How can I generate a temporary Zip file, then auto-remove it after it is downloaded?

Question

I have a download page where there are 3 download options: Word, Zip, and PDF. There is a folder containing .doc files. When a user clicks the Zip option on the page, I want ASP.NET to zip the folder with the .doc files into a temporary .zip file. Then the client will download it from the server. When the user's download is finished, the temporary Zip file should delete itself.

How can I do this with ASP.NET 2.0 C#?

Note: I know how I can zip and unzip files and remove files from the system with C# ASP.NET 2.0.

Answer 1

Using DotNetZip you can save the zip file directly to the Response.OutputStream. No need for a temporary Zip file.

    Response.Clear();
    // no buffering - allows large zip files to download as they are zipped
    Response.BufferOutput = false;
    String ReadmeText= "Dynamic content for a readme file...\n" + 
                       DateTime.Now.ToString("G");
    string archiveName= String.Format("archive-{0}.zip", 
                                      DateTime.Now.ToString("yyyy-MMM-dd-HHmmss")); 
    Response.ContentType = "application/zip";
    Response.AddHeader("content-disposition", "attachment; filename=" + archiveName);
    using (ZipFile zip = new ZipFile())
    {
        // add a file entry into the zip, using content from a string
        zip.AddFileFromString("Readme.txt", "", ReadmeText);
        // add the set of files to the zip
        zip.AddFiles(filesToInclude, "files");
        // compress and write the output to OutputStream
        zip.Save(Response.OutputStream);
    }
    Response.Flush();