Upload files using AngularJS and Web API in ASPNet MVC

In this article I will explain with an example, how to upload files using AngularJS and Web API in ASP.Net MVC.

This article will illustrate how to upload multiple files with the standard FileUpload element using HTML5, AngularJS and Web API in ASP.Net MVC.

Note: For beginners in ASP.Net MVC and Web API, please refer my article What is Web API, why to use it and how to use it in ASP.Net MVC.

Controller

The Controller consists of the following Action method.

Action method for handling GET operation

Inside this Action method, simply the View is returned.

public class HomeController : Controller

{

// GET: Home

public ActionResult Index()

{

return View();

}

Namespaces

You will need to import the following namespaces.

using System.IO;

using System.Net;

using System.Web.Http;

using System.Net.Http;

Web API Controller

The Web API Controller consists of the following Action method.

Action method for Handling POST operation

Inside this Action method, first the path of the Folder (Directory) is fetched.

Then, a check is performed whether Folder (Directory) exists, if not then the Folder (Directory) is created.

A FOR EACH loop is executed over the selected files using Request.Files collection and each file is saved in the Folder (Directory) named Uploads using SaveAs method of HttpPostedFile class.

Finally, an OK response is returned to the Client which confirms successful upload of the files.

public class FileAPIController : ApiController

{

[Route("api/FileAPI/UploadFiles")]

[HttpPost]

public HttpResponseMessage UploadFiles()

{

//Create the Directory.

string path = HttpContext.Current.Server.MapPath("~/Uploads/");

if (!Directory.Exists(path))

{

Directory.CreateDirectory(path);

}

//Save the Files.

foreach (string key in HttpContext.Current.Request.Files)

{

HttpPostedFile postedFile = HttpContext.Current.Request.Files[key];

postedFile.SaveAs(path + postedFile.FileName);

}

//Send OK Response to Client.

return Request.CreateResponse(HttpStatusCode.OK);

}

View

Inside the View, the following AngularJS script files are inherited.

1. angular.min.js

2. ng-file-upload.min.js

The HTML of the View consists of:

DIV – For applying ng-app and ng-controller AngularJS directives.

Note: If you want to learn more about these directives, please refer my article Introduction to AngularJS.

FileUpload – For uploading file.

The HTML INPUT FileUpload has been assigned with the following AngularJS directive.

ngf-select – For handling file uploads.

The HTML FileUpload element is assigned with the multiple property which allows user to select multiple file.

The HTML DIV also consists of an UL with LI element which is used to display the selected files name.

The LI element has been assigned with the following AngularJS directive.

ng-repeat – For repeating the element based on the length of the collection.

Note: If you want to learn more about ng-repeat directive, please refer my article AngularJS ng-repeat example: Populate (Bind) HTML Select DropDownList with Options

DIV – For displaying Progress Bar.

The HTML DIV has been assigned with the following AngularJS directive.

ng-show – For showing the elements.

Note: If you want to learn more about ng-show directive, please refer my article Simple AngularJS ng-show and ng-hide Tutorial with example

When files are selected in the HTML FileUpload element, it makes call to the UploadFiles function inside the AngularJS Controller.

Inside the UploadFiles function, the selected files are sent to the Web API Controller’s Action method using the Upload function of the ngFileUpload AngularJS module.

Finally, the Timeout function has been used which periodically checks the response of the upload and it updates the Progress Bar.

Layout = null;

}

<!DOCTYPE html>

<html>

<head>

<title>Index</title>

</head>

<body>

var app = angular.module('MyApp', ['ngFileUpload'])

app.controller('MyController', function ($scope, Upload, $timeout) {

$scope.UploadFiles = function (files) {

$scope.SelectedFiles = files;

if ($scope.SelectedFiles && $scope.SelectedFiles.length) {

Upload.upload({

url: "/api/FileAPI/UploadFiles",

data: {

files: $scope.SelectedFiles

}

}).then(function (response) {

$timeout(function () {

$scope.Result = response.data;

});

}, function (response) {

if (response.status > 0) {

var errorMsg = response.status + ': ' + response.data;

alert(errorMsg);

}

}, function (evt) {

var element = angular.element(document.querySelector('#dvProgress'));

$scope.Progress = Math.min(100, parseInt(100.0 * evt.loaded / evt.total));

element.html('<div style="width: ' + $scope.Progress + '%">' + $scope.Progress + '%</div>');

});

}

};

});

</script>

<hr />

Files:

</div>

</body>

</html>

Permitting uploading Large files in the Web.Config file

In order to upload large files, you will need to add the following settings in the Web.Config file as shown below.

1. Set the following setting in the system.web section of the Web.Config file. The executionTimeout value is set to 540 seconds while the maxRequestLength is set to the maximum size of the files in Bytes.

2. Set the following setting in the system.webServer section of the Web.Config file. The maxAllowedContentLength is set to the maximum size of the files in Bytes.