using Plupload with ASP.NET/C#

Question

UPDATE

I was able to get everything to work properly and I just wanted to post back with the updated code. I used Darin Dimitrov's suggestion on using a separate generic http handler for handling the file uploads and so this is the code I came up with for that... let me know if you have questions.

<%@ WebHandler Language="C#" Class="Upload" %>

using System;
using System.Configuration;
using System.Data;
using System.Data.SqlClient;
using System.IO;
using System.Net;
using System.Web;

public class Upload : IHttpHandler {

    public void ProcessRequest(HttpContext context) {

        /**
         * If 'newTicket' is "false", then the directory to upload to already exists and we can extract it from
         * the 'ticketID' POST parameter.
         * 
         * If 'newTicket' is "true", then this is a new Ticket submission so we need to work with a NEW directory 
         * on the server, so the ID needs to be 1 more than the total number of directories in ~/TicketUploads/
         */
        String newTicket = context.Request["newTicket"] != null ? context.Request["newTicket"] : String.Empty;
        int theID = -1;
        if (newTicket.Equals("true")) {

            // we need to calculate a new ID
            theID = getNewID(context); // calculate the new ID = # of rows
            theID++; // add 1 to make it unique
        } else if (newTicket.Equals("false")) {

            // we can just get the ID from the POST parameter
            theID = context.Request["ticketID"] != null ? Convert.ToInt32(context.Request["ticketID"]) : -1;
        } else {

            // something went wrong with the 'newTicket' POST parameter
            context.Response.ContentType = "text/plain";
            context.Response.Write("Error with 'newTicket' POST parameter.");
        }

        // if theID is negative, something went wrong... can't continue
        if (theID < 0) {
            return;
        }

        // ready to read the files being uploaded and upload them to the correct directory
        int chunk = context.Request["chunk"] != null ? int.Parse(context.Request["chunk"]) : 0;
        string fileName = context.Request["name"] != null ? context.Request["name"] : string.Empty;
        var uploadPath = context.Server.MapPath("~/TicketUploads/" + theID + "/");
        HttpPostedFile fileUpload = context.Request.Files[0];

        // if the NEW directory doesn't exist, create it
        DirectoryInfo di = new DirectoryInfo("" + uploadPath + "");
        if (!(di.Exists)) {
            di.Create();
        }

        using (var fs = new FileStream(Path.Combine(uploadPath, fileName), chunk == 0 ? FileMode.Create : FileMode.Append)) {
            var buffer = new byte[fileUpload.InputStream.Length];
            fileUpload.InputStream.Read(buffer, 0, buffer.Length);
            fs.Write(buffer, 0, buffer.Length);
        }

        context.Response.ContentType = "text/plain";
        context.Response.Write("File uploaded.");
        return;
    }
}

---

I'm trying to integrate the Plupload file uploader in ASP.NET using C#. I've read the Angry Monkeys article as well as the Marco Valsecchi blog post but I'm a little lost.

The C# that the above articles suggest is roughly similar to the following:

int chunk = Request.QueryString["chunk"] != null ? int.Parse(Request.QueryString["chunk"]) : 0;
string fileName = Request.QueryString["name"] != null ? Request.QueryString["name"] : string.Empty;

HttpPostedFile fileUpload = Request.Files[0];

using (FileStream fs = new FileStream(Server.MapPath("~/TicketUploads/" + fileName), chunk == 0 ? FileMode.Create : FileMode.Append))
{
    Byte[] buffer = new Byte[fileUpload.InputStream.Length];
    fileUpload.InputStream.Read(buffer, 0, buffer.Length);

    fs.Write(buffer, 0, buffer.Length);
    fs.Close();
}

First, I have set up the Plupload configuration as follows:

$("#plupload_container").pluploadQueue({
  runtimes: 'html5,gears,flash,silverlight,html4',
  flash_swf_url: '../plupload/js/plupload.flash.swf',
  silverlight_xap_url: '../plupload/js/plupload.silverlight.xap',
  filters: [
    { title: "Image files", extensions: "jpg,gif" },
    { title: "Zip files", extensions: "zip" },
    { title: "Document files", extensions: "doc,pdf,txt" }
  ]
});

... but I feel like I'm missing something here that will be necessary for the uploading to work.

