Develop Reference

c# - Physical path given, virtual path expected in Server.MapPath

I trying to change my directory which in my local c disk, but where errors says in the title. Is there any way aside from using Server.MapPath?. I'm using a ZipOutputStream nuget package.
I want to locate my directory in C: instead inside the project folder.
public FileResult DownloadZipFileSig(string FileId){
var fileName = "FilesDL".zip";
var tempOutPutPath = Server.MapPath(Url.Content("C:/Users/SDILAP2/Desktop/ID_Esig_Files")) + fileName;
using (ZipOutputStream s = new ZipOutputStream(System.IO.File.Create(tempOutPutPath)))
{
s.SetLevel(9);
byte[] buffer = new byte[4096];
List<string> stringList = FileId.Split(',').ToList();
List<string> tempList = new List<string>();
foreach (string str in stringList)
{
if (System.IO.File.Exists(Server.MapPath("C:/Users/SDILAP2/Desktop/ID_Esig_Files/" + str + ".jpeg")))
{
tempList.Add(Server.MapPath("C:/Users/SDILAP2/Desktop/ID_Esig_Files/" + str + ".jpeg"));
}
}
stringList = tempList;
for (int i = 0; i < stringList.Count; i++)
{
ZipEntry entry = new ZipEntry(Path.GetFileName(stringList[i]));
entry.DateTime = DateTime.Now;
entry.IsUnicodeText = true;
s.PutNextEntry(entry);
using (FileStream fs = System.IO.File.OpenRead(stringList[i]))
{
int sourceBytes;
do
{
sourceBytes = fs.Read(buffer, 0, buffer.Length);
s.Write(buffer, 0, sourceBytes);
} while (sourceBytes > 0);
}
}
s.Finish();
s.Flush();
s.Close();
}
return File(finalResult, "application/zip", fileName);
}

You might be not quite grasping how web URL's work, and how server.mappath() is to be used.
Web users:
When you have a web based url, then all html markup in a page, or even user supplied URL's are so called web based.
So, if you have a folder from the root of your web site say called MyUpLoads
Then that is just a folder in the web site path names.
eg:
www.mywebsite/UpLoadFiles/cat.jpg
And if you write html markup, then you can and could provide a URL to the above picute, or say with a html image control, you could set the ImageURL or "source" (src) to that file.
And if you using IIS (and not IIS express), then of course you can add what is called a virutal folder. Say some big server drive on ANOHTER computer on the same network.
So, that virtual folder could be anywhere on your network, and of course AGAIN for web HTML, or web URL's, again you use this format:
www.mysite/MassiveFolder/info.pdf
or maybe
localhost:5403/MyUpLoads/cat.jpg
However, in code behind?
ANY code behind (c# or vb.net) ALWAYS uses plane jane WINDOWS file paths.
These are valid full windows file names.
That means that code behind is 100% free to open/read/use/see/play with ANY file on the computer, and any file even on the computer network.
So when you use
server.mapPath("localhost:5403/MyUpLoads/cat.jpg")
Then the above is translated into a local plane jane DOS/WINDOWS file path!!!!
The above may well become
C:\Users\AlbertKallal\source\repos\CSharpWebApp\MyUpLoads\cat.jpg
So keep in mind:
web urls - HTML/asp markup in a page = web based syntax/path.
computer path: plane jane full path names like all windows software.
So, in your case?
var fileName = "FilesDL".zip";
var tempOutPutPath = #"C:/Users/SDILAP2/Desktop/ID_Esig_Files")) + fileName;
So you don't need nor want to user server.mappath, since that is ONLY for a given HTML or web based URL that you want to translate into the local computer file path system.
Since your path name(s) are already in that format, then no need is required.
in fact, keep in mind that you can use this fact to your advantage.
ANY folder (or a vitural folder) will appear in your valid URL's and path names (web based).
However, you might have some pdf's, or sensitive documents. So move that folder OUT of the root or web project folders.
Now, no valid URL's exist, or are even allowed.
However, code behind? It can run, see and use ANY file on your computer - and you use code behind to get those files - but the web site, web side of things has NO ability to use or see or get those files. And you can still do things like say provide a download button, but your code behind can fetch the file, read it and pump it out to the end user (stream the file).
So you only need (have) to use the Server.MapPath function WHEN the URL comes from the web site or html markup. This will translate that web based URL into a regular good old fashion full qualified windows file path name.
However, if you already have that full windows path name, then no URL translate to windows file path is required.
So, for the most part, your code behind can look at, see, grab and play with files on the server. Web users, or web based urls MUST be part of the folders in the web site, but no such restrictions exist for the code behind.
Now, when the code is deployed to a web server, often some file security rights on in place, but as a general rule, that web code behind is NOT limited nor restricted to JUST folders in the web site. Those valued URL's are a restriction for the users and web browsers, and as noted, often a folder outside of the web site is used for security purposes, since no possible valid web based paths can use/see or even resolve to file outside of the root starting folder of the web site.
So for those existing files, you don't need server.mappath.

