File Upload ASP.NET MVC 3.0

Question

(Preface: this question is about ASP.NET MVC 3.0 which was released in 2011, it is not about ASP.NET Core 3.0 which was released in 2019)

I want to

Answer 1

to transfer to byte[] (e.g. for saving to DB):

using (MemoryStream ms = new MemoryStream()) {
    file.InputStream.CopyTo(ms);
    byte[] array = ms.GetBuffer();
}

To transfer the input stream directly into the database, without storing it in the memory you can use this class taken from here and a bit changed:

public class VarbinaryStream : Stream {
private SqlConnection _Connection;

private string _TableName;
private string _BinaryColumn;
private string _KeyColumn;
private int _KeyValue;

private long _Offset;

private SqlDataReader _SQLReader;
private long _SQLReadPosition;

private bool _AllowedToRead = false;

public VarbinaryStream(
    string ConnectionString,
    string TableName,
    string BinaryColumn,
    string KeyColumn,
    int KeyValue,
    bool AllowRead = false)
{
  // create own connection with the connection string.
  _Connection = new SqlConnection(ConnectionString);

  _TableName = TableName;
  _BinaryColumn = BinaryColumn;
  _KeyColumn = KeyColumn;
  _KeyValue = KeyValue;


  // only query the database for a result if we are going to be reading, otherwise skip.
  _AllowedToRead = AllowRead;
  if (_AllowedToRead == true)
  {
    try
    {
      if (_Connection.State != ConnectionState.Open)
        _Connection.Open();

      SqlCommand cmd = new SqlCommand(
                      @"SELECT TOP 1 [" + _BinaryColumn + @"]
                            FROM [dbo].[" + _TableName + @"]
                            WHERE [" + _KeyColumn + "] = @id",
                  _Connection);

      cmd.Parameters.Add(new SqlParameter("@id", _KeyValue));

      _SQLReader = cmd.ExecuteReader(
          CommandBehavior.SequentialAccess |
          CommandBehavior.SingleResult |
          CommandBehavior.SingleRow |
          CommandBehavior.CloseConnection);

      _SQLReader.Read();
    }
    catch (Exception e)
    {
      // log errors here
    }
  }
}

// this method will be called as part of the Stream ímplementation when we try to write to our VarbinaryStream class.
public override void Write(byte[] buffer, int index, int count)
{
  try
  {
    if (_Connection.State != ConnectionState.Open)
      _Connection.Open();

    if (_Offset == 0)
    {
      // for the first write we just send the bytes to the Column
      SqlCommand cmd = new SqlCommand(
                                  @"UPDATE [dbo].[" + _TableName + @"]
                                            SET [" + _BinaryColumn + @"] = @firstchunk 
                                        WHERE [" + _KeyColumn + "] = @id",
                              _Connection);

      cmd.Parameters.Add(new SqlParameter("@firstchunk", buffer));
      cmd.Parameters.Add(new SqlParameter("@id", _KeyValue));

      cmd.ExecuteNonQuery();

      _Offset = count;
    }
    else
    {
      // for all updates after the first one we use the TSQL command .WRITE() to append the data in the database
      SqlCommand cmd = new SqlCommand(
                              @"UPDATE [dbo].[" + _TableName + @"]
                                        SET [" + _BinaryColumn + @"].WRITE(@chunk, NULL, @length)
                                    WHERE [" + _KeyColumn + "] = @id",
                           _Connection);

      cmd.Parameters.Add(new SqlParameter("@chunk", buffer));
      cmd.Parameters.Add(new SqlParameter("@length", count));
      cmd.Parameters.Add(new SqlParameter("@id", _KeyValue));

      cmd.ExecuteNonQuery();

      _Offset += count;
    }
  }
  catch (Exception e)
  {
    // log errors here
  }
}

