Develop Reference

Content downloads twice with one request

I'm downloading large file to a client through a browser. When I initiate the download content is written to body. I see the transfer in chrome to the user they can't see progress.
once it finishes the transfer and the method below finishes then you can see the file downloading. It seems like double work.
public async Task GetFile(string fileName, string fileToken)
{
Stream stream = null;
int bufferSize = 1048576;
byte[] buffer = new byte[bufferSize];
int length;
long lengthToRead;
try
{
string filePath = Path.Combine(_env.WebRootPath, $"Common{Path.DirectorySeparatorChar}", $"Files{Path.DirectorySeparatorChar}", fileToken);
stream = new FileStream(filePath, FileMode.Open, FileAccess.Read, FileShare.Read);
long dj = stream.Length / bufferSize;
if (stream.Length % bufferSize > 0)
{
dj += 1;
}
dj = dj * bufferSize;
lengthToRead = stream.Length;
Response.ContentType = "application/pdf";
Response.Headers.Add("Content-Disposition", "attachment; filename=" + HttpUtility.UrlEncode(fileName, System.Text.Encoding.UTF8));
Response.ContentLength = dj;
while( lengthToRead > 0)
{
length = stream.Read(buffer, 0, bufferSize);
await Response.BodyWriter.WriteAsync(buffer);
await Response.BodyWriter.FlushAsync();
lengthToRead = lengthToRead - length;
}
}
catch(Exception exp)
{
Response.ContentType = "text/html";
}
finally
{
if(stream != null)
{
stream.Close();
}
}
}

File download in chunks in http-context response C#

I have a below scenario.
Client send request to Server-1 for file download
Server-1 send request to Server-2 for file.
To make this work I need to create a mechanism where once client send request to the Server-1, Server-1 will request to Server-2 which will send file as response output-stream in chunks. Server-1 will send this file chunks to client browser continuously as it keep receiving from server-2.
I have done code as below, theoretically it looks fine but still it is not working.
It is not downloading entire file in client browser, it seems like last chunk is not transferred to the Server-1 or it is not downloading to client browser from Server-1
Server-1 Code (Where client request for File download)
private void ProccesBufferedResponse(HttpWebRequest webRequest, HttpContext context)
{
char[] responseChars = null;
byte[] buffer = null;
if (webRequest == null)
logger.Error("Request string is null for Perfios Docs Download at ProccesBufferedResponse()");
context.Response.Buffer = false;
context.Response.BufferOutput = false;
try
{
WebResponse webResponse = webRequest.GetResponse();
context.Response.ContentType = "application/pdf";
context.Response.AddHeader("Content-disposition", webResponse.Headers["Content-disposition"]);
StreamReader responseStream = new StreamReader(webResponse.GetResponseStream());
while (!responseStream.EndOfStream)
{
responseChars = new char[responseStream.ToString().ToCharArray().Length];
responseStream.Read(responseChars, 0, responseChars.Length);
buffer = Encoding.ASCII.GetBytes(responseChars);
context.Response.Clear();
context.Response.OutputStream.Write(buffer, 0, buffer.Length);
context.Response.Flush();
}
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
throw;
}
finally
{
context.Response.Flush();
context.Response.End();
}
}
Server-2 Code (Where Server-1 will send request for file)
private void DownloadInstaPerfiosDoc(int CompanyID, string fileName, string Foldertype)
{
string folderPath;
string FilePath;
int chunkSize = 1024;
int startIndex = 0;
int endIndex = 0;
int length = 0;
byte[] bytes = null;
DirectoryInfo dir;
folderPath = GetDocumentDirectory(CompanyID, Foldertype);
FilePath = folderPath + "\\" + fileName;
dir = new DirectoryInfo(folderPath);
HttpContext.Current.Response.Buffer = false;
HttpContext.Current.Response.BufferOutput = false;
if (dir.Exists && dir.GetFiles().Length > 0)
{
foreach (var file in dir.GetFiles(fileName))
{
FilePath = folderPath + "\\" + file.Name;
FileStream fsReader = new FileStream(FilePath, FileMode.Open, FileAccess.Read);
HttpContext.Current.Response.ContentType = "application/pdf";
HttpContext.Current.Response.AddHeader("Content-disposition", string.Format("attachment; filename = \"{0}\"", fileName));
int totalChunks = (int)Math.Ceiling((double)fsReader.Length / chunkSize);
for (int i = 0; i < totalChunks; i++)
{
startIndex = i * chunkSize;
if (startIndex + chunkSize > fsReader.Length)
endIndex = (int)fsReader.Length;
else
endIndex = startIndex + chunkSize;
length = (int)endIndex - startIndex;
bytes = new byte[length];
fsReader.Read(bytes, 0, bytes.Length);
HttpContext.Current.Response.Clear();
HttpContext.Current.Response.OutputStream.Write(bytes, 0, bytes.Length);
HttpContext.Current.Response.Flush();
}
}
}
}
Please help me to resolve this issue.