Allowing full file path in URI for Web API call

I am currently working on a 'download file' implementation using Web API 2.
However, as the files that can be downloaded are NOT stored in the database, I am passing in the full file path as the parameter for identification.
It seems the problem with this approach is that the filePath contains characters that are invalid for a URI... Has anyone got any suggestions to resolve this or an alternate approach?
Download file method:
[HttpGet]
[Route("Files/{*filePath}")]
public HttpResponseMessage Get([FromUri]string filePath)
{
try
{
var file = new FileInfo(filePath);
byte[] bytes = System.IO.File.ReadAllBytes(filePath);
var result = Request.CreateResponse(HttpStatusCode.OK);
result.Content = new ByteArrayContent(bytes);
result.Content.Headers.ContentDisposition = new System.Net.Http.Headers.ContentDispositionHeaderValue("attachment");
result.Content.Headers.ContentDisposition.FileName = file.Name + file.Extension;
return result;
}
catch(Exception ex)
{
return Request.CreateResponse(HttpStatusCode.InternalServerError, ex);
}
}

Requiring the client to put the full path in the URI (even if it were encoded so that it only contains valid characters for the URI) implies that you may be publishing these paths somewhere... this is not a great idea for a few reasons:
Security - full Path Disclosure and associated Relative Path Traversal
i.e. what's to stop someone passing in the path to a sensitive file (e.g. your web.config file) and potentially obtaining information that could assist with attacking your system?
Maintainability
Clients may maintain a copy of a URI for reuse or distribution - what happens if the file paths change? Some related conversation on this topic here: Cool URIs don't change
My suggestion - you don't have to put the files themselves in a database, but put a list of files in a database, and use a unique identifier in the URL (e.g. perhaps a slug or GUID). Look up the identifier in the database to discover the path, then return that file.
This ensures:
Nobody can read a file that you haven't indexed and determined is safe to be downloaded
If you move the files you can update the database and client URIs will not change
And to respond to your original question, you can easily ensure the unique identifier is only made up of URI safe characters
Once you have the database, over time you may also fine it useful to maintain other metadata in the database such as who uploaded the file, when, who downloaded it, and when, etc.

How to download files from OneDrive

I am looking to download my files in public folder from One Drive, but it doesn't download the files.
Here is the scenario:
In public folder I have another folder with multiple files in it and is accessible widely.
for test purpose I have shared all the files in public folder (I don't if it's proper way of sharing it).
The following links are provided for me to download the file:
From shared folder link https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=DBBC281099F4FE69!646&authkey=!AGRCGuw8Y2_p9mA&ithint=folder%2c.mp3
From public folder link https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=DBBC281099F4FE69%21646
Direct link http://1drv.ms/1z9XlW6 -
I am using BackgroundTransferRequest to download the file using below code:
string filePathToDownload = string.Empty, fileName = "111.mp3";
filePathToDownload = "http://1drv.ms/1z9XlW6";
Uri transferUri = new Uri(Uri.EscapeUriString(filePathToDownload), UriKind.RelativeOrAbsolute);
BackgroundTransferRequest transferRequest = new BackgroundTransferRequest(transferUri);
transferRequest.Method = "GET";
transferRequest.TransferPreferences = TransferPreferences.AllowCellularAndBattery;
Uri downloadUri = new Uri(DataSource.TEMPDOWNLOADLOCATION + fileName, UriKind.RelativeOrAbsolute);
transferRequest.DownloadLocation = downloadUri;
transferRequest.Tag = fileName;
The file is 300Kb, but this only downloads 6 Kb.
How can I directly download the file from the links above (any of them)?
thanks!

