ASP.NET - Open file without showing dialog

Question

I would like to generate an ICS file (iCalendar) in my ASP.NET application and then open it automatically without showing the file dialog "Open / Save / Cancel".

This generated file would be opened by the user's default application for these ics files.

I tried this :

String sICSPath = Server.MapPath(".") + @"\Files\Test.ics";
String sFullText = File.ReadAllText(sICSPath);
sFullText = sFullText.Replace("#NAME#", "MyName");

this.Response.ContentType = "Content-Type: text/Calendar";
this.Response.AddHeader("Cache-Control", "no-cache, must-revalidate");
this.Response.AddHeader("Pragma", "no-cache");
this.Response.AddHeader("Content-Disposition", "inline; filename=calendar.ics");
this.Response.Write(sFullText);
this.Response.End();

I tried other headers like Content-Type : application/outlook or Content-Disposition : attachment; instead of Content-Disposition : inline; .... without success.

This code works to open the ICS through the dialog. But i would to open it automatically without showing this dialog.

How this could be done ?

Answer 1

You can't do that. The user's browser settings determine whether they'll see a save dialog or whether it saves directly and opens.

Imagine if it hypothetically worked as you want it to - that'd be a huge security vulnerability.