// this method will be called as part of the Stream ímplementation when we try to read from our VarbinaryStream class.
public override int Read(byte[] buffer, int offset, int count)
{
  try
  {
    long bytesRead = _SQLReader.GetBytes(0, _SQLReadPosition, buffer, offset, count);
    _SQLReadPosition += bytesRead;
    return (int)bytesRead;
  }
  catch (Exception e)
  {
    // log errors here
  }
  return -1;
}
public override bool CanRead
{
  get { return _AllowedToRead; }
}

protected override void Dispose(bool disposing)
{
  if (_Connection != null)
  {
    if (_Connection.State != ConnectionState.Closed)
      try { _Connection.Close();           }
      catch { }
    _Connection.Dispose();
  }
  base.Dispose(disposing);
}

#region unimplemented methods
public override bool CanSeek
{
  get { return false; }
}

public override bool CanWrite
{
  get { return true; }
}

public override void Flush()
{
  throw new NotImplementedException();
}

public override long Length
{
  get { throw new NotImplementedException(); }
}

public override long Position
{
  get
  {
    throw new NotImplementedException();
  }
  set
  {
    throw new NotImplementedException();
  }
}
public override long Seek(long offset, SeekOrigin origin)
{
  throw new NotImplementedException();
}

public override void SetLength(long value)
{
  throw new NotImplementedException();
}
#endregion unimplemented methods  }

and the usage:

  using (var filestream = new VarbinaryStream(
                            "Connection_String",
                            "Table_Name",
                            "Varbinary_Column_name",
                            "Key_Column_Name",
                            keyValueId,
                            true))
  {
    postedFile.InputStream.CopyTo(filestream);
  }

Answer 2

Html:

@using (Html.BeginForm("StoreMyCompany", "MyCompany", FormMethod.Post, new { id = "formMyCompany", enctype = "multipart/form-data" }))
{
   <div class="form-group">
      @Html.LabelFor(model => model.modelMyCompany.Logo, htmlAttributes: new { @class = "control-label col-md-3" })
      <div class="col-md-6">
        <input type="file" name="Logo" id="fileUpload" accept=".png,.jpg,.jpeg,.gif,.tif" />
      </div>
    </div>

    <br />
    <div class="form-group">
          <div class="col-md-offset-3 col-md-6">
              <input type="submit" value="Save" class="btn btn-success" />
          </div>
     </div>
}  

Code Behind:

public ActionResult StoreMyCompany([Bind(Exclude = "Logo")]MyCompanyVM model)
{
    try
    {        
        byte[] imageData = null;
        if (Request.Files.Count > 0)
        {
            HttpPostedFileBase objFiles = Request.Files["Logo"];

            using (var binaryReader = new BinaryReader(objFiles.InputStream))
            {
                imageData = binaryReader.ReadBytes(objFiles.ContentLength);
            }
        }

        if (imageData != null && imageData.Length > 0)
        {
           //Your code
        }

        dbo.SaveChanges();

        return RedirectToAction("MyCompany", "Home");

    }
    catch (Exception ex)
    {
        Utility.LogError(ex);
    }

    return View();
}

Answer 3

Alternative method to transfer to byte[] (for saving to DB).

@Arthur's method works pretty good, but doesn't copy perfectly so MS Office documents may fail to open after retrieving them from the database. MemoryStream.GetBuffer() can return extra empty bytes at the end of the byte[], but you can fix that by using MemoryStream.ToArray() instead. However, I found this alternative to work perfectly for all file types:

using (var binaryReader = new BinaryReader(file.InputStream))
{
    byte[] array = binaryReader.ReadBytes(file.ContentLength);
}

Here's my full code:

Document Class:

public class Document
{
    public int? DocumentID { get; set; }
    public string FileName { get; set; }
    public byte[] Data { get; set; }
    public string ContentType { get; set; }
    public int? ContentLength { get; set; }

    public Document()
    {
        DocumentID = 0;
        FileName = "New File";
        Data = new byte[] { };
        ContentType = "";
        ContentLength = 0;
    }
}

File Download:

[HttpGet]
public ActionResult GetDocument(int? documentID)
{
    // Get document from database
    var doc = dataLayer.GetDocument(documentID);

    // Convert to ContentDisposition
    var cd = new System.Net.Mime.ContentDisposition
    {
        FileName = doc.FileName, 

        // Prompt the user for downloading; set to true if you want 
        // the browser to try to show the file 'inline' (display in-browser
        // without prompting to download file).  Set to false if you 
        // want to always prompt them to download the file.
        Inline = true, 
    };
    Response.AppendHeader("Content-Disposition", cd.ToString());

