Returning a file to View/Download in ASP.NET MVC

Question

I\'m encountering a problem sending files stored in a database back to the user in ASP.NET MVC. What I want is a view listing two links, one to view the file and let the mim

Answer 1

I had trouble with the accepted answer due to no type hinting on the "document" variable: var document = ... So I'm posting what worked for me as an alternative in case anybody else is having trouble.

public ActionResult DownloadFile()
{
    string filename = "File.pdf";
    string filepath = AppDomain.CurrentDomain.BaseDirectory + "/Path/To/File/" + filename;
    byte[] filedata = System.IO.File.ReadAllBytes(filepath);
    string contentType = MimeMapping.GetMimeMapping(filepath);

    var cd = new System.Net.Mime.ContentDisposition
    {
        FileName = filename,
        Inline = true,
    };

    Response.AppendHeader("Content-Disposition", cd.ToString());

    return File(filedata, contentType);
}

Answer 2

FileVirtualPath --> Research\Global Office Review.pdf

public virtual ActionResult GetFile()
{
    return File(FileVirtualPath, "application/force-download", Path.GetFileName(FileVirtualPath));
}

Answer 3

To view file (txt for example):

return File("~/TextFileInRootDir.txt", MediaTypeNames.Text.Plain);

To download file (txt for example):

return File("~/TextFileInRootDir.txt", MediaTypeNames.Text.Plain, "TextFile.txt");

note: to download file we should pass fileDownloadName argument