How To Accept a File POST

Question

I\'m using asp.net mvc 4 webapi beta to build a rest service. I need to be able to accept POSTed images/files from client applications. Is this possible using the webapi?

Answer 1

Toward this same directions, I'm posting a client and server snipets that send Excel Files using WebApi, c# 4:

public static void SetFile(String serviceUrl, byte[] fileArray, String fileName)
{
    try
    {
        using (var client = new HttpClient())
        {
                client.DefaultRequestHeaders.Accept.Add(new MediaTypeWithQualityHeaderValue("application/json"));
                using (var content = new MultipartFormDataContent())
                {
                    var fileContent = new ByteArrayContent(fileArray);//(System.IO.File.ReadAllBytes(fileName));
                    fileContent.Headers.ContentDisposition = new ContentDispositionHeaderValue("attachment")
                    {
                        FileName = fileName
                    };
                    content.Add(fileContent);
                    var result = client.PostAsync(serviceUrl, content).Result;
                }
        }
    }
    catch (Exception e)
    {
        //Log the exception
    }
}

And the server webapi controller:

public Task> Post()
{
    if (Request.Content.IsMimeMultipartContent())
    {
        string fullPath = HttpContext.Current.Server.MapPath("~/uploads");
        MyMultipartFormDataStreamProvider streamProvider = new MyMultipartFormDataStreamProvider(fullPath);
        var task = Request.Content.ReadAsMultipartAsync(streamProvider).ContinueWith(t =>
        {
            if (t.IsFaulted || t.IsCanceled)
                    throw new HttpResponseException(HttpStatusCode.InternalServerError);

            var fileInfo = streamProvider.FileData.Select(i =>
            {
                var info = new FileInfo(i.LocalFileName);
                return "File uploaded as " + info.FullName + " (" + info.Length + ")";
            });
            return fileInfo;

        });
        return task;
    }
    else
    {
        throw new HttpResponseException(Request.CreateResponse(HttpStatusCode.NotAcceptable, "Invalid Request!"));
    }
}

And the Custom MyMultipartFormDataStreamProvider, needed to customize the Filename:

PS: I took this code from another post http://www.codeguru.com/csharp/.net/uploading-files-asynchronously-using-asp.net-web-api.htm

public class MyMultipartFormDataStreamProvider : MultipartFormDataStreamProvider
{
    public MyMultipartFormDataStreamProvider(string path)
        : base(path)
    {

    }

    public override string GetLocalFileName(System.Net.Http.Headers.HttpContentHeaders headers)
    {
        string fileName;
        if (!string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(headers.ContentDisposition.FileName))
        {
            fileName = headers.ContentDisposition.FileName;
        }
        else
        {
            fileName = Guid.NewGuid().ToString() + ".data";
        }
        return fileName.Replace("\"", string.Empty);
    }
}