Reading a binary file and using Response.BinaryWrite()

Question

I have an app that needs to read a PDF file from the file system and then write it out to the user. The PDF is 183KB and seems to work perfectly. When I use the code at th

Answer 1

Try adding

Response.End();

after the call to Response.BinaryWrite().

You may inadvertently be sending other content back after Response.BinaryWrite which may confuse the browser. Response.End will ensure that that the browser only gets what you really intend.

Answer 2

We've used this with a lot of success. WriteFile do to the download for you and a Flush / End at the end to send it all to the client.

            //Use these headers to display a saves as / download
            //Response.ContentType = "application/octet-stream";
            //Response.AddHeader("Content-Disposition", String.Format("attachment; filename={0}.pdf", Path.GetFileName(Path)));

            Response.ContentType = "application/pdf";
            Response.AddHeader("Content-Disposition", String.Format("inline; filename={0}.pdf", Path.GetFileName(Path)));

            Response.WriteFile(path);
            Response.Flush();
            Response.End();

Answer 3

        Response.BinaryWrite(bytes);
        Response.Flush();
        Response.Close();
        Response.End();

This works for us. We create PDFs from SQL Reporting Services.

Answer 4

I also found it necessary to add the following:

Response.Encoding = Encoding.Default

If I didn't include this, my JPEG was corrupt and double the size in bytes.

But only if the handler was returning from an ASPX page. It seemed running from an ASHX this was not required.