How do I determine a file's content type in .NET?

Question

My WPF application gets a file from the user with Microsoft.Win32.OpenFileDialog()...

Private Sub ButtonUpload_Click(...)
    Dim FileOpenStream As Stream = Nothing
    Dim FileBox As New Microsoft.Win32.OpenFileDialog()
    FileBox.InitialDirectory = Environment.GetFolderPath(Environment.SpecialFolder.MyDocuments)
    FileBox.Filter = "Pictures (*.jpg;*.jpeg;*.gif;*.png)|*.jpg;*.jpeg;*.gif;*.png|" & _
                     "Documents (*.pdf;*.doc;*.docx;)|*.pdf;*.doc;*.docx;|" & _
                     "All Files (*.*)|*.*"
    FileBox.FilterIndex = 1
    FileBox.Multiselect = False
    Dim FileSelected As Nullable(Of Boolean) = FileBox.ShowDialog(Me)
    If FileSelected IsNot Nothing AndAlso FileSelected.Value = True Then
        Try
            FileOpenStream = FileBox.OpenFile()
            If (FileOpenStream IsNot Nothing) Then
                Dim ByteArray As Byte()
                Using br As New BinaryReader(FileOpenStream)
                    ByteArray = br.ReadBytes(FileOpenStream.Length)
                End Using
                Dim z As New ZackFile
                z.Id = Guid.NewGuid
                z.FileData = ByteArray
                z.FileSize = CInt(ByteArray.Length)
                z.FileName = FileBox.FileName.Split("\").Last
                z.DateAdded = Now
                db.AddToZackFile(z)
                db.SaveChanges()
            End If
        Catch Ex As Exception
            MessageBox.Show("Cannot read file from disk. " & Ex.Message, "Fail", MessageBoxButton.OK, MessageBoxImage.Error)
        Finally
            If (FileOpenStream IsNot Nothing) Then
                FileOpenStream.Close()
            End If
        End Try
    End If
End Sub

And my ASP.NET MVC application serves it up for download at a web site with FileStreamResult()...

Public Class ZackFileController
    Inherits System.Web.Mvc.Controller

    Function Display(ByVal id As Guid) As FileStreamResult
        Dim db As New EfrDotOrgEntities
        Dim Model As ZackFile = (From z As ZackFile In db.ZackFile _
                                Where z.Id = id _
                                Select z).First
        Dim ByteArray As Byte() = Model.ImageData
        Dim FileStream As System.IO.MemoryStream = New System.IO.MemoryStream(ByteArray)
        Dim ContentType As String = ?????
        Dim f As New FileStreamResult(FileStream, ContentType)
        f.FileDownloadName = Model.FileName
        Return f
    End Function

End Class

But FileStreamResult() needs a content type string. How do I know the correct content type of my file?

Answer 1

I made a C# helper class based on Zacks response.

/// <summary>
/// Helps with Mime Types
/// </summary>
public static class MimeTypesHelper
{
    /// <summary>
    /// Returns the content type based on the given file extension
    /// </summary>
    public static string GetContentType(string fileExtension)
    {
        var mimeTypes = new Dictionary<String, String>
            {
                {".bmp", "image/bmp"},
                {".gif", "image/gif"},
                {".jpeg", "image/jpeg"},
                {".jpg", "image/jpeg"},
                {".png", "image/png"},
                {".tif", "image/tiff"},
                {".tiff", "image/tiff"},
                {".doc", "application/msword"},
                {".docx", "application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document"},
                {".pdf", "application/pdf"},
                {".ppt", "application/vnd.ms-powerpoint"},
                {".pptx", "application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.presentationml.presentation"},
                {".xlsx", "application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.spreadsheetml.sheet"},
                {".xls", "application/vnd.ms-excel"},
                {".csv", "text/csv"},
                {".xml", "text/xml"},
                {".txt", "text/plain"},
                {".zip", "application/zip"},
                {".ogg", "application/ogg"},
                {".mp3", "audio/mpeg"},
                {".wma", "audio/x-ms-wma"},
                {".wav", "audio/x-wav"},
                {".wmv", "audio/x-ms-wmv"},
                {".swf", "application/x-shockwave-flash"},
                {".avi", "video/avi"},
                {".mp4", "video/mp4"},
                {".mpeg", "video/mpeg"},
                {".mpg", "video/mpeg"},
                {".qt", "video/quicktime"}
            };

        // if the file type is not recognized, return "application/octet-stream" so the browser will simply download it
        return mimeTypes.ContainsKey(fileExtension) ? mimeTypes[fileExtension] : "application/octet-stream";
    }
}

You might, of course, want to keep the mimeTypes alive for future queries. This is just a starting point.