How can I save excel file in downloads folder using ASP .NET C#

Question

1.00/5 (2 votes)

See more:

Below is my code to download the data in excel but the problem is while downloading it is not showing that the file is getting downloaded moreover i am giving the path in this way as given below to download the file in downloads folder but i should not use this because it works in local host but it will not work when hosted in server.how can i download into downloads folder with showing the downloading file at bottom

string pathUser = Environment.GetFolderPath(Environment.SpecialFolder.UserProfile);
           string pathDownload = Path.Combine(pathUser, "Downloads\\");

protected void btnExportExcel_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
    {
string pathUser = Environment.GetFolderPath(Environment.SpecialFolder.UserProfile);
               string pathDownload = Path.Combine(pathUser, "Downloads\\");
 DataTable dtExcel = (DataTable)ViewState["data"];
ExportToExcel(dsExcel, pathDownload + "\\" + file.xls");
}
 private void ExportToExcel(DataSet table, string filePath)
    {

        int tablecount = table.Tables.Count;
        StreamWriter sw = new StreamWriter(filePath, false);
        sw.Write(@"<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC ""-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"">");
        sw.Write("<font style='font-size:10.0pt; font-family:Calibri;'>");

        for (int k = 0; k < tablecount; k++)
        {


            sw.Write("<BR><BR><BR>");
            sw.Write("<Table border='1' bgColor='#ffffff' borderColor='#000000' cellSpacing='0' cellPadding='0' style='font-size:10.0pt; font-family:Calibri; background:'#1E90FF'> <TR>");


            int columnscount = table.Tables[k].Columns.Count;

            for (int j = 0; j < columnscount; j++)
            {
                sw.Write("<Td bgColor='#87CEFA'>");
                sw.Write("");
                //sw.Write(table.Columns[j].ToString());
                sw.Write(table.Tables[k].Columns[j].ToString());

                sw.Write("");
                sw.Write("</Td>");
            }
            sw.Write("</TR>");
            foreach (DataRow row in table.Tables[k].Rows)
            {
                sw.Write("<TR>");
                for (int i = 0; i < table.Tables[k].Columns.Count; i++)
                {
                    sw.Write("<Td>");
                    sw.Write(row[i].ToString());
                    sw.Write("</Td>");
                }
                sw.Write("</TR>");
            }
  sw.Write("</Table>");
            //sw.Write("<BR><BR><BR><BR>");
            //sw.Write("\n");
            //sw.Write(string.Format("Line1{0}Line2{0}", Environment.NewLine));


            sw.Write("</font>");

        }
        sw.Close();
    }

the below two lines that i am using in btnexportexcel should not be used

string pathUser = Environment.GetFolderPath(Environment.SpecialFolder.UserProfile);
               string pathDownload = Path.Combine(pathUser, "Downloads\\");

What I have tried:

he problem is while downloading it is not showing that the file is getting downloaded moreover i am giving the path in this way as given below to download the file in downloads folder but i should not use this because it works in local host but it will not work when hosted in server

Posted 15-Jun-17 22:17pm

kav@94

Updated 15-Jun-17 22:37pm

Add a Solution

Comments

Maciej Los 16-Jun-17 4:27am

Cross-post: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/44584182/how-can-i-save-excel-file-in-downloads-folder-using-asp-net-c-sharp

2 solutions

Add a Solution

This content, along with any associated source code and files, is licensed under The Code Project Open License (CPOL)

F-ES Sitecore · Answer 1 · 2017-06-15T22:26:00

Solution 1

You're not downloading the file to the client, you're simply writing it to the filesystem of the machine the code is running on. When that was your local machine it looked like it was working, but now the code is deployed to a server it is writing the file to the server.

You can't save files to the client system from your server code, imagine the security implications if web sites could do that? You'll need to transmit the file to the client instead so that they'll get the "download or open" box, and you can't specify where on the machine the file is saved or if it is saved at all.

Google "asp.net download file to client" for examples of how to do this.

Posted 15-Jun-17 22:26pm

F-ES Sitecore

Comments

kav@94 16-Jun-17 4:30am

i had tried but they are not working while downloading i am getting exception

F-ES Sitecore 16-Jun-17 4:33am

Then the code you are using is wrong, update the original question with the code you are trying, what the exception is, and what line it appears on.

kav@94 16-Jun-17 4:36am

Response.ContentType = "APPLICATION/OCTET-STREAM";
String Header = "Attachment; Filename=XMLFile.xml";
Response.AppendHeader("Content-Disposition", Header);
System.IO.FileInfo Dfile = new System.IO.FileInfo(Server.MapPath("here i had gien my application folder name"));
Response.WriteFile(Dfile.FullName);
//Don't forget to add the following line
Response.End();

this is the code that i had used but it is giving exception because i am using stream writer in my code and this code is not working i should be able to downlad into downloads folder on button click

F-ES Sitecore 16-Jun-17 4:42am

What is the exception and on what line?