It is possible and feasible. I'll give a pseudo procedure for you to understand the overall idea.
Server1
download action gets hit
create a request to server2
get the response stream of your server2 request
read the response stream in desired chunk sizes until it's consumed completely
write each chunk (as soon as you read) to current response stream
Server2
download action gets hit
write your stream onto your current response stream however you like

C# Download big file from Server with less memory consumption

I have a big file of memory size 42 mb. I want to download the file with less memory consumption.
Controller Code
public ActionResult Download()
{
var filePath = "file path in server";
FileInfo file = new FileInfo(filePath);
Response.ContentType = "application/zip";
Response.AppendHeader("Content-Disposition", "attachment; filename=folder.zip");
Response.TransmitFile(file.FullName);
Response.End();
}
alernative method tried with Stream
public ActionResult Download()
{
string failure = string.Empty;
Stream stream = null;
int bytesToRead = 10000;
long LengthToRead;
try
{
var path = "file path from server";
FileWebRequest fileRequest = (FileWebRequest)FileWebRequest.Create(path);
FileWebResponse fileResponse = (FileWebResponse)fileRequest.GetResponse();
if (fileRequest.ContentLength > 0)
fileResponse.ContentLength = fileRequest.ContentLength;
//Get the Stream returned from the response
stream = fileResponse.GetResponseStream();
LengthToRead = stream.Length;
//Indicate the type of data being sent
Response.ContentType = "application/octet-stream";
//Name the file
Response.AddHeader("Content-Disposition", "attachment; filename=SolutionWizardDesktopClient.zip");
Response.AddHeader("Content-Length", fileResponse.ContentLength.ToString());
int length;
do
{
// Verify that the client is connected.
if (Response.IsClientConnected)
{
byte[] buffer = new Byte[bytesToRead];
// Read data into the buffer.
length = stream.Read(buffer, 0, bytesToRead);
// and write it out to the response's output stream
Response.OutputStream.Write(buffer, 0, length);
// Flush the data
Response.Flush();
//Clear the buffer
LengthToRead = LengthToRead - length;
}
else
{
// cancel the download if client has disconnected
LengthToRead = -1;
}
} while (LengthToRead > 0); //Repeat until no data is read
}
finally
{
if (stream != null)
{
//Close the input stream
stream.Close();
}
Response.End();
Response.Close();
}
return View("Failed");
}
due to size of the file, it is consumpting more memory which leads to performance issue.
After checking in iis log, the download process is taking 42 mb and 64 mb each respectively.
Thanks in advance

A better option would be to use FileResult instead of ActionResult:
Using this method means you don't have to load the file/bytes in memory before serving.
public FileResult Download()
{
var filePath = "file path in server";
return new FilePathResult(Server.MapPath(filePath), "application/zip");
}
Edit: For larger files FilePathResult will also fail.
Your best bet is probably Response.TransmitFile() then. I've used this on larger files (GBs) and had no issues before
public ActionResult Download()
{
var filePath = #"file path from server";
Response.Clear();
Response.ContentType = "application/octet-stream";
Response.AppendHeader("Content-Disposition", "filename=" + filePath);
Response.TransmitFile(filePath);
Response.End();
return Index();
}
From MSDN:
Writes the specified file directly to an HTTP response output stream,
without buffering it in memory.

Try setting the Transfer-Encoding header to chunked, and return an HttpResponseMessage with a PushStreamContent. Transfer-Encoding of chunked means that the HTTP response will not have a Content-Length header, and so the client will have to parse the chunks of the HTTP response as a stream. Note, I've never run across a client (browser, etc) that didn't handle Transfer Encoding chunked. You can read more at the link below.
https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/HTTP/Headers/Transfer-Encoding
[HttpGet]
public async Task<HttpResponseMessage> Download(CancellationToken token)
{
var response = new HttpResponseMessage(System.Net.HttpStatusCode.OK)
{
Content = new PushStreamContent(async (stream, context, transportContext) =>
{
try
{
using (var fileStream = System.IO.File.OpenRead("some path to MyBigDownload.zip"))
{
await fileStream.CopyToAsync(stream);
}
}
finally
{
stream.Close();
}
}, "application/octet-stream"),
};
response.Headers.TransferEncodingChunked = true;
response.Content.Headers.ContentDisposition = new System.Net.Http.Headers.ContentDispositionHeaderValue("attachment")
{
FileName = "MyBigDownload.zip"
};
return response;
}