I guess my main question is how do I call the above C# code so that the uploading can begin? I have a form on a page named SubmitRequest.aspx. Clicking 'Submit' on the form results in the following:

$('form').submit(function (e) {

  // Validate number of uploaded files
  if (uploader.total.uploaded == 0) {
    // Files in queue upload them first
    if (uploader.files.length > 0) {
      // When all files are uploaded submit form
      uploader.bind('UploadProgress', function () {
        if (uploader.total.uploaded == uploader.files.length)
          $('form').submit();
      });
      uploader.start();
    }
    e.preventDefault();
  }
});

... so the uploader starts when 'Submit' is clicked and uploads the files. Once that is done, the rest of the form is submitted. I don't understand how to link this event to the C# code that will handle the uploading to a folder TicketUploads on the server.

I apologize for the longish post, but I would appreciate any help :)

Answer 1

Here's a full working example I wrote for you:

<%@ Page Title="Home Page" Language="C#" %>
<%@ Import Namespace="System.IO" %>
<script runat="server" type="text/c#">
    protected void Page_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
    {
        // Check to see whether there are uploaded files to process them
        if (Request.Files.Count > 0)
        {
            int chunk = Request["chunk"] != null ? int.Parse(Request["chunk"]) : 0;
            string fileName = Request["name"] != null ? Request["name"] : string.Empty;

            HttpPostedFile fileUpload = Request.Files[0];

            var uploadPath = Server.MapPath("~/TicketUploads");
            using (var fs = new FileStream(Path.Combine(uploadPath, fileName), chunk == 0 ? FileMode.Create : FileMode.Append))
            {
                var buffer = new byte[fileUpload.InputStream.Length];
                fileUpload.InputStream.Read(buffer, 0, buffer.Length);

                fs.Write(buffer, 0, buffer.Length);
            }
        }
    }
</script>
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd">
<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en">
<head id="Head1" runat="server">
    <title></title>

    <style type="text/css">@import url(css/plupload.queue.css);</style>
    <script type="text/javascript" src="http://www.google.com/jsapi"></script>
    <script type="text/javascript">
        google.load("jquery", "1.3");
    </script>
    <script type="text/javascript" src="/plupload/js/gears_init.js"></script>
    <script type="text/javascript" src="http://bp.yahooapis.com/2.4.21/browserplus-min.js"></script>
    <script type="text/javascript" src="/plupload/js/plupload.full.min.js"></script>
    <script type="text/javascript" src="/plupload/js/jquery.plupload.queue.min.js"></script>
    <script type="text/javascript">
    $(function() {
        $("#uploader").pluploadQueue({
            // General settings
            runtimes : 'gears,flash,silverlight,browserplus,html5',
            url : '/default.aspx',
            max_file_size : '10mb',
            chunk_size : '1mb',
            unique_names : true,
            // Resize images on clientside if we can
            resize : {width : 320, height : 240, quality : 90},
            // Specify what files to browse for
            filters : [
                {title : "Image files", extensions : "jpg,gif,png"},
                {title : "Zip files", extensions : "zip"}
            ],
            // Flash settings
            flash_swf_url : '/plupload/js/plupload.flash.swf',
            // Silverlight settings
            silverlight_xap_url : '/plupload/js/plupload.silverlight.xap'
        });

        // Client side form validation
        $('form').submit(function(e) {
            var uploader = $('#uploader').pluploadQueue();
            // Validate number of uploaded files
            if (uploader.total.uploaded == 0) {
                // Files in queue upload them first
                if (uploader.files.length > 0) {
                    // When all files are uploaded submit form
                    uploader.bind('UploadProgress', function() {
                        if (uploader.total.uploaded == uploader.files.length)
                            $('form').submit();
                    });
                    uploader.start();
                } else
                    alert('You must at least upload one file.');
                e.preventDefault();
            }
        });
    });
    </script>

