How to open the "Save As" browse box for saving files

[christheprogrammer]

Hey all,
I have a form where the user chooses some things, and a query is run. The resulting data is in a datagrid (via dataset) and i want to have a button which launches the familiar "Save As" dialog which allows the user to browse his/her file system and save the file anywhere on the hard drive.
I know how to do the file writing, etc. I just need to know how to open up this dialog (I believe it is just a function call which returns the path the user chose)...

Anyone know?
Thanks in Advance Chris

 

[crystalized]

This is not as easy as you may be expecting. First of all certain browsers will want to open the file - depending on the type. The best way to complete this task with certainty is to create a link on the page and require your user to right click and save as.

Trust me I worked this problem and I spent a week on it - and in the end I ended up with a popup window with a link for them to right click and save as. Any approach I took that worked in one browser did not work in another.

If you have more luck than me I hope you will share it here, as my old project was in cold fusion and maybe you will find something in .net that will make it easier. Crystal
crystalized_s@yahoo.com

--------------------------------------------------

Experience is one thing you can't get for nothing.

-Oscar Wilde

 

[christheprogrammer]

Thanks, I thought it might be a problem. I'll re-post if I figure it out

CHEERS! Chris

 

[Alcar]

code in c# for Windows Forms

SaveFileDialog fdlg = new SaveFileDialog();

fdlg.CheckFileExists = false;
fdlg.Title = "XML Creator - Select xml file" ;
fdlg.InitialDirectory = @"c:\" ;
if(fdlg.ShowDialog() == DialogResult.OK)
{
// do something
}
fdlg.Dispose();


hth

 

[link9]

I read something the other day that said if you set the content-type to octet-stream, then that will force the browser to open the dialog even if the browser would have recognized the mime type.

I just tried to find the article but was unable...

Maybe you'll have better luck...


paul

 

[christheprogrammer]

Okay, I found an article describing how to enable the File Save Dialog. The command is:

Response.AddHeader("content-disposition","attachment; filename=fname.ext&quot

which troubles me because it is classic ASP, not ASP.NET.
(Anyone know the proper ASP.NET command for this?)

One problem I found with this so far is the filename. I use:

Response.AddHeader("content-disposition","attachment; filename=" & MapPath("fname.ext&quot)

and have used the debugger to check that MapPath finds the correct path. But the actual download gets the current web page html file instead of the file I want. What's up with that?
If you know please pass the info down the grapevine

Thanks again everyone!
Chris

 

[christheprogrammer]

Figured it out. For everyone's info, the button on_click event handler must look like this (in VB):

Private Sub saveAsButton_Click(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles saveAsButton.Click
Dim filename As String = MapPath("filename.txt&quot
Dim contentString As String = "attachment; filename="
contentString &= """"
contentString &= filename
contentString &= """"
Response.ContentType = "Application/zip"
Response.AddHeader("content-disposition", contentString)
Response.WriteFile(filename)
Response.End()
end sub

The quotes are important for this - it doesn't work without them...

Have a great weekend! Chris