I had similar problem but I didn't have file on local disk, I had to download it from API (my MVC was like a proxy).
The key thing is to set Response.Buffer=false; on your MVC Action. I think #JanusPienaar's first solution should work with this.
My MVC action is:
public class HomeController : Controller
{
public async Task<FileStreamResult> Streaming(long RecordCount)
{
HttpClient Client;
System.IO.Stream Stream;
//This is the key thing
Response.Buffer=false;
Client = new HttpClient() { BaseAddress=new Uri("http://MyApi", };
Stream = await Client.GetStreamAsync("api/Streaming?RecordCount="+RecordCount);
return new FileStreamResult(Stream, "text/csv");
}
}
And my test WebApi (which generates the file) is:
public class StreamingController : ApiController
{
// GET: api/Streaming/5
public HttpResponseMessage Get(long RecordCount)
{
var response = Request.CreateResponse();
response.Content=new PushStreamContent((stream, http, transport) =>
{
RecordsGenerator Generator = new RecordsGenerator();
long i;
using(var writer = new System.IO.StreamWriter(stream, System.Text.Encoding.UTF8))
{
for(i=0; i<RecordCount; i++)
{
writer.Write(Generator.GetRecordString(i));
if(0==(i&0xFFFFF))
System.Diagnostics.Debug.WriteLine($"Record no: {i:N0}");
}
}
});
return response;
}
class RecordsGenerator
{
const string abc = "ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ";
char[] Chars = new char[14];//Ceiling(log26(2^63))
public string GetRecordString(long Record)
{
int iLength = 0;
long Div = Record, Mod;
do
{
iLength++;
Div=Math.DivRem(Div, abc.Length, out Mod);
//Save from backwards
Chars[Chars.Length-iLength]=abc[(int)Mod];
}
while(Div!=0);
return $"{Record} {new string(Chars, Chars.Length-iLength, iLength)}\r\n";
}
}
}
}
If RecordCount is 100000000, the file generated by TestApi is 1.56 GB. Neither WebApi nor MVC consumes so much memory.

There is the Rizwan Ansari post that worked for me:
There are situation when you need to provide download option for a big file located somewhere on server or generated at runtime. Below function could be used to download files of any size. Sometimes downloading big file throws exception OutOfMemoryException showing “Insufficient memory to continue execution of the program”. So this function also handle this situation by breaking down file in 1 MB chunks (can be customized by changing bufferSize variable).
Usage:
DownloadLargeFile("A big file.pdf", "D:\\Big Files\\Big File.pdf", "application/pdf", System.Web.HttpContext.Current.Response);
You can change "application/pdf" by the right Mime type
Download Function:
public static void DownloadLargeFile(string DownloadFileName, string FilePath, string ContentType, HttpResponse response)
{
Stream stream = null;
// read buffer in 1 MB chunks
// change this if you want a different buffer size
int bufferSize = 1048576;
byte[] buffer = new Byte[bufferSize];
// buffer read length
int length;
// Total length of file
long lengthToRead;
try
{
// Open the file in read only mode
stream = new FileStream(FilePath, FileMode.Open, FileAccess.Read, FileShare.Read);
// Total length of file
lengthToRead = stream.Length;
response.ContentType = ContentType;
response.AddHeader("Content-Disposition", "attachment; filename=" + HttpUtility.UrlEncode(DownloadFileName, System.Text.Encoding.UTF8));
while (lengthToRead > 0)
{
// Verify that the client is connected.
if (response.IsClientConnected)
{
// Read the data in buffer
length = stream.Read(buffer, 0, bufferSize);
// Write the data to output stream.
response.OutputStream.Write(buffer, 0, length);
// Flush the data
response.Flush();
//buffer = new Byte[10000];
lengthToRead = lengthToRead - length;
}
else
{
// if user disconnects stop the loop
lengthToRead = -1;
}
}
}
catch (Exception exp)
{
// handle exception
response.ContentType = "text/html";
response.Write("Error : " + exp.Message);
}
finally
{
if (stream != null)
{
stream.Close();
}
response.End();
response.Close();
}
}

you just have to Using IIS to Enable HTTP Downloads look at this link
and you just need to return the HTTP path of the file it will be download so fast and so easy.

