ASP.NET: Create CSV and save file on client machine

Question

Requirement: I have an ASP.NET application where a page has data displayed in gridview. This form also has a textbox which takes filepath as input, with a save button beside it. Now when the user clicks on save the csv should save it on client machine at the path the user entered.

I tried opening up a SaveAs Dialogbox using the "Content-Disposition attachment filename". But it always opens up on its default path. Is there a way to open up this SaveAs Dialog on user-specific path.

Else is there any other way of creating file on server and copying it to client machine?

Please suggest.

-Justin Samuel.

Answer 1

This cannot be done, because of security restriction. Let the user download the CSV and choose the location on his own.

Answer 2

If you are trying to force the download to always give a Save As, you should set the content-type to application/octet-stream . However, it will always be up to the user to decide where that file is saved and that is as it should be for security reasons.