select multiple files to upload in ASP.NET (preferably without flash)

Question

is there a solution that allows to select multiple files from the file open dialog box and upload them from ASP.NET web page? I have gone through previous posts related to t

Answer 1

It's possible with HTML5 which gives the standard input tag for files an additional attribute: multiple.

When implemented, it looks like this:

<input type="file" id="input" multiple="true" />

...and give you exactly what you're looking for.

If you toss in some vanilla Javascript, you can even stream the upload of the file(s).

http://blog.new-bamboo.co.uk/2010/7/30/html5-powered-ajax-file-uploads

The 2 downsides are:

1. This only works with browsers that respect HTML5 (FF/Chrome/Opera/Safari). You still need a solution for flavors of IE.
2. The example shown indicates how to deal with the streamed file in PHP/Ruby/Django environments. You'll have to figure out how to read the uploaded file deal with this in a .Net way.

I hope this helps or at least puts you on the right path.

Answer 2

Maybe jQuery can help you out, for example http://docs.jquery.com/Tutorials:Multiple_File_Upload_Magic

If you Google there are allot of jQuery uploaders, not sure if they use flash, but you can try it out

edit: http://valums.com/ajax-upload this one allowed multiple file uploads

• multiple file select in FF, Chrome, Safari
• progress-bar in FF, Chrome6+, Safari
• drag-and-drop file select in FF, Chrome
• stylable via CSS
• uploads are cancellable
• no external dependencies
• doesn't use Flash
• fully working with https
• keyboard support in FF, Chrome, Safari
• supports IE6-8, Firefox 3-4beta, Safari4-5, Chrome, Ope