Why the filename header is incomplete if this has space in ASP.NET MVC 3?

Question

I met today an issue, it is strange for me but, maybe, not for experts in C# field.

I have a function called Download like this ( a piece of code !)

public void Download (string path){
  HttpContext.Current.Response.ContentType = "application/octet-stream";

  try {
           ....//process a 'filePath' variable using the 'path' parameter

               using ( FileStream sourceFile = new FileStream( filePath, FileMode.Open ) ) {
                 ...

                  HttpContext.Current.Response.AddHeader( "Content-Disposition", "attachment; filename=" + Path.GetFileName( filePath ) );

                  HttpContext.Current.Response.AddHeader( "Content-Length", fileSize.ToString() );

                  HttpContext.Current.Response.BinaryWrite( getContent );
               }
           ...

}

If file name mentioned and stored in path/filePath variable contains space like

PR SimpleTest.xls

then the download box contains file name like PR with nothing additional.

If that file name has NO space (like PR_SimpleTest.xls) then the header comes with PR_SimpleTest.xls and I can download as such (appears full filename with his extension).

There are solution(s) to solve issue in case when file name contains space(s) ?

Answer 1

The answer above using:

Server.UrlEncode(strFileName)

did not work for me, it resulted in a filename that was:

"My+Long+Filename.txt"

whereas the first solution using surrounding the filename with quotes produces:

"My Long Filename. txt"

which is what we want.

Answer 2

A google search for http headers spaces finds this Knowledge Base article which suggests surrounding the filename with quotes. E.g.

HttpContext.Current.Response.AddHeader(
    "Content-Disposition",
    "attachment; filename=\"" + Path.GetFileName( filePath ) + "\"");