dynamically return another file type

[Tim Mulholland]

I am trying to create an ASPX page that, based on QueryString inputs,
returns another file, in this case a WMA file. I do not want to do this by
redirect, because these files are not available publicly via the web, or via
a share. So i am returning it by opening a stream, and writing the bytes out
via Response.BinaryWrite().
This is all fine and dandy, but the Save As.. dialog lists the filetype as
ASPX page, and gives the page name...
how do i get it to list something else, and with the filetype being WMA (or
whatever i want)?
Is this even possible?

TIA,

Tim

[Shawn]

Here is an example of how to download or open a word document in you browser
using a FileStream.
In your case try using "video/x-ms-wma" as the ContentType.

Dim fs As New FileStream("c:\docs\0000001F.DOC", FileMode.OpenOrCreate,
FileAccess.Read)
Dim MyData(fs.Length) As Byte
fs.Read(MyData, 0, fs.Length)
Response.Buffer = True
Response.Clear()
Response.ContentType = "application/msword"

'Opens outside of the browser
'Response.AddHeader("content-disposition", "attachment;
filename=0000001F.DOC")
'Opens inside of the browser
Response.AddHeader("content-disposition", "inline; filename=0000001F.DOC")

Response.BinaryWrite(MyData)
Response.End()

Shawn
"Tim Mulholland" <Mu***************@alumni.virginia.edu> wrote in message
news:e0**************@TK2MSFTNGP09.phx.gbl...
I am trying to create an ASPX page that, based on QueryString inputs,
returns another file, in this case a WMA file. I do not want to do this by
redirect, because these files are not available publicly via the web, or via
a share. So i am returning it by opening a stream, and writing the bytes out
via Response.BinaryWrite().
This is all fine and dandy, but the Save As.. dialog lists the filetype as
ASPX page, and gives the page name...
how do i get it to list something else, and with the filetype being WMA (or
whatever i want)?
Is this even possible?

TIA,

Tim

[Tim Mulholland]

Attempted to try your example code this morning, but it seems i'm having
troubles getting into my development server... this code makes sense though,
so thanks for your help.
If i have any more questions once i get into my server, i'll post again, but
i'd guess this works.
Thanks again,

Tim

"Shawn" <bo********@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:3f********@news.wineasy.se...

Here is an example of how to download or open a word document in you browser using a FileStream.
In your case try using "video/x-ms-wma" as the ContentType.

Dim fs As New FileStream("c:\docs\0000001F.DOC", FileMode.OpenOrCreate,
FileAccess.Read)
Dim MyData(fs.Length) As Byte
fs.Read(MyData, 0, fs.Length)
Response.Buffer = True
Response.Clear()
Response.ContentType = "application/msword"

'Opens outside of the browser
'Response.AddHeader("content-disposition", "attachment;
filename=0000001F.DOC")
'Opens inside of the browser
Response.AddHeader("content-disposition", "inline; filename=0000001F.DOC")

Response.BinaryWrite(MyData)
Response.End()

Shawn
"Tim Mulholland" <Mu***************@alumni.virginia.edu> wrote in message
news:e0**************@TK2MSFTNGP09.phx.gbl...
I am trying to create an ASPX page that, based on QueryString inputs,
returns another file, in this case a WMA file. I do not want to do this by
redirect, because these files are not available publicly via the web, or via a share. So i am returning it by opening a stream, and writing the bytes out via Response.BinaryWrite().
This is all fine and dandy, but the Save As.. dialog lists the filetype as
ASPX page, and gives the page name...
how do i get it to list something else, and with the filetype being WMA (or whatever i want)?
Is this even possible?

TIA,

Tim

[Yan-Hong Huang[MSFT]]

Hi Tim,

Thanks for posting in the group.

I agree with Shawn. ContentType should do the trick for you. It could tell
client browser how to deal with the data stream in the http response.

If you have any more concerns on it, please feel free to post in the group.

Best regards,
Yanhong Huang
Microsoft Community Support

Get Secure! ¨C www.microsoft.com/security
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.

[Tim Mulholland]

I finally was able to test my code.
I was using ContentType, but it was the AppendHeader, content-disposition
stuff that got me going in the right direction.
Seems to work beautifully.
Thanks to all,

Tim

"Yan-Hong Huang[MSFT]" <yh*****@online.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:4L**************@cpmsftngxa07.phx.gbl...

Hi Tim,

Thanks for posting in the group.

I agree with Shawn. ContentType should do the trick for you. It could tell
client browser how to deal with the data stream in the http response.

If you have any more concerns on it, please feel free to post in the group.
Best regards,
Yanhong Huang
Microsoft Community Support

Get Secure! ¨C www.microsoft.com/security
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.

[Yan-Hong Huang[MSFT]]

Hi Tim,

Ahh, Then I should say thanks to Shawn again. :) I haven't noticed that
contect-disposition is so important under this situation. Thanks very much
for your response.

I just did a quick search in MSDN and found this info:

-----------
Content-disposition is an extension to the MIME protocol that instructs a
MIME user agent on how it should display an attached file. The range of
valid values for content-disposition are discussed in Request for Comment
(RFC) 1806 (see the "References" section of this article). This article
focuses on the "attachment" argument, which instructs a user agent (in this
case, Internet Explorer) to save a file to disk instead of saving it inline.

When Internet Explorer receives the header, it raises a File Download
dialog box whose file name box is automatically populated with the file
name that is specified in the header. (Note that this is by design; there
is no way to use this feature to save a document to the user's computer
without prompting him or her for a save location.)

There are two ways that you can use Internet Explorer to specify a
content-disposition header for a file: dynamically and statically.

To apply the header dynamically, create an Active Server Pages (ASP) file
that writes the document out to the browser. Use the Response.AddHeader
method to add the content-disposition header. For example:
Response.AddHeader "content-disposition","attachment; filename=fname.ext"

Instructions on how to perform a binary write for nontext documents are
available in the following Microsoft Knowledge Base article:
193998 HOWTO: Read and Display Binary Data in ASP

This technique is ideal when you want to protect a document store on your
server, especially one that exists outside of the Web root.

To apply the header statically, right-click the document in the Internet
Service Manager, and then select Properties. Select the HTTP Headers tab
and enter the content-disposition header there. This works best when you
only want to apply content-disposition to a few files on your system and
don't require the overhead of ASP.

Please note that this solution will not work in Internet Explorer 4.01 due
to a bug. For additional information, click the article number below to
view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
182315 FIX: Content-Disposition: Does Not Force File Download Dialog
-----------

RFC 1806, RFC 2183 describe more on it.

Anyway, I am glad that the problem is resolved. If you have any more
questions, pleaes feel free to post in the group.

Thanks again for participating the community.

Best regards,
Yanhong Huang
Microsoft Community Support

Get Secure! ¨C www.microsoft.com/security
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.