAdd As Integer = fCnt + numP
            rsp &= uploadImage(fAdd, numP, reNme)
        End If

        Return rsp
End Function

This code is used for both file input elements.

This is the javascript code for the second file input element:

function addSld() {
    var nme = $("#sldName").val();
    var stp = "slideshow";
    var upd = $("#sldAction option:selected").val();
    var fileUpload = $("#FileUpload2").get(0);
    var files = fileUpload.files;
    var test = new FormData();

    for (var i = 0; i < files.length; i++) {
        var fsize = files[i].size;
        var ftype = files[i].type;
        var fname = files[i].name;

        var fl = files.length;
        if (fl == 0 || fsize > 3774873.6 || ftype != 'image/jpeg') {
            $("label[for$=FileUpload2]").css("color", "Red");
        } else {
            $("label[for$=FileUpload2]").css("color", "#000000");
            test.append(files[i].name, files[i]);
        }
    }

    test.append("stype", stp);

    test.append("rname", nme);

    test.append("upd", upd);

 $.ajax({
            url: "pgCde.asmx/SaveFiles",
            type: "POST",
            enctype: 'multipart/form-data',
            contentType: false,
            processData: false,
            cache: false,
            dataType: "xml",
            data: test,
            success: function (result) {
                $xml = $(result),
      $str = $xml.find("string");
                var str = $str.text();


                if (str !== "This SlideShow name already exists please type another name.") {
                    var n = str.split("_");

                    var slide = Object();


                    slide.sldName = $.trim($("#sldName").val());
                    slide.sldOrient = $("#sldOrient option:selected").val();
                    slide.sldWidth = n[0];
                    slide.sldHeight = n[1];
                    slide.sldNumPhoto = n[2];
                    slide.sldPage = $("#pgNameSld option:selected").val();


                    var sldObj = { 'slide': slide };

                    $.ajax({
                        url: "pgCde.asmx/addSlideShw",
                        type: "POST",
                        dataType: "json",
                        data: JSON.stringify(sldObj),
                        contentType: "application/json; charset=utf-8",
                        success: function (data) {
                            $("#sldConfirm").html(data.d);
                        },
                        error: function (e) {
                            $("#sldConfirm").html("Unavailable");
                        }


                    });
                } else {
                    $("#sldConfirm").html(str);
                }
            },
            error: function (err) {
                $("#sldConfirm").html(err.statusText);
            }
        });
}

This is the error:

System.Web.HttpException: Maximum request length exceeded.

at System.Web.HttpRequest.GetEntireRawContent()

at System.Web.HttpRequest.GetMultipartContent()

at System.Web.HttpRequest.FillInFilesCollection()

at System.Web.HttpRequest.EnsureFiles()

at System.Web.HttpRequest.get_Files()

at pgCde.SaveFiles() in C:\Users\suzher\Documents\My Web Sites\mySite\App_Code\pgCde .vb:line 684

Line 684 points to this line of code in the web service:

 Dim fCnt As Integer = Context.Request.Files.Count

Answer 1

I finally got the second file input to work with a combination of solutions I found here on Stack Overflow. The first solution was to go into the IIS Manager and stop and restart the Default Application Pool for ASP.Net (.NET CLR Version 4.0 in my case). This then enabled me to upload a few files at a time, but gave the Maximum request length error with more than 4 or 5 files. I then changed the web.config file and increased the maxRequestLength property to 24MB like this: (This has to be in the system.web section of the root web.config file.)

<system.web>
<httpRuntime targetFramework="4.5.2" maxRequestLength="24576" executionTimeout="3600"/>
</system.web>

I can't really tell you why this worked, but this is the solution that solved this problem.