I'm having a little problem figuring out the best way to open up a file that I have stored in a database. The file is being stored as a byte array in a nvarbinary field in the database. Currently when I want to open up a file I use an ASP.NET webpage that I pass a variable to and write the file stream to the page. This works fine when using the in browser version of the Silverlight application, but when out of browser I cannot invoke a browser window to open because I don't have access to dom.
How can I open the bytearray from Silvelright without invoking a browser window? I'm able to pass the bytearray and file type to the Silverlight app no problem. I just don't know how to display it once I have it there..
Thanks!
If you are targeting windows (with full trust enabled, and not mac), you can do this out-of-browser by first writing the file to disk (either in isolated storage or in My Documents), then using a WScript.Shell COM object to have the OS open the file.
After you have saved the byte stream to a file and have the file location, you can do:
using (dynamic shell = AutomationFactory.CreateObject("WScript.Shell"))
{
shell.Run(fileLocation); //works similar to start -> run -> filename
}
If you want to leverage your existing ASP page, you can pass its URL to shell.Run and the OS will use the user's default browser to open that page.
On a mac, the best you could do is save the file to their user directory, and have them manually navigate there with finder and double-click it.
Related
I have a SharePoint server and I want to open files directly from the Server with SharePoint CSOM.
User clicks button --> the file (Excel, Word, ...) opens at the client machine with the standard software.
Directly means, that if I change something to the file and click save, that the file is directly saved on the SharePoint server (or if I click e.g. 'Save as' in Excel the suggested path is 'https://sharpoint.url.com/folder').
Actually I have:
using Microsoft.SharePoint.Client;
var clientContext = new ClientContext("https://sharpoint.url.com");
string relativePath = "/folder/file.xls";
clientContext.Credentials = CredentialCache.DefaultCredentials;
var file = clientContext.Web.GetFileByServerRelativeUrl(relativePath);
clientContext.Load(file);
clientContext.ExecuteQuery();
What do I have to do now, if I want to open the file directly (no download)?
I assume you ask how to access the file's stream instead of downloading it to a local folder.
You can use the File.OpenBinaryDirect method to get access to its ETag and stream, eg :
using(var fileInfo=File.OpenBinaryDirect(clientContext,"/folder/file.xls"))
using(var reader=new StreamReader(fileInfo.Stream))
{
//Do whatever you want with the data
}
BTW you shouldn't use the old xls files. The format is deprecated for over 10 years. The current Excel format, xlsx, is a zipped package of XML files that's better supported by SharePoint itself, doesn't require Excel to generate or read.
For example, if you wanted to read cell values from an xlsx file, you could use the popular EPPlus library to read directly from the stream:
using(var fileInfo=File.OpenBinaryDirect(clientContext,"/folder/file.xlsx"))
using(var package=new ExcelPackage(fileInfo.Stream))
{
var sheet=package.Workbook.Worksheets[0];
var value=ws.Cells["A1"].Value;
//...
}
UPDATE
It seems the question isn't related to programming after all. All that's needed to save or open a SharePoint document is clicking on the document's link. What happens then depends on the Open Documents in Client Applications setting at the site and document library level.
This affects the headers the server sends to the browser when the user clicks on a document link. The browser may still refuse to open the registered application and display the Save dialog.
If that doesn't work, you should check why instead of writing code. It's probably a configuration error or a browser setting. Solving it is easier than creating workarounds, pushing them to all client machines. And then keeping track of all the patches, where they are deployed and deploying new ones.
Apart from that, the Office applications know about SharePoint and document libraries since 2003. They can browse them, display SharePoint properties for the document, show collaborators etc.
As I mentioned in the question comments, a lot of what people think as "SharePoint Developoment" is nothing more that configuration, administration and end user features.
MSDN docs don't help either - they actually cause harm by not covering SP administration or explaining the features and how they are used. You'll find that in Technet. For years, people created webparts in code to change how grids looked because MSDN didn't explain how eg the DataViewWebPart worked or how you could style a grid from the UI.
In general, the best place for such questions is http://sharepoint.stackexchange.com. For example, check “Open in the client application” Vs “Use the server default (Open in the client application)” inside the document library advance settings
We can create Map Network Drive for SharePoint library, and open the file from the network location. Check article below:
http://support.sherweb.com/Faqs/Show/how-to-connect-to-a-sharepoint-site-using-webdav-sharepoint-2013
Or we can download the file from SharePoint and open it using the code below:
Application.Workbooks.Open(#"C:\Test\YourWorkbook.xlsx");
Reference: https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/b3k79a5x.aspx
This question already has answers here:
How to implement a file download in asp.net
(2 answers)
Closed 6 years ago.
I am working on a ticketing system for my company using Asp.net and c#. User can create a ticket and attach a few documents to it (mostly word and excel documents). I upload and save the documents in the web server in a dedicated location (i.e. C:\Attachments).
Now, when user opens a previously created ticket, I show the list of the attachments as link buttons in a Gridview. I want user to be able to open the attachment by clicking on the link button. I have achieved this in my local machine in development, but when I publish the web app into IIS Server, I don't know how to open the files saved inside the web server. How do I provide the path for the file? Should I first download the file in the client machine and then open it? Any help is much appreciated.
