Download Excel file via AJAX MVC

Question

I have a large(ish) form in MVC.

I need to be able to generate an excel file containing data from a subset of that form.

The tricky bit is that this shouldn

Answer 1

This thread helped me create my own solution that I will share here. I was using a GET ajax request at first without issues but it got to a point where the request URL length was exceeded so I had to swith to a POST.

The javascript uses JQuery file download plugin and consists of 2 succeeding calls. One POST (To send params) and one GET to retreive the file.

 function download(result) {
        $.fileDownload(uri + "?guid=" + result,
        {
            successCallback: onSuccess.bind(this),
            failCallback: onFail.bind(this)
        });
    }

    var uri = BASE_EXPORT_METADATA_URL;
    var data = createExportationData.call(this);

    $.ajax({
        url: uri,
        type: 'POST',
        contentType: 'application/json',
        data: JSON.stringify(data),
        success: download.bind(this),
        fail: onFail.bind(this)
    });

Server side

    [HttpPost]
    public string MassExportDocuments(MassExportDocumentsInput input)
    {
        // Save query for file download use
        var guid = Guid.NewGuid();
        HttpContext.Current.Cache.Insert(guid.ToString(), input, null, DateTime.Now.AddMinutes(5), Cache.NoSlidingExpiration);
        return guid.ToString();
    }

   [HttpGet]
    public async Task MassExportDocuments([FromUri] Guid guid)
    {
        //Get params from cache, generate and return
        var model = (MassExportDocumentsInput)HttpContext.Current.Cache[guid.ToString()];
          ..... // Document generation

        // to determine when file is downloaded
        HttpContext.Current
                   .Response
                   .SetCookie(new HttpCookie("fileDownload", "true") { Path = "/" });

        return FileResult(memoryStream, "documents.zip", "application/zip");
    }