    // View document
    return File(doc.Data, doc.ContentType);
}

File Upload:

[HttpPost]
public ActionResult GetDocument(HttpPostedFileBase file)
{
    // Verify that the user selected a file
    if (file != null && file.ContentLength > 0)
    {
        // Get file info
        var fileName = Path.GetFileName(file.FileName);
        var contentLength = file.ContentLength;
        var contentType = file.ContentType;

        // Get file data
        byte[] data = new byte[] { };
        using (var binaryReader = new BinaryReader(file.InputStream))
        {
            data = binaryReader.ReadBytes(file.ContentLength);
        }

        // Save to database
        Document doc = new Document()
        {
            FileName = fileName,
            Data = data,
            ContentType = contentType,
            ContentLength = contentLength,
        };
        dataLayer.SaveDocument(doc);

        // Show success ...
        return RedirectToAction("Index");
    }
    else
    {
        // Show error ...
        return View("Foo");
    }
}

View (snippet):

@using (Html.BeginForm("GetDocument", "Home", FormMethod.Post, new { enctype = "multipart/form-data" }))
{
    <input type="file" name="file" />
    <input type="submit" value="Upload File" />
}

Answer 4

I have to upload file in 100 kb chunks of file and last of the upload file store in database using command. I hope, it will helpfull to you.

    public HttpResponseMessage Post(AttachmentUploadForm form)
    {
        var response = new WebApiResultResponse
        {
            IsSuccess = true,
            RedirectRequired = false
        };

        var tempFilesFolder = Sanelib.Common.SystemSettings.Globals.CreateOrGetCustomPath("Temp\\" + form.FileId);

        File.WriteAllText(tempFilesFolder + "\\" + form.ChunkNumber + ".temp", form.ChunkData);

        if (form.ChunkNumber < Math.Ceiling((double)form.Size / 102400)) return Content(response);

        var folderInfo = new DirectoryInfo(tempFilesFolder);
        var totalFiles = folderInfo.GetFiles().Length;

        var sb = new StringBuilder();

        for (var i = 1; i <= totalFiles; i++)
        {
            sb.Append(File.ReadAllText(tempFilesFolder + "\\" + i + ".temp"));
        }

        var base64 = sb.ToString();
        base64 = base64.Substring(base64.IndexOf(',') + 1);
        var fileBytes = Convert.FromBase64String(base64);
        var fileStream = new FileStream(tempFilesFolder + "\\" + form.Name, FileMode.OpenOrCreate, FileAccess.ReadWrite);
        fileStream.Seek(fileStream.Length, SeekOrigin.Begin);
        fileStream.Write(fileBytes, 0, fileBytes.Length);
        fileStream.Close();

        Directory.Delete(tempFilesFolder, true);

        var md5 = MD5.Create();

        var command = Mapper.Map<AttachmentUploadForm, AddAttachment>(form);
        command.FileData = fileBytes;
        command.FileHashCode = BitConverter.ToString(md5.ComputeHash(fileBytes)).Replace("-", "");

        return ExecuteCommand(command);
    }

Javascript (Knockout Js)

define(['util', 'ajax'], function (util, ajax) {
"use strict";

var exports = {},
     ViewModel, Attachment, FileObject;

//File Upload
FileObject = function (file, parent) {
    var self = this;
    self.fileId = util.guid();
    self.name = ko.observable(file.name);
    self.type = ko.observable(file.type);
    self.size = ko.observable();
    self.fileData = null;
    self.fileSize = ko.observable(file.size / 1024 / 1024);
    self.chunks = 0;
    self.currentChunk = ko.observable();

    var reader = new FileReader();