This is how I open the attachment in development (which is the OnClick event of the link button):
protected void OpenAttachment(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
string FileName;
FileName = #"C:\Attachments\Test.docx";
Process.Start(FileName);
}
You have to change your approach in order to get the desired result.
Currently you create a new process on the web server by Process.Start. So you will see this process on your development environment because client and server are on the same computer.
In order to open a file by the browser, it has to be downloaded first. By adding the right content type, the browser can decide how to proceed with the downloaded file.
There are plenty of tutorials available. A starting point is this related StackOverflow question: How to implement a file download in asp.net
I am developing a Windows Phone 8 application but am having a lot of issues with file access permission exceptions hindering the approval of my application when ever I try accessing files in the "local" folder (this only happens after the application has been signed by the WP store, not when deployed from Visual Studio). To solve this I have moved all file operations to IsolatedStorage and this seems to have fixed the problems.
I only have one problem left though. My application needs to make use of the file extension system to open external files and this seems to involve the file first being copied to the local folder where after I can then manually copy it into IsolatedStorage. I have no problem in implementing this but it seems that a file access permission exception also occurs once the system tries to copy the external file into the local folder.
The only way I think this can be solved is if I can direct the system to directly copy into IsolatedStorage but I cannot figure how to do this or if it is even possible. It seems as if though the SharedStorageAccessManager can only copy into a StorageFolder instance but I have no idea how to create one that is directed into IsolatedStorage, any ideas?
PS. Do you think that the Microsoft system might be signing my application with some incompetent certificate or something because there is not a hint of trouble when I deploy the application from Visual Studio, it only happens when Microsoft tests it or when I install it from the store using the Beta submission method.
Below is a screenshot of the catched exception being displayed in a messagebox upon trying to open a file from an email:
EDIT:
Just to make it even clearer, I do NOT need assistance in figuring out the normal practice of using a deep link uri to copy an external file into my application directory. I need help in either copying it directly into isolatedstorage or resolving the file access exception.
Listening for a file launch
When your app is launched to handle a particular file type, a deep link URI is used to take the user to your app. Within the URI, the FileTypeAssociation string designates that the source of the URI is a file association and the fileToken parameter contains the file token.
For example, the following code shows a deep link URI from a file association.
/FileTypeAssociation?fileToken=89819279-4fe0-4531-9f57-d633f0949a19
Upon launch, map the incoming deep link URI to an app page that can handle the file
// Get the file token from the URI
// (This is easiest done from a UriMapper that you implement based on UriMapperBase)
// ...
// Get the file name.
string incomingFileName = SharedStorageAccessManager.GetSharedFileName(fileID);
// You will then use the file name you got to copy it into your local folder with
// See: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windowsphone/develop/windows.phone.storage.sharedaccess.sharedstorageaccessmanager.copysharedfileasync(v=vs.105).aspx
SharedStorageAccessManager.CopySharedFileAsync(...)
I've inline the information on how to do this from MSDN http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windowsphone/develop/jj206987(v=vs.105).aspx
Read that documentation and it should be clear how to use the APIs as well as how to setup your URI mapper.
Good luck :)
Ok I figured it out. The "install" directory is actually restricted access but for some reason the Visual Studio signing process leaves the app with enough permissions to access this folder. The correct procedure of determining a relative directory is not to use "Directory.GetCurrentDirectory()" but rather to use "ApplicationData.Current.LocalFolder". Hope this helps!
How can I get the path of a file on my computer or on the local area network.
I would to show a window that allows me to browse the file system when I click a button, and I want to select a file and get the path to the file. How can I do this?
P.S. I'm not looking to upload the file; I just want to get the path.
The web application is running on the server, and you don't have access to the client file system at all. Can you imagine how much of a vulnerability that would be? I know I don't want the sites I visit inspecting my file system...
EDIT: Question is for a WinForms application
For a WinForms application, you can use the OpenFileDialog, and extract the path with something like this:
If you're looking for the file path:
string path = OpenFileDialog1.FileName; //output = c:\folder\file.txt
If you're looking for the directory path:
string path = Path.GetDirectoryName(OpenFileDialog1.FileName); //output = c:\folder
In general, the System.IO.Path class has a lot of useful features for retrieving and manipulating path information.
To do this in VB.NET use the FolderBrowserDialog.
Due to security restrictions browsers include for user safety, you can't manipulate the client file system directly. You can only use to let them pick a file, and even then it only sends the filename, not the whole path.
The FileSystem API in HTML5 allows for file manipulation, but only within a sandbox for your site specifically, not browsing across the network or other files on the client system.
Instead, provide your users easy steps on how they should use My Computer (or whatever equivalent on other OS's) to navigate to the file and copy & paste the path into a simple text input box.
Have you taken a look at the Path class from System.IO ?
I have successfully prompted user to select a file in C# using
the openFileDialog control.
I now have the filename, lets call it foo.docx
I want to open the file with the asssoicated app.
i.e., if it is a docx file, launch with word.
Is there a best way to just pass the filename and it do the launch ?
I used System.Diagnostics.Process.Start(openFileDialog1.FileName.ToString());
TIA.
Ralph
Simply use
Process.Start(filename);
This will open the program in the default program set in Windows.
Also, you can use the same to open a URL in the user's default browser.
Just call Process.Start with the file name - the OS will select the associated application.
Process.Start(#"path to\foo.exe");