If you replace the word redir with download in the url you get the raw file instead of the webpage i.e.
https://onedrive.live.com/download?resid=DBBC281099F4FE69%21646

Basically, you can't. Those links are links to the web content that shows the files you have shared. If your scenario doesn't mind asking the user to log in to OneDrive, then you can use the Live SDK to access these files.
To access your public folder from Live SDK, you need to either use Live SDK to get the folder-id for your public folder, or convert the IDs in the URL you copied into the format the Live SDK uses:
folder.<user-id>.<folder-resid>
Where is the part of before the !. In general you shouldn't construct an ID, since it's possible the IDs will change in the future, and instead you should retrieve the ID from the service. However, with the URL you pasted the ID would be:
folder.DBBC281099F4FE69.DBBC281099F4FE69!646
Which will allow you to call
https://apis.live.net:443/v5.0/folder.DBBC281099F4FE69.DBBC281099F4FE69!646/files?access_token=<valid_token>
and retrieve the IDs for the individual files, which you can then download via Live SDK following these details: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-US/library/dn659726.aspx#download_a_file

For those who are still looking for a response to that question.
The easiest way to find the file path is to go to One Drive on the web and right-click on the file that we want and select Embed. Τhen on the right we see the info window to integrate our file into a page. Inside the iframe is the source of the file. Then we have to replace the word embed with the word download and that's it.

Try something like this
//we first need the file id
string id = string.Empty;
//we need to get all of the filenames stored in the root of the skydrive account
LiveOperationResult result = await this.client.GetAsync("me/skydrive/files");
//lets make a list of all these filenames
List<object> items = result.Result["data"] as List<object>;
//for every filename, check if it is what we want, in this case "sample.txt"
//if it is what we want, get the id and save it to out already defined id value
foreach (object item in items)
{
IDictionary<string, object> file = item as IDictionary<string, object>;
if (file["name"].ToString() == "sample.txt")
{
id = file["id"].ToString();
}
}
//to download the file we need to use the id + "/content"
LiveDownloadOperationResult result2 = await client.DownloadAsync(string.Format("{0}/content", id));
//once the file had downloaded, lets copy it to IsolatedStorage
Stream stream = result2.Stream;
using (IsolatedStorageFile storage = IsolatedStorageFile.GetUserStoreForApplication())
{
using (IsolatedStorageFileStream fileToSave = storage.OpenFile("sample.txt", FileMode.Create, FileAccess.ReadWrite))
{
stream.CopyTo(fileToSave);
stream.Flush();
stream.Close();
}
}
here client is the object of LiveConnectClient class.
Import
using Microsoft.Live;
using Microsoft.Live.Controls;
Here is use txt file as an example. Go through this example:http://www.baileystein.com/2013/10/20/skydrive-how-to-upload-and-download-a-text-file-on-wp8/

Using FileUpload C#

I have a project where I get a list of file location strings that I want to save locally. I want to use a FileUploader to do so. I am trying something like this so far:
FileUpload filesaver = new FileUpload();
//Iterate over each files (InputFiles is a linked list of file locations)
foreach (string File in InputFiles)
{
//Get file
Stream fileLoaded = OpenFile(File);
filesaver.FileContent = fileLoaded;
//Save file
filesaver.SaveAs(DownloadLocation);
//Code...}
The problem is that filesaver.FileContent = fileLoaded; is not a valid call (FileContent is read only).
How would I be able to get the file to the file loader so that I can save it if I have a string of that file location?
Edit I am using the FileUpload Class

The ASP.NET FileUploader has the client side send the file to the server side. It does not send a file path as a string, so there is no way to intercept the file path and "upload" on the server side. if that is your intent, you are not going to find a way to get there from here.
If you want to save the actual file binary bits once it gets to the server, there are plenty of examples out there that persist the data to databases or file system.
If you are trying to get paths as strings, the file uploader is not your best choice, but note that the file path strings, if they are local to the client, are of no use on the server side.

