Specifying filename for dynamic PDF in asp.net

Question

How can I specify the filename when dumping data into the response stream?

Right now I'm doing the following:

byte[] data= GetFoo();
Response.Clear();
Response.Buffer = true;
Response.ContentType = "application/pdf";            
Response.BinaryWrite(data);
Response.End();

With the code above, I get "foo.aspx.pdf" as the filename to save. I seem to remember being able to add a header to the response to specify the filename to save.

score 62 · Accepted Answer · edited Oct 07 '11 at 01:24

62

Add a content-disposition to the header:

Response.AddHeader("content-disposition", @"attachment;filename=""MyFile.pdf""");

edited Oct 07 '11 at 01:24

Dan F

11,958
3
48
72

answered Sep 16 '08 at 16:10

Ryan Farley

11,315
4
46
43

3

Double quotes should be placed around the filename. See http://kb.mozillazine.org/Filenames_with_spaces_are_truncated_upon_download – Nathan Jones Sep 16 '08 at 16:33

score 24 · Answer 2 · answered Jan 15 '13 at 21:21

24

FYI... if you use "inline" instead of "attachment" the file will open automatically in IE. Instead of prompting the user with a Open/Save dialogue.

Response.AppendHeader("content-disposition", string.Format("inline;FileName=\"{0}\"", fileName));

answered Jan 15 '13 at 21:21

EMR

396
3
6

This is exactly what i was looking for. The next problem is that i want to set a default file name so when they hit the save button it will have the right file name as the default. Right now the file name is set to the aspx page name that generated the pdf. Anyone got a suggestion? – Kevbo May 01 '17 at 17:05

score 15 · Answer 3 · answered Sep 16 '08 at 16:10

15

Response.AppendHeader("Content-Disposition", "attachment; filename=foo.pdf");

answered Sep 16 '08 at 16:10

Sklivvz

30,601
24
116
172

5

If anyone is wondering why there exists both `AddHeader` and `AppendHeader`, [wonder no more...](http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.web.httpresponse.addheader.aspx) – Michael Haren Jan 30 '12 at 23:39
how to make that file name as dynamic Response.AppendHeader("Content-Disposition", "attachment; filename="+ Projname + ".pdf");@Skliwz – May 29 '15 at 06:20

Sam · Answer 4 · 2015-07-14T03:42:05.317

2

For some reason, most of the answers out there don't seem to even attempt to encode the file name value. If the file contains spaces, semicolons or quotes, it mightn't come across correctly.

It looks like you can use the ContentDisposition class to generate a correct header value:

Response.AppendHeader("Content-Disposition", new ContentDisposition
{
    FileName = yourFilename
}.ToString());

You can check out the source code for ContentDisposition.ToString() to confirm that it's trying to encode it properly.

Warning: This seems to crash when the filename contains a dash (not a hyphen). I haven't bothered looking into this yet.

edited Jul 14 '15 at 03:42

answered Jun 22 '15 at 05:32

Sam

40,644
36
176
219

Dashes are frequently used in our file names, so that would be a significant drawback for us. When calling to the webpage concerned, I use HttpUtility.UrlEncode(FileName), I expect I could do the same here, if necessary. – Zeek2 Jul 27 '18 at 08:21

score 1 · Answer 5 · answered Sep 16 '08 at 16:11

1

 Response.AddHeader("Content-Disposition", "attachment;filename=" & FileName & ";")

answered Sep 16 '08 at 16:11

Kibbee

65,369
27
142
182

Dim warnings As Warning() – JoshYates1980 Jun 09 '17 at 21:17

Specifying filename for dynamic PDF in asp.net

5 Answers5

Linked