Downloading a File on ASP.net C#

I have a serious Problem with Download in my ASP.net Project.
I used the same code in 2 pages to download a file :
private bool DownloadAnhang_Tracking(string fileName, string filepath)
{
////File Path and File Name
string filePath = filepath;
string downloadableFileName = fileName;
System.IO.FileInfo filename;
FileStream myFile;
try
{
filename = new System.IO.FileInfo(filePath);
myFile = new FileStream(filePath, FileMode.Open, FileAccess.Read, FileShare.ReadWrite);
}
catch (IOException ex)
{
this.ShowErrorNotification("Fehler: " + ex.Message);
throw;
}
////Reads file as binary values
BinaryReader binaryReader = new BinaryReader(myFile);
////Check whether file exists in specified location
if (filename.Exists)
{
try
{
long startBytes = 0;
string lastUpdateTiemStamp = File.GetLastWriteTimeUtc(filePath).ToString("r");
string encodedData = HttpUtility.UrlEncode(downloadableFileName, Encoding.UTF8) + lastUpdateTiemStamp;
Response.Clear();
Response.Buffer = false;
Response.AddHeader("Accept-Ranges", "bytes");
Response.AppendHeader("ETag", "\"" + encodedData + "\"");
Response.AppendHeader("Last-Modified", lastUpdateTiemStamp);
Response.ContentType = "application/octet-stream";
Response.AddHeader("Content-Disposition", "attachment;filename=" + filename.Name);
Response.AddHeader("Content-Length", (filename.Length - startBytes).ToString());
Response.AddHeader("Connection", "Keep-Alive");
Response.ContentEncoding = Encoding.UTF8;
////Send data
binaryReader.BaseStream.Seek(startBytes, SeekOrigin.Begin);
////Dividing the data in 1024 bytes package
int maxCount = (int)Math.Ceiling((filename.Length - startBytes + 0.0) / 1024);
////Download in block of 1024 bytes
int i;
for (i = 0; i < maxCount && Response.IsClientConnected; i++)
{
Response.BinaryWrite(binaryReader.ReadBytes(1024));
Response.Flush();
}
////if blocks transfered not equals total number of blocks
if (i < maxCount)
{
return false;
}
else
{
return true;
}
}
catch
{
return false;
}
finally
{
Response.End();
binaryReader.Close();
myFile.Close();
}
}
else
{
this.ShowErrorNotification("Der Anhang wurde nicht gefunden!");
}
return false;
}
So used this code in another page, but it doesn't work anymore! I pass the same information to the method but it doesn't work! The Error is from MSAjax:
0x800a139e - Runtime Error in JavaScript:
Sys.WebForms.PageRequestManagerParserErrorException: The message
received from the server could not be parsed. Common causes for this
error are when the response is modified by calls to Response.Write(),
response filters, HttpModules, or server trace is enabled.
I don't get why this code works on page 1 but not on page 2.
Im using ASP.Net 4.5 WebForms with C#

Download function not showing total size of file, while downloading

protected void downloadFunction(string filename)
{
string filepath = #"D:\XtraFiles\" + filename;
string contentType = "application/x-newton-compatible-pkg";
Stream iStream = null;
// Buffer to read 1024K bytes in chunk
byte[] buffer = new Byte[1048576];
// Length of the file:
int length;
// Total bytes to read:
long dataToRead;
try
{
// Open the file.
iStream = new FileStream(filepath, FileMode.Open, FileAccess.Read, FileShare.Read);
// Total bytes to read:
dataToRead = iStream.Length;
HttpContext.Current.Response.ContentType = contentType;
HttpContext.Current.Response.AddHeader("Content-Disposition", "attachment; filename=" + HttpUtility.UrlEncode(filename, System.Text.Encoding.UTF8));
// Read the bytes.
while (dataToRead > 0)
{
// Verify that the client is connected.
if (HttpContext.Current.Response.IsClientConnected)
{
// Read the data in buffer.
length = iStream.Read(buffer, 0, 10000);
// Write the data to the current output stream.
HttpContext.Current.Response.OutputStream.Write(buffer, 0, length);
// Flush the data to the HTML output.
HttpContext.Current.Response.Flush();
buffer = new Byte[10000];
dataToRead = dataToRead - length;
}
else
{
//prevent infinite loop if user disconnects
dataToRead = -1;
}
}
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
// Trap the error, if any.
HttpContext.Current.Response.Write("Error : " + ex.Message + "<br />");
HttpContext.Current.Response.ContentType = "text/html";
HttpContext.Current.Response.Write("Error : file not found");
}
finally
{
if (iStream != null)
{
//Close the file.
iStream.Close();
}
HttpContext.Current.Response.End();
HttpContext.Current.Response.Close();
}
}
My donwload function is working perfect, but when users are downloading the browser cant see the total file size of the download.
So now the browser says eq. Downloading 8mb of ?, insted of Downloading 8mb of 142mb.
What have i missed?

The Content-Length header seems to be what you are missing.
If you set this the browser will then know how much to expect. Otherwise it will just keep going til you stop sending data and it won't know how long it is until the end.
Response.AddHeader("Content-Length", iStream.Length);
You may also be interested in Response.WriteFile whcih can provide an easier way to send a file to a client without having to worry about streams yourself.

You need to send a ContentLength-Header:
HttpContext.Current.Response.AddHeader(HttpRequestHeader.ContentLength, iStream.Length);