KaushaL.NET

File download problem: filename with spaces truncated in FF and replaced by underscore in IE

This is a mere note to remember for future rather than a blog entry. While I am working on code to download file from server. I write below code:

        {
            int ChunkSize = 10000;
            string sFileFullPath = Server.MapPath("New Text Document.txt");
            System.IO.FileInfo toDownload = new System.IO.FileInfo(sFileFullPath);
            if (System.IO.File.Exists(sFileFullPath))
            {
                Response.Clear();
                using (FileStream iStream = System.IO.File.OpenRead(sFileFullPath))
                {                  
                    long dataLengthToRead = iStream.Length;
                    Byte[] buffer = new Byte[dataLengthToRead];                   
                    Response.ContentType = "application/octet-stream";                   
                    Response.AddHeader("Content-Disposition", "attachment; filename=" + filename);                                                          
                    while (ChunkSize > 0 && Response.IsClientConnected)
                    {
                        if (ChunkSize > dataLengthToRead)
                        {
                            ChunkSize = int.Parse(dataLengthToRead.ToString());
                        }                      
                        int lengthRead = iStream.Read(buffer, 0, ChunkSize);
                        Response.OutputStream.Write(buffer, 0, lengthRead);
                        Response.Flush();
                        dataLengthToRead = dataLengthToRead - lengthRead;
                    }
                }
                Response.Close();
                Response.End();
            }
            else
            {
                this.Page.ClientScript.RegisterStartupScript(GetType(), "ShowMessage", "<script language='javascript'>alert('No Files Available');</script>");
            }
        }

When I ran the application I found that the file which I need to download was containing spaces in its name like “New Text Document.txt”.

The problem is:

In FF, was truncating the filename from space while showing the file download dialog . So, its only showing the filename as “New” (and truncating the rest of the filename after space).

In IE, was replacing the spaces in filename with underscore ( _ ) as “New_Text_Document.txt” while showing the file download dialog box.

This something I dont want to have. I need to have the exact filename as it is on server.

The solution is:

For FF: you need to enclose the name of the file in Quotes while you add it as attachment in response header as:

Response.AddHeader("Content-Disposition", "attachment; filename=\"" + filename + "\"");

For IE: you need to identify and replace the space in filename with “%20” (something like encoding filename) as:

String userAgent = Request.Headers.Get("User-Agent");
String filename = toDownload.Name;
if (userAgent.Contains("MSIE 7.0"))
    filename = toDownload.Name.Replace(" ", "%20");

Thats It! Hope it would be helpful for someone in same need!

Complete Code would be:

        {
            int ChunkSize = 10000;
            string sFileFullPath = Server.MapPath("New Text Document.txt");
            System.IO.FileInfo toDownload =
            new System.IO.FileInfo(sFileFullPath);
            if (System.IO.File.Exists(sFileFullPath))
            {
                Response.Clear();
                using (FileStream iStream = System.IO.File.OpenRead(sFileFullPath))
                {                  
                    long dataLengthToRead = iStream.Length;
                    Byte[] buffer = new Byte[dataLengthToRead];                   
                    Response.ContentType = "application/octet-stream";                   
                    String userAgent = Request.Headers.Get("User-Agent");                  
                    String filename = toDownload.Name;
                    if (userAgent.Contains("MSIE 7.0"))
                        filename = toDownload.Name.Replace(" ", "%20");
                    Response.AddHeader("Content-Disposition", "attachment; filename=\"" + filename + "\"");                  
                    while (ChunkSize > 0 && Response.IsClientConnected)
                    {
                        if (ChunkSize > dataLengthToRead)
                        {
                            ChunkSize = int.Parse(dataLengthToRead.ToString());
                        }                      
                        int lengthRead = iStream.Read(buffer, 0, ChunkSize);
                        Response.OutputStream.Write(buffer, 0, lengthRead);
                        Response.Flush();
                        dataLengthToRead = dataLengthToRead - lengthRead;
                    }
                }
                Response.Close();
                Response.End();
            }
            else
            {
                this.Page.ClientScript.RegisterStartupScript(GetType(), "ShowMessage", "<script language='javascript'>alert('No Files Available');</script>");
            }
        }