Asp.net Core: jQuery ajax file upload in Razor Pages [without form submit]

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Upload file using jQuery ajax in Asp.Net Core: In any web application uploading file is a very common feature. So here in this article, we are going to learn how using IFormFile we can upload files in Asp.net Core 3.1 also without using form tag, by just making an ajax post request on file selection i.e.(on input change event). 

Well, there was one requirement, where I have to upload files on input selection, and without a form tag and no submit button. I didn't find any article on this. So I just tried something simple and it's worked for me and hence sharing here a complete article on it.

What is IFormFile?

IFormFile is an interface that is introduced in Asp.net Core 1.0. IFormFile interface is used to send files in the HTTP request. To use IFormFile we need to add namespace Microsoft.AspNetCore.Http in our PageModel.

IFormFile provides us useful properties like FileName, Length ,ContentType, ContentDisposition etc. It has methods as CopyTo(), CopyToAsync() which we going to use further in this article to save uploaded files. 

Note: At the time I write this article, I have selected Asp.net Core 3.1 version.

Step to upload file in asp.net core

  • Add HTML markup on the razor page.
  • Server-side: code to save the image using IFormFile.
  •  jQuery Ajax call to upload a file on the server.

Output:

Add HTML markup on the razor page.

First, we create a new Asp.net Core project, and open Index.cshtml which is the default page of our application. Now we simply add the input file tag and a button tag (optional) on our razor page.  

So finally our Razor page markup looks like as written below:

 <div class="row">       
	<h2>Upload file using jQuery ajax in Asp.net Core Razor Pages</h2>
   
	<div class=" form-group  text-center offset-3">
		<div class="custom-file">
			<input type="file" id="fileUpload" class="fileUpload">
			<button id="btnUpload" class="btn btn-success">Upload</button>
		</div>
	</div>
</div> 

Server-side: Code to save the image using IFormFile

In asp.net core all static files are stored in wwwroot folder. So first, we create a folder name as mediaUpload under the wwwroot folder, where all our files get uploaded.

As we need to access the wwwroot folder, hence we have to inject IWebHostEnvironment on razor PageModel.

Next, we add OnPostMyUploader() method, which handles the jQuery ajax post request. Our PageModel code looks like as written below:

 public class IndexModel : PageModel
{        
	private readonly IWebHostEnvironment webHostEnvironment;
	
	public IndexModel(IWebHostEnvironment webHostEnvironment)
	{
		this.webHostEnvironment = webHostEnvironment;
	}

	public IActionResult OnPostMyUploader(IFormFile MyUploader)
	{
		if (MyUploader != null)
		{
			string uploadsFolder = Path.Combine(webHostEnvironment.WebRootPath, "mediaUpload");
			string filePath = Path.Combine(uploadsFolder, MyUploader.FileName);
			using (var fileStream = new FileStream(filePath, FileMode.Create))
			{
				MyUploader.CopyTo(fileStream);
			}
			return new ObjectResult(new { status = "success" });
		}
		return new ObjectResult(new { status = "fail" });

	}
} 

To protect against Cross-site Request Forgery (XSRF, also called CSRF) attacks, we will add AddAntiforgery()  under the ConfigureServices method of our Startup.cs file. Code as below:

public void ConfigureServices(IServiceCollection services)
{
	services.AddAntiforgery(o => o.HeaderName = "XSRF-TOKEN");
	services.AddControllersWithViews();
	services.AddRazorPages();
} 

As we are not using a form tag, so we need to add @Html.AntiForgeryToken() on our Razor Page, which generates a random token value in a hidden field.

jQuery Ajax: Create an ajax post request to upload files.

Here on file change event we create an object of FormData() and append files to it. Next, we make a post request to send those files.

Also at beforeSend, we added a request header with __RequestVerificationToken value, this is a hidden field that is auto-generated by  @Html.AntiForgeryToken().

The final js code to make an ajax request to upload file in asp.net core looks like as written below: 

 $("#fileUpload").on('change', function () {
var files = $('#fileUpload').prop("files"); var url = "/Index?handler=MyUploader"; formData = new FormData(); formData.append("MyUploader", files[0]); jQuery.ajax({ type: 'POST', url: url, data: formData, cache: false, contentType: false, processData: false, beforeSend: function (xhr) { xhr.setRequestHeader("XSRF-TOKEN", $('input:hidden[name="__RequestVerificationToken"]').val()); }, success: function (repo) { if (repo.status == "success") { alert("File : " + repo.filename + " is uploaded successfully"); } }, error: function() { alert("Error occurs"); } }); }); // If you want to upload file on button click, then use below button click event $("#btnUpload").on('click',function(){ // add jQuery ajax code to upload });

Note: Make sure processData and contentType property is set as false.

Output:


Conclusion: Using IFromfile and jQuery ajax we were able to upload files on the server. Also for security reasons to protect from CSRF attacks, we added AddAntiforgery in our startup.cs file.

Other Resource:

You can also read:

Thank you for reading, pls keep visiting this blog and share this in your network. Also, I would love to hear your opinions down in the comments.

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