There are two basic ways: either you provide a direct link to the item (as a full URL) in the same way that this is a link:
http://www.codeproject.com/App_Themes/Std/Img/logo250x135.gif[
^]
The other route is more secure, and requires the use of an ASPX control:
<%@ Page Language="C#" AutoEventWireup="true" CodeFile="wm5ftdl.aspx.cs" Inherits="wm5ftdl" %>
<%
string guid = Request.QueryString["file"];
string fileName = "ERROR";
byte[] data = new byte[] { 0, 0, 0, 0 };
string strCon = System.Web.Configuration.WebConfigurationManager.ConnectionStrings["DownloadDatabase"].ConnectionString;
using (System.Data.SqlClient.SqlConnection con = new System.Data.SqlClient.SqlConnection(strCon))
{
con.Open();
string strcmd = "SELECT [iD] ,cn.[fileName],[description] ,[dataContent] ,[version] " +
"FROM dlContent cn " +
"WHERE cn.iD=@ID";
using (System.Data.SqlClient.SqlCommand cmd = new System.Data.SqlClient.SqlCommand(strcmd, con))
{
cmd.Parameters.AddWithValue("@ID", guid);
using (System.Data.SqlClient.SqlDataReader r = cmd.ExecuteReader())
{
if (r.Read())
{
fileName = (string) r["filename"];
data = (byte[]) r["dataContent"];
}
}
}
}
Response.Clear();
Response.AddHeader("Cache-Control", "no-cache, must-revalidate, post-check=0, pre-check=0");
Response.AddHeader("Pragma", "no-cache");
Response.AddHeader("Content-Description", "File Download");
Response.AddHeader("Content-Type", "application/force-download");
Response.AddHeader("Content-Transfer-Encoding", "binary\n");
Response.AddHeader("content-disposition", "attachment;filename=" + fileName);
Response.BinaryWrite(data);
Response.End();
%>
This code is given a file name via query string parameter, retrieves it from the database, and sends it to the user.
The page with the downloads on it just needs a link:
<a href=\"wm5ftdl.aspx?file=xxxx\" target=\"_blank\">Download human readable text</a>