Upload Files to Server in ASP.NET MVC

In this article I will be demonstrating about the Upload functionality in ASP.NET MVC .

In MVC we don't use the FileUpload Server control as we did with Web Forms – So Let's explore in this article that How do we Upload Files to Server in ASP.Net MVC.

For demonstration here, I will be using Visual Studio 2010(MVC2.0)

1. Create a new ASP.NET MVC2 Web application - name it as -say- UploadMVC
    
2. For this sample application - Let's not create the unit test project.- So select the radio button - No, Do not create a unit Test Project.
    
3. Now we have the readymade/default ASP.Net MVC2 Project template with few files already existing in each of the folders Model , View and Controller.
    
4. Lets provide the Upload functionality in the existing Home Page (Views->Home->Index.aspx) – from where we can upload Files from client machine to Server.
    
5. Go to Views->Home->Index.aspx
   
   Add below Lines of Code
   
   <div >
       <h2>Upload Files in MVC</h2>
      <% using (Html.BeginForm("FileUpload", "Home",
                       FormMethod.Post, new { enctype = "multipart/form-data" }))
           {%>
           <input name="uploadFile" type="file" />
           <input type="submit" value="Upload File"/>

           <span style="color:red;font-weight:bold">
           <%=TempData["UploadValidationMessage_Failure"]%>
           </span>

            <span style="color:Green;font-weight:bold">
            <%=TempData["UploadValidationMessage_Success"]%>
           </span>
   <%} %>
       </div>

   FileUpload – Action (in which Upload logic/Code is present) name which we will need to code in our Controller(HomeController.cs)
   
   Home-Controller Name
   enctype = "multipart/form-data" -make sure encoding type is multipart/form-data - This is required to support file uploads.
   
    

6. Go to Controllers->HomeController.cs file
   
   a) Add using statement
   
   using System.IO;
   
   b) Include Action → FileUpload
   
   
   AcceptVerbs(HttpVerbs.Post)]
           public ActionResult FileUpload(HttpPostedFileBase uploadFile)
           {
               if (uploadFile != null)
               {

                   if (uploadFile.ContentLength > 0)
                   {
                       string strSuffixFileName = "_" + DateTime.Now.ToString("yyyy_MM_dd_hh_mm_ss").Replace("_", "");
                       string FilePath = HttpContext.Server.MapPath("../Uploads") + "\\ " + strSuffixFileName + "_" + Path.GetFileName(uploadFile.FileName);
                       uploadFile.SaveAs(FilePath);
                       TempData["UploadValidationMessage_Success"] = "Data Upload Succeeded" + FilePath;
    
                       return View("Index");

                   }

                   return View("Index");
               }
    
               else
               {
                   TempData["UploadValidationMessage_Failure"] = "Please provide the filename to be uploaded";
                   return View("Index");
               }
    
           }
   
   UploadFile is of type HttpPostedFileBase which Serves as the base class for classes that provide access to individual files that have been uploaded by a client.
   
   ContentLength-gets the size of an uploaded file, in bytes.
   
   uploadFile.SaveAs-saves the contents of an uploaded file.
   
   Filename gets prefixed with the current date and time before getting saved in the folder – Uploads.
   
   Uploads- is the folder we need to create in Server – For testing purpose I have created it inside the Project folder in my client machine. - It can be seen if you download the Source Code .
   
   Filename gets prefixed with the current date and time before getting saved in the folder – Uploads.
   
   I have added 2 validations in the above Action Code-
   
   a) Say if user tries to Upload an empty file – he would get corresponding Validation message.
   b) Say if user doesn't selects a file and tries to upload - he would get corresponding Validation message.
   
   
   7. Run the application.
   a)
   
   
   
   b) Click Browse-> Select the file to be uploaded and click Upload File – Once File is successfully uploaded in the folder Uploads – We would get the Success message as in below screen-shot.
   
   
   

If our upload fails as per the 2 criteria mentioned as validations in Action Code – Corresponding message would be printed in the Index View.

Hope this article would be helpful for understanding Uploading files to Server in ASP.NET MVC.
I have attached the source code for this project.

Happy Learning!