You can just use:
If (filesaver.HasFile)
{
filesaver.SaveAs("C:\YourFilePath\" & filesaver.FileName);
}

Visual Studio 2010 working directory

I'm developing a C# asp.net web application. I'm basically done with it, but I have this little problem. I want to save xml files to the "Users" folder within my project, but if I don't psychically hard code the path "C:......\Users" in my project it wants to save the file in this "C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\microsoft shared\DevServer\10.0\Users" folder, this is an annoying problem because I can't use the hard coded directory on our web hosts server. Also, I have a checkbox list that populates from the the "DownloadLibrary" folder in my project, and its suppose to download the files from that fold but its also looking to the "C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\microsoft shared\DevServer\10.0\" folder for download even though its populating from the correct folder. I'm very confused by this, its the first time something like this has ever happened to me. Can anyone please help me with this, its the only thing standing in my way to complete this project.

You don't want to use the working directory at all; you want to use a directory relative to where the web application is located (which can be retrieved from HttpRequest.ApplicationPath.
HttpRequest request = HttpContext.Current.Request;
// get the physical path to the web application
string pathToApp = request.MapPath(request.ApplicationPath);
string usersPath = System.IO.Path.Combine(pathToApp, "Users");
Update
As VincayC points out; asp.net development is not my strongest skill ;) The above code is essentially equivalent of this (much simpler) code:
string usersPath = HttpRequest.Current.Request.MapPath("~/Users");
If this code appears in the code-behind of a page, you can probably cut HttpContext.Current as well, since the page has a Request property.

That did fix the one problem I'm having, but the downloads are still not downloading from the right place, the program still wants to get the files from "C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\microsoft shared\DevServer\10.0\" directory here is the code I'm using
--Code to populate the checkbox--
HttpRequest request = HttpContext.Current.Request;
// get the physical path to the web application
string appPath = request.MapPath(request.ApplicationPath);
string directory = System.IO.Path.Combine(appPath, "DownloadLibrary/");
// Get the list of files into the CheckBoxList
var dirInfo = new DirectoryInfo(directory);
cblFiles.DataSource = dirInfo.GetFiles();
cblFiles.DataBind();
--Download Button Code--
// Tell the browser we're sending a ZIP file!
var downloadFileName = string.Format("Items-{0}.zip", DateTime.Now.ToString("yyyy-MM-dd-HH_mm_ss"));
Response.ContentType = "application/zip";
Response.AddHeader("Content-Disposition", "filename=" + downloadFileName);
// Zip the contents of the selected files
using (var zip = new ZipFile())
{
// Add the password protection, if specified
/*if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(txtZIPPassword.Text))
{
zip.Password = txtZIPPassword.Text;
// 'This encryption is weak! Please see http://cheeso.members.winisp.net/DotNetZipHelp/html/24077057-63cb-ac7e-6be5-697fe9ce37d6.htm for more details
zip.Encryption = EncryptionAlgorithm.WinZipAes128;
}*/
// Construct the contents of the README.txt file that will be included in this ZIP
var readMeMessage = string.Format("Your ZIP file {0} contains the following files:{1}{1}", downloadFileName, Environment.NewLine);
// Add the checked files to the ZIP
foreach (ListItem li in cblFiles.Items)
if (li.Selected)
{
// Record the file that was included in readMeMessage
readMeMessage += string.Concat("\t* ", li.Text, Environment.NewLine);
// Now add the file to the ZIP (use a value of "" as the second parameter to put the files in the "root" folder)
zip.AddFile(li.Value, "Your Files");
}
// Add the README.txt file to the ZIP
//zip.AddEntry("README.txt", readMeMessage, Encoding.ASCII);
// Send the contents of the ZIP back to the output stream
zip.Save(Response.OutputStream);</pre></code>
I'm not sure how to get the downloads to point to my application directory,I tried everything I can think off.