Reputation: 2720

Forces to prompt download box IE

I'm having a problem with some reports in the application I'm doing manutention

I've a button that does a postback to the server and do some information and then get back to the cliente and open a popup to download the report.

    private void grid_ItemCommand(object source, System.Web.UI.WebControls.DataGridCommandEventArgs e)
{
 ...
 ClientScript.RegisterClientScriptBlock(this.GetType(), "xxx", "<script>javascript:window.location('xx.aspx?m=x','xxx','width=750,height=350,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,scrollbars,status=no,toolbar=no,resizable=yes,left=50,top=50');</script>");
}

Then in xxx.aspx I've the code:

 Response.ClearContent();
 Response.ClearHeaders();
 Response.TransmitFile(tempFileName);
 Response.Flush();
 Response.Close();

 File.Delete(tempFileName);

 Response.End();

This works fine if IE option Automatic prompting for file downloads is enabled. But by default this is disabled and I need to force the download box to be prompting.

Can I do anything without change a lot of code?

Thanks.

Upvotes: 2

Answers (5)

john marsalis

Reputation: 121

Setting the appropriate headers and using the BinaryWrite method will work...

string filePath = "the path to your file";

byte[] fileData = MethodToReadBinaryContentsOfFile(filePath);

Response.Clear();
Response.ClearContent();
Response.ClearHeaders();
Response.Charset = null;
Response.AddHeader("Content-Disposition", "attachment;filename=the name to save the file as");
Response.ContentType = "binary/octet";
Response.BinaryWrite(fileData);

System.IO.File.Delete(filePath);

Response.End();

Upvotes: 0

Justin Largey

Reputation: 1944

I've done this in the past, seems to work. I'm guessing you're attempting to transmit a file that exists on the hard drive...

Version1
In your Page_Load event handler. Add this...(example is in VB)

'Prepare page for a file download 
Response.ContentType = "application/x-msdownload"
Response.AddHeader("content-disposition", "attachment; filename=thefilename.ext")
Response.WriteFile(pathToFile)

This code was used to return an Excel file to the user.

Version 2 (Code taken from an old project)
In a Button Click event on the server

    Dim Results As New DataSet()
    Results.DataSetName = "SearchExport"

    Dim SearchTable As DataTable     
    Dim sFileName As String = "SearchExport.xls"

    Response.ContentType = "application/x-msexcel"
    Response.AddHeader("content-disposition", String.Format("attachment; filename={0}", sFileName))
    SearchTable = GetTheSearchResults()
    SearchTable.TableName = "SearchResults"
    Results.Tables.Add(SearchTable)

   ' This example takes the xml and converts it to HTML using XSLT, replace this with  your string of data that should be returned. Or put Response.WriteFile() instead.
    Response.Write(ConvertToString(Results.GetXml))
    Response.End()

Version 2 of this answer is a copy/paste from another project, it doesn't directly do what you're looking for, but you should be able to fill in the gaps. (ie delete temp file, etc)

Upvotes: 1

GvS

Reputation: 52518

This is the design of Internet Explorer. The switch tells IE to not show the dialog box, unless the user right-clicks and selects "Download" from the menu.

There is nothing you can do about it.

Source:

Automatic Download Blocking automatically suppresses file download dialog boxes not initiated by the user (such as by clicking the mouse or hitting a key). When a dialog box is blocked, the Information Bar appears at the top of the window. Users can download the blocked content by clicking the Information Bar.

Upvotes: 2