How to handle File Input in ASP.NET MVC2

Question

As there is no helper for File Input, how can we safely handle a file input?

If it better just to have a button

<input type="button" value="Upload File" />

and handle this in a new pop-up page/window?

shall I have the

<input type="file" value="Upload File" />

but how would I handle this in the code?

#region General
//
// GET: /Content/General
public ActionResult General()
{
    GeneralModel model = new GeneralModel();
    return View(model);
}

[HttpPost]
public void General(GeneralModel model)
{

}

#endregion

The model will not be populated with the file so I need to do something else ... just don't know what :(

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Thank you.

Darin Dimitrov · Accepted Answer · 2010-11-02 08:19:41Z

1

The input should have a name:

<input type="file" name="File" />

Then to handle the uploaded file you could add a property to your view model:

public class GeneralModel
{
    // The name of the property corresponds to the name of the input
    public HttpPostedFileBase File { get; set; }
    ...
}

and finally in your controller action handle the file upload:

[HttpPost]
public void General(GeneralModel model)
{
    var file = model.File;
    if (file != null && file.ContentLength > 0)
    {
        // The user selected a file to upload => handle it
        var fileName = Path.GetFileName(file.FileName);
        var path = Path.Combine(Server.MapPath("~/App_Data/Uploads"), fileName);
        file.SaveAs(path);
    }
    return View(model);    
}

Phil Haack blogged about file uploads in ASP.NET MVC.

answered Nov 2, 2010 at 8:19

Darin Dimitrov

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5 Comments

balexandre Over a year ago

Thanks, you just forgot that I need

<% using (Html.BeginForm("actionName", "controllerName", FormMethod.Post,     new { enctype = "multipart/form-data" })) { %>

:)

Darin Dimitrov Over a year ago

I thought that was obvious :-) multipart/form-data is always required for file uploads.

balexandre Over a year ago

I do have to handle 2 forms right? one for images and other for the rest of the properties...?

Darin Dimitrov Over a year ago

Not necessarily. One form can handle for both file uploads and normal inputs as long as you have the correct enctype.

balexandre Over a year ago

Got it, it handles everything :) many thanks for the heads up.

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