OriginalGriff · Answer 2 · 2017-06-15T22:37:00

Solution 2

You cannot do that: download files in production are on a separate computer to which your server code has no access. You cannot use a StreamWriter to write a file directly to the user at all, and you cannot control what happens to it once the download has started as that is totally up to the user and his browser settings. You cannot specify a folder for the file to be saved in at all, or even specify that the file should be saved instead of opened.

Instead you either give teh user a link to click:

HTML

<a href="serverFilePath.xlsx" >Click to Save Excel document</a>

Or you send it via the Response object:

C#

byte[] fileContent = File.ReadAllBytes(path);
    HttpContext.Current.Response.Clear();
    HttpContext.Current.Response.AddHeader("Content-Disposition attachment; filename=myFile.xlsx");
    HttpContext.Current.Response.AddHeader("Content-Length", fileContent.Length.ToString());
    HttpContext.Current.Response.ContentType = "application/octet-stream";
    HttpContext.Current.Response.BinaryWrite(fileContent);
    HttpContext.Current.Response.End();

Posted 15-Jun-17 22:37pm

OriginalGriff

Comments

OriginalGriff 16-Jun-17 5:38am

To quote myself: "you cannot control what happens to it once the download has started as that is totally up to the user and his browser settings"
You cannot control the folder it ends up in, or even that it ends up being saved at all.

kav@94 16-Jun-17 5:41am

byte[] fileContent = File.ReadAllBytes(path);
HttpContext.Current.Response.Clear();
HttpContext.Current.Response.AddHeader("Content-Disposition attachment; filename=myFile.xlsx");
HttpContext.Current.Response.AddHeader("Content-Length", fileContent.Length.ToString());
HttpContext.Current.Response.ContentType = "application/octet-stream";
HttpContext.Current.Response.BinaryWrite(fileContent);
HttpContext.Current.Response.End();

by placing this code i am getting error near path and near add header

OriginalGriff 16-Jun-17 5:50am

Have you ever considered reading example code with the view that the author can't see exactly what you need to type and might have to use placeholders.
You know, such as 'path' where you need to put the actual path to the file you need to access for example? And "MyFile" where he doesn't know the name of the file you want to save it as? :sigh:

kav@94 16-Jun-17 5:59am

i know that i should provide the path for the excel to get download but i cannot pass this path because when hosted in server it is giving error so i got strucked

string pathUser = Environment.GetFolderPath(Environment.SpecialFolder.UserProfile);
string pathDownload = Path.Combine(pathUser, "Downloads\\");

OriginalGriff 16-Jun-17 6:22am

The user profile is useless in a web site, which user do you think you are? IIS does not use a user id that is of any use to you, and does not have a "regular" folder under "Users".

The folder you need will be a part of your website structure, almost certainly, and that means you probably need something like Server.MapPath(@"~\Downloads\TheFileIWantToAccess");

kav@94 16-Jun-17 6:33am

protected void btnExportExcel_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
string pathDownload = @"~\Downloads\"+Session["CPT"].ToString() + "-" + "HistoricalData.xls";
ExportToExcel(dsExcel, pathDownload);
lblMessage.Text = "Downloaded Successfully";
}
private void ExportToExcel(DataSet table, string filePath)
{

int tablecount = table.Tables.Count;
StreamWriter sw = new StreamWriter(filePath, false);
}
this is the path that i am getting ~\Downloads\DATA.xls

and i am getting this exception Could not find a part of the path 'C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\DevServer\11.0\~\Downloads\DATA.xls'. near StreamWriter sw = new StreamWriter(filePath, false);

OriginalGriff 16-Jun-17 6:51am

:sigh:

Server.MapPath ... To quote myself again:

'The folder you need will be a part of your website structure, almost certainly, and that means you probably need something like Server.MapPath(@"~\Downloads\TheFileIWantToAccess");'

kav@94 16-Jun-17 6:59am

i am not saving my file in application folder i should directly save in downloads folder

OriginalGriff 16-Jun-17 7:16am

And where is the downloads folder in your website in production?

kav@94 16-Jun-17 7:25am

every user will have a downloads folder know where all the files gets downloaded in downloads that is where i need to place my file

OriginalGriff 16-Jun-17 7:34am

Now many different websites are hosted on the same computer?
Each website has a separate "files area" where all it's file data is held, HTML, ASPX, C# binaries, user data, the lot. Most systems organise this into a hierarchical structure so you have the website root folder (with the default.aspx file and suchlike) and all the other info is in folders which hang off that. That website root folder is called "~" and is used with Server.MapPath to convert a relative address (i.e. relative to the website root) into a physical address such as "C:\IIS\Websites\YourDomainName\Users\DownLoads\JoeSmith117" from "~\Users\DownLoads\JoeSmith117"
You don't access the harddrive directly except by using Server.MapPath because you have no idea where your site is hosted, or when it might be moved.

How can I save excel file in downloads folder using ASP .NET C#

2 solutions

Solution 1

Solution 2

Add your solution here

Preview 0

How can I save excel file in downloads folder using ASP .NET C#

2 solutions

Solution 1

Solution 2

Add your solution here

Preview 0

Existing Members

...or Join us