Open (view) all type of files with associate program in asp.net using C#, VB.net

In this article I am going to explain how to open (view) all type of files (images, word document, excel, PDF etc.) with associate program in asp.net using C#, VB.net.

In the previous article I have explained how to display image icons according tofile extensions in asp.net, how to do sorting in gridview data control bycolumn header in ascending and descending order code behind and how to validatethe email address of users in MVC application using Data Annotation.

Description:

I am displaying the filename with their path in Gridview.I want to open/view file on click. To implement this requirement we can use the Procees class. It provides access to local and remote processes and enables you to start and stop local system processes.

Implementation:

HTML Markup:

<asp:ScriptManager ID="ScriptManager1" runat="server">

        </asp:ScriptManager>

        <asp:UpdatePanel ID="UpdatePanel1" runat="server">

        <ContentTemplate>

        <asp:GridView ID="GridView1" runat="server" AutoGenerateColumns="False" Width="25%"

            onrowdatabound="GridView1_RowDataBound"

            onrowcommand="GridView1_RowCommand" CellPadding="4" ForeColor="#333333"

            GridLines="None">

            <AlternatingRowStyle BackColor="White" ForeColor="#284775" />

        <Columns>

        <asp:BoundField DataField="FileName" HeaderText="File Name" >

            <ItemStyle HorizontalAlign="Justify" />

            </asp:BoundField>

        <asp:TemplateField HeaderText="View File">

                    <ItemTemplate>

                    <img id="fileImage" runat="server"/>

                        <asp:HiddenField ID="HiddenField1" runat="server" Value='<%# Eval("Filepath") %>' />

                        <asp:LinkButton ID="lnkFile" runat="server" CommandArgument='<%# Eval("Filepath") %>' CommandName="ViewFile" Text='<%# Eval("FileName") %>' ></asp:LinkButton>

                    </ItemTemplate>

                    <ItemStyle HorizontalAlign="Left" />

            </asp:TemplateField>

        </Columns>

            <EditRowStyle BackColor="#999999" />

            <FooterStyle BackColor="#5D7B9D" Font-Bold="True" ForeColor="White" />

            <HeaderStyle BackColor="#5D7B9D" Font-Bold="True" ForeColor="White" />

            <PagerStyle BackColor="#284775" ForeColor="White" HorizontalAlign="Center" />

            <RowStyle BackColor="#F7F6F3" ForeColor="#333333" />

            <SelectedRowStyle BackColor="#E2DED6" Font-Bold="True" ForeColor="#333333" />

            <SortedAscendingCellStyle BackColor="#E9E7E2" />

            <SortedAscendingHeaderStyle BackColor="#506C8C" />

            <SortedDescendingCellStyle BackColor="#FFFDF8" />

            <SortedDescendingHeaderStyle BackColor="#6F8DAE" />

        </asp:GridView>

        </ContentTemplate>

        </asp:UpdatePanel>

Import namespace

C# Code:

using System.Configuration;

using System.Data.SqlClient;

using System.Data;

using System.IO;

using System.Web.UI.HtmlControls;

using System.Diagnostics;

VB.net Code:

Imports System.Data

Imports System.Data.SqlClient

Imports System.Configuration

Imports System.IO

Imports System.Web.UI.HtmlControls

Imports System.Diagnostics

Bind the gridview

Create a method to bind the gridview and call it on page load.

C# Code:

SqlConnection con = new SqlConnection(ConfigurationManager.ConnectionStrings["connection"].ToString());

    DataTable dt;

    protected void Page_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)

    {

        if (!IsPostBack)

        {

            Bindgrid();

        }

    }

    public void Bindgrid()

    {

        try

        {

            SqlDataAdapter adp = new SqlDataAdapter("Select * from Tb_File", con);

            dt = new DataTable();

            adp.Fill(dt);

            GridView1.DataSource = dt;

            GridView1.DataBind();

        }

        catch (Exception ex)

        {

        }

    }

VB.net Code:

Dim con As New SqlConnection(ConfigurationManager.ConnectionStrings("connection").ToString())

    Dim dt As New DataTable

    Protected Sub Page_Load(sender As Object, e As System.EventArgs) Handles Me.Load

        If Not IsPostBack Then

            Bindgrid()

        End If

    End Sub

    Public Sub Bindgrid()

        Try

            Dim adp As New SqlDataAdapter("Select * from Tb_File", con)

            dt = New DataTable

            adp.Fill(dt)

            GridView1.DataSource = dt

            GridView1.DataBind()

        Catch ex As Exception

        Finally

            dt.Dispose()

        End Try

    End Sub

Get file icon and show
Write the below code on RowDataBound of Gridview.

C# Code:

protected void GridView1_RowDataBound(object sender, GridViewRowEventArgs e)

    {

        if (e.Row.RowType == DataControlRowType.DataRow)

        {

         

            LinkButton linkbtn = (LinkButton)e.Row.FindControl("lnkFile");

            HiddenField hf = (HiddenField)e.Row.FindControl("HiddenField1");

            if (!String.IsNullOrEmpty(linkbtn.Text))

            {

                HtmlImage image = (HtmlImage)e.Row.FindControl("fileImage");

                image.Attributes.Add("src", GetIconForFile(hf.Value));

            }

        }

    }

    private string GetIconForFile(string fileText)

    {

        string extension = Path.GetExtension(fileText);

        extension = extension.Trim('.').ToLower();

        return "~/fileicons/" + extension + ".png";

    }

VB.net Code:

  Protected Sub GridView1_RowDataBound(sender As Object, e As System.Web.UI.WebControls.GridViewRowEventArgs) Handles GridView1.RowDataBound

        If e.Row.RowType = DataControlRowType.DataRow Then

            Dim linkbtn As LinkButton = DirectCast(e.Row.FindControl("lnkFile"), LinkButton)

            Dim hf As HiddenField = DirectCast(e.Row.FindControl("HiddenField1"), HiddenField)

            If Not [String].IsNullOrEmpty(linkbtn.Text) Then

                Dim image As HtmlImage = DirectCast(e.Row.FindControl("fileImage"), HtmlImage)

                image.Attributes.Add("src", GetIconForFile(hf.Value))

            End If

        End If

    End Sub

    Private Function GetIconForFile(fileText As String) As String

        Dim extension As String = Path.GetExtension(fileText)

        extension = extension.Trim("."c).ToLower()

        Return (Convert.ToString("~/fileicons/") & extension) + ".png"

    End Function

Open File with appropriate program

Write the below given code on Rowcommand event of GRidview.

C# Code:

  protected void GridView1_RowCommand(object sender, GridViewCommandEventArgs e)

    {

        if (e.CommandName == "ViewFile")

        {

            string fileName = Server.MapPath(e.CommandArgument.ToString());          

            ProcessStartInfo processinfo = new ProcessStartInfo();

            processinfo.FileName = fileName;

            processinfo.UseShellExecute = true;

            processinfo.WindowStyle = ProcessWindowStyle.Maximized;

            Process.Start(processinfo);

        }

    }

VB.net Code:

Protected Sub GridView1_RowCommand(sender As Object, e As System.Web.UI.WebControls.GridViewCommandEventArgs) Handles GridView1.RowCommand

        If e.CommandName = "ViewFile" Then

            Dim fileName As String = Server.MapPath(e.CommandArgument.ToString())

            Dim processinfo As New ProcessStartInfo()

            processinfo.FileName = fileName

            processinfo.UseShellExecute = True

            processinfo.WindowStyle = ProcessWindowStyle.Maximized

            Process.Start(processinfo)

        End If

    End Sub

Build, run the application and test the application.