The code for viewing the file (get_files.aspx) is just a few lines of code.

<% @Page Language="C#" %> <% @Import Namespace="System.IO" %> <% @ Import Namespace="System.Data" %> <% @ Import Namespace="System.Data.SqlClient" %> <script runat="server"> private void Page_Load(Object sender, EventArgs e) { string sql="SELECT * FROM TestFiles WHERE ID = '" + Request.QueryString["ID"] + "'"; SqlConnection connection = new SqlConnection("server=localhost; uid=; pwd=; Database=myDB"); SqlCommand command = new SqlCommand(sql, connection); connection.Open(); SqlDataReader dr = command.ExecuteReader(); if(dr.Read()){ Response.Clear(); Response.AddHeader("Content-Type",dr["FileType"].ToString()); Response.BinaryWrite( (byte[]) dr["MyFile"] ); } dr.Close(); connection.Close(); } </script>

Pretty easy. All we need to do is get the information from our table based on the ID, and then use the methods AddHeader to set the Content-Type of the page, and then use BinaryWrite to display the file. We're also using Clear() which clears any content output from the buffer stream (just to be on the safe side) before we write the file to the browser.

BinaryWrite just writes a string of binary character data to the HTTP output stream from a buffer. Our line (byte[]) dr["MyFile"] just converts our file data to a byte array which is then sent to the user.

The only thing to remember is that the user must have an application/viewer to view the file if it is a Word document, PDF file, etc. In Part 3 we'll look at file types, like .zip and exe files, and how to better make them available for download from SQL Server.