    // Closure to capture the file information.
    reader.onload = (function (e) {
        self.fileData = e.target.result;
        self.size(self.fileData.length);
        self.chunks = Math.ceil(self.size() / 102400);
        self.sendChunk(1);
    });

    reader.readAsDataURL(file);

    self.percentComplete = ko.computed(function () {
        return self.currentChunk() * 100 / self.chunks;
    }, self);

    self.cancel = function (record) {
        parent.uploads.remove(record);
    };

    self.sendChunk = function (number) {
        var start = (number - 1) * 102400;
        var end = number * 102400;
        self.currentChunk(number);
        var form = {
            fileId: self.fileId,
            name: self.name(),
            fileType: self.type(),
            Size: self.size(),
            FileSize: self.fileSize(),
            chunkNumber: number,
            chunkData: self.fileData.slice(start, end),
            entityTypeValue: parent.entityTypeValue,
            ReferenceId: parent.detail.id,
            ReferenceName: parent.detail.name
        };

        ajax.post('Attachment', JSON.stringify(form)).done(function (response) {
            if (number < self.chunks)
                self.sendChunk(number + 1);
            if (response.id != null) {
                parent.attachments.push(new Attachment(response));
                self.cancel(response);
            }
        });
    };
};

Attachment = function (data) {
    var self = this;
    self.id = ko.observable(data.id);
    self.name = ko.observable(data.name);
    self.fileType = ko.observable(data.fileType);
    self.fileSize = ko.observable(data.fileSize);
    self.fileData = ko.observable(data.fileData);
    self.typeName = ko.observable(data.typeName);
    self.description = ko.observable(data.description).revertable();
    self.tags = ko.observable(data.tags).revertable();
    self.operationTime = ko.observable(moment(data.createdOn).format('MM-DD-YYYY HH:mm:ss'));

    self.description.subscribe(function () {
        var form = {
            Id: self.id(),
            Description: self.description(),
            Tags: self.tags()
        };

        ajax.put('attachment', JSON.stringify(form)).done(function (response) {
            self.description.commit();
            return;
        }).fail(function () {
            self.description.revert();
        });
    });

    self.tags.subscribe(function () {
        var form = {
            Id: self.id(),
            Description: self.description(),
            Tags: self.tags()
        };

        ajax.put('attachment', JSON.stringify(form)).done(function (response) {
            self.tags.commit();
            return;
        }).fail(function () {
            self.tags.revert();
        });
    });
};

ViewModel = function (data) {
    var self = this;

    // for attachment
    self.attachments = ko.observableArray([]);
    $.each(data.attachments, function (row, val) {
        self.attachments.push(new Attachment(val));
    });

    self.deleteAttachmentRecord = function (record) {
        if (!confirm("Are you sure you want to delete this record?")) return;
        ajax.del('attachment', record.id(), { async: false }).done(function () {
            self.attachments.remove(record);
            return;
        });
    };


exports.exec = function (model) {
    console.log(model);
    var viewModel = new ViewModel(model);
    ko.applyBindings(viewModel, document.getElementById('ShowAuditDiv'));
};

return exports;
});

HTML Code:

