Can I implement file download using MVC4's ApiController?

Question

Using regular Controller I could do it by returning FileResult. The same doesn't seem to work with ApiController. Can it be done? Is it even a right thing to do?

Answer 1

Try this.

[HttpGet]    
public HttpResponseMessage Get()
    {
        var file = HttpContext.Current.Server.MapPath("~/Images/accent.png");
        var stream = new FileStream(file, FileMode.Open);
        var content = new HttpResponseMessage(HttpStatusCode.OK)
                         {
                             Content = new StreamContent(stream)
                         };
        content.Content.Headers.ContentType = new MediaTypeHeaderValue("application/octet-stream");
        return content;
    }