Delivering Files Seamlessly: How to Enable Download and View Functionality in ASP.NET MVC

To return a file to the user for viewing or downloading in ASP.NET MVC, you can use the FileResult class. Here's an example of how you can achieve this:

public ActionResult DownloadFile()
{
    // Path to the file on the server
    string filePath = "path_to_file";

    // Determine the content type of the file
    string contentType = MimeMapping.GetMimeMapping(filePath);

    // Return the file as a FileResult
    return File(filePath, contentType);
}

In the above code, DownloadFile is an action method that returns a file to the user. You need to provide the path to the file on the server using the filePath variable. The MimeMapping.GetMimeMapping method is used to determine the appropriate content type of the file based on its extension.

The File method is then used to return the file as a FileResult. The first parameter is the file path, the second parameter is the content type, and you can include additional parameters to specify the file name, content disposition, and more.

By returning the file as a FileResult, the user's browser will handle it according to the specified content type. If the content type is known to the browser, it may display the file directly (e.g., for images or PDFs). Otherwise, it will prompt the user to save the file.

You can invoke this action method by navigating to the appropriate URL in your application, which would trigger the download or view behavior depending on the file type and the user's browser settings.