How to create and fill a ZIP file using ASP.NET?

Question

Need to dynamically package some files into a .zip to create a SCORM package, anyone know how this can be done using code? Is it possible to build the folder structure dynamically inside of the .zip as well?

Answer 1

This code on codeproject could be used in a asp.net app to achieve what you need:

http://www.codeproject.com/KB/recipes/ZipStorer.aspx

Answer 2

You could take a look at SharpZipLib. And here's a sample.

Answer 3

I have used a free component from chilkat for this: http://www.chilkatsoft.com/zip-dotnet.asp. Does pretty much everything I have needed however I am not sure about building the file structure dynamically.

Answer 4

You don't have to use an external library anymore. System.IO.Packaging has classes that can be used to drop content into a zip file. Its not simple, however. Here's a blog post with an example (its at the end; dig for it).

Answer 5

DotNetZip is nice for this. Working example

You can write the zip directly to the Response.OutputStream. The code looks like this:

    Response.Clear();
    Response.BufferOutput = false; // for large files...