<div class="row-fluid spacer-bottom fileDragHolder">
    <div class="spacer-bottom"></div>
    <div class="legend">
        Attachments<div class="pull-right">@Html.AttachmentPicker("AC")</div>
    </div>
    <div>
        <div class="row-fluid spacer-bottom">
            <div style="overflow: auto">
                <table class="table table-bordered table-hover table-condensed" data-bind="visible: uploads().length > 0 || attachments().length > 0">
                    <thead>
                        <tr>
                            <th class=" btn btn-primary col-md-2" style="text-align: center">
                                Name
                            </th>
                            <th class="btn btn-primary col-md-1" style="text-align: center">Type</th>
                            <th class="btn btn-primary col-md-1" style="text-align: center">Size (MB)</th>
                            <th class="btn btn-primary col-md-1" style="text-align: center">Upload Time</th>
                            <th class="btn btn-primary col-md-1" style="text-align: center">Tags</th>
                            <th class="btn btn-primary col-md-6" style="text-align: center">Description</th>
                            <th class="btn btn-primary col-md-1" style="text-align: center">Delete</th>
                        </tr>
                    </thead>
                    <tbody>
                        <!-- ko foreach: attachments -->
                        <tr>
                            <td style="text-align: center" class="col-xs-2"><a href="#" data-bind="text: name,attr:{'href':'/attachment/index?id=' + id()}"></a></td>
                            <td style="text-align: center" class="col-xs-1"><span data-bind="text: fileType"></span></td>
                            <td style="text-align: center" class="col-xs-1"><span data-bind="text: fileSize"></span></td>
                            <td style="text-align: center" class="col-xs-2"><span data-bind="text: operationTime"></span></td>
                            <td style="text-align: center" class="col-xs-3"><div contenteditable="true" data-bind="editableText: tags"></div></td>
                            <td style="text-align: center" class="col-xs-4"><div contenteditable="true" data-bind="editableText: description"></div></td>
                            <td style="text-align: center" class="col-xs-1"><button class="btn btn-primary" data-bind="click:$root.deleteAttachmentRecord"><i class="icon-trash"></i></button></td>
                        </tr>
                        <!-- /ko -->
                    </tbody>
                    <tfoot data-bind="visible: uploads().length > 0">
                        <tr>
                            <th colspan="6">Files upload status</th>
                        </tr>
                        <tr>
                            <th>Name</th>
                            <th>Type</th>
                            <th>Size (MB)</th>
                            <th colspan="2">Status</th>
                            <th></th>
                        </tr>
                        <!-- ko foreach: uploads -->
                        <tr>
                            <td><span data-bind="text: name"></span></td>
                            <td><span data-bind="text: type"></span></td>
                            <td><span data-bind="text: fileSize"></span></td>
                            <td colspan="2">
                                <div class="progress">
                                    <div class="progress-bar" data-bind="style: { width: percentComplete() + '%' }"></div>
                                </div>
                            </td>
                            <td style="text-align: center"><button class="btn btn-primary" data-bind="click:cancel"><i class="icon-trash"></i></button></td>
                        </tr>
                        <!-- /ko -->
                    </tfoot>
                </table>
            </div>
            <div data-bind="visible: attachments().length == 0" class="span12" style="margin-left:0">
                <span>No Records found.</span>
            </div>
        </div>

Answer 5

public ActionResult FileUpload(upload mRegister) {
    //Check server side validation using data annotation
    if (ModelState.IsValid) {
        //TO:DO
        var fileName = Path.GetFileName(mRegister.file.FileName);
        var path = Path.Combine(Server.MapPath("~/Content/Upload"), fileName);
        mRegister.file.SaveAs(path);

        ViewBag.Message = "File has been uploaded successfully";
        ModelState.Clear();
    }
    return View();
}

Answer 6

Since i have found issue uploading file in IE browser i would suggest to handle it like this.

View

@using (Html.BeginForm("UploadFile", "Home", FormMethod.Post, new { enctype = "multipart/form-data" }))
{
    <input type="file" name="file" />
    <input type="submit" value="Submit" />
}

Controller

public class HomeController : Controller
{
    public ActionResult UploadFile()
    {
        return View();
    }

    [HttpPost]
    public ActionResult UploadFile(MyModal Modal)
    {
            string DocumentName = string.Empty;
            string Description = string.Empty;

            if (!String.IsNullOrEmpty(Request.Form["DocumentName"].ToString()))
                DocumentName = Request.Form["DocumentName"].ToString();
            if (!String.IsNullOrEmpty(Request.Form["Description"].ToString()))
                Description = Request.Form["Description"].ToString();

            if (!String.IsNullOrEmpty(Request.Form["FileName"].ToString()))
                UploadedDocument = Request.Form["FileName"].ToString();

            HttpFileCollectionBase files = Request.Files;

            string filePath = Server.MapPath("~/Root/Documents/");
            if (!(Directory.Exists(filePath)))
                Directory.CreateDirectory(filePath);
            for (int i = 0; i < files.Count; i++)
            {
                HttpPostedFileBase file = files[i];
                // Checking for Internet Explorer  
                if (Request.Browser.Browser.ToUpper() == "IE" || Request.Browser.Browser.ToUpper() == "INTERNETEXPLORER")
                {
                    string[] testfiles = file.FileName.Split(new char[] { '\\' });
                    fname = testfiles[testfiles.Length - 1];
                    UploadedDocument = fname;
                }
                else
                {
                    fname = file.FileName;
                    UploadedDocument = file.FileName;
                }
                file.SaveAs(fname);
                return RedirectToAction("List", "Home");
}