</head>
<body>
    <form id="Form1" runat="server">
        <div id="uploader">
            <p>You browser doesn't have Flash, Silverlight, Gears, BrowserPlus or HTML5 support.</p>
        </div>
    </form>
</body>
</html>

As you will see in this example files are uploaded to the same page called default.aspx. Notice that parameters such as chunk and name are POSTed so you shouldn't use Request.QueryString to read them but Request["chunk"] directly as this will look at the POST body as well. You should also make sure that the TicketUploads folder exists on the server at the root.

In this example the same page default.aspx is used for showing the upload form and handling the uploads. In a real world application this is not something I would do. I would recommend you using a separate script which will handle the file uploads such as a generic http handler (upload.ashx).

Finally you will notice that I have used some default settings that you might wish to modify and reconfigure the plugin to fit your needs. I just took the settings from the documentation.

---

UPDATE:

And since I recommended using a separate generic http handler for handling the file uploads here's how it might look :

using System.IO;
using System.Web;

public class Upload : IHttpHandler
{
    public void ProcessRequest(HttpContext context)
    {
        int chunk = context.Request["chunk"] != null ? int.Parse(context.Request["chunk"]) : 0;
        string fileName = context.Request["name"] != null ? context.Request["name"] : string.Empty;

        HttpPostedFile fileUpload = context.Request.Files[0];

        var uploadPath = context.Server.MapPath("~/TicketUploads");
        using (var fs = new FileStream(Path.Combine(uploadPath, fileName), chunk == 0 ? FileMode.Create : FileMode.Append))
        {
            var buffer = new byte[fileUpload.InputStream.Length];
            fileUpload.InputStream.Read(buffer, 0, buffer.Length);

            fs.Write(buffer, 0, buffer.Length);
        }

        context.Response.ContentType = "text/plain";
        context.Response.Write("Success");
    }

    public bool IsReusable
    {
        get { return false; }
    }
}

Now all that's left is to reconfigure the plugin to point to this generic handler:

...
runtimes: 'gears,flash,silverlight,browserplus,html5',
url: '/upload.ashx',
max_file_size: '10mb',
...

Answer 2

Here is a VB example of an ashx file for pluploader.

Thanks to @@Darin Dimitrov Who suggested this. Its the best solution ever with many fall backs like silverlight,flash.. etc.. its mega!

I did not find any VB examples so i converted it my self- tested and works! With chunking!

To add a ashx file to your website in VisualStudio. Right click the website

website > add new item > generic handler

This is all in one page no need for code behind. Just call this from the pluplaod plugin

<%@ WebHandler Language="VB" Class="upload" %>

Imports System
Imports System.IO
Imports System.Web


Public Class upload : Implements IHttpHandler


    Public Sub ProcessRequest(ByVal context As HttpContext) Implements IHttpHandler.ProcessRequest
        Dim chunk As Integer = If(context.Request("chunk") IsNot Nothing, Integer.Parse(context.Request("chunk")), 0)
        Dim fileName As String = If(context.Request("name") IsNot Nothing, context.Request("name"), String.Empty)

        Dim fileUpload As HttpPostedFile = context.Request.Files(0)

        Dim uploadPath = context.Server.MapPath("~/uploads")
        Using fs = New FileStream(Path.Combine(uploadPath, fileName), If(chunk = 0, FileMode.Create, FileMode.Append))
            Dim buffer = New Byte(fileUpload.InputStream.Length - 1) {}
            fileUpload.InputStream.Read(buffer, 0, buffer.Length)

            fs.Write(buffer, 0, buffer.Length)
        End Using

        context.Response.ContentType = "text/plain"
        context.Response.Write("Success")
    End Sub

    Public ReadOnly Property IsReusable() As Boolean Implements IHttpHandler.IsReusable
        Get
            Return False
        End Get
    End Property

End Class