ASP.NET MVC: returning plaintext file to download from controller method

asp.net-mvc controller download
p.campbell picture p.campbell · Oct 15, 2009 · Viewed 37.5k times · Source

Consider the need to return a plain-text file from a controller method back to the caller. The idea is to have the file downloaded, rather than viewed as plaintext in the browser.

I have the following method, and it works as expected. The file is presented to the browser for download, and the file is populated with the string.

I'd like to look for a 'more correct' implementation of this method, as I am not 100% comfortable with the void return type.

public void ViewHL7(int id)
{
    string someLongTextForDownload = "ABC123";

    Response.Clear(); 
    Response.ContentType = "text/plain";
    Response.AddHeader("Content-Disposition", string.Format("attachment; filename={0}.hl7", id.ToString()));
    Response.Write(someLongTextForDownload);
    Response.End();
}

Answer

tvanfosson picture tvanfosson · Oct 15, 2009

Use the File method on the controller class to return a FileResult

public ActionResult ViewHL7( int id )
{
    ...

    return File( Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes( someLongTextForDownLoad ),
                 "text/plain",
                  string.Format( "{0}.hl7", id ) );
}

Related questions

ASP.NET MVC download image rather than display in browser

Rather than displaying a PNG in the browser window, I'd like the action result to trigger the file download dialogue box (you know the open, save as, etc). I can get this to work with the code below using an …

Read More
RedirectToAction with parameter

I have an action I call from an anchor thusly, Site/Controller/Action/ID where ID is an int. Later on I need to redirect to this same Action from a Controller. Is there a clever way to do this? …

Read More
Can an ASP.NET MVC controller return an Image?

Can I create a Controller that simply returns an image asset? I would like to route this logic through a controller, whenever a URL such as the following is requested: www.mywebsite.com/resource/image/topbanner The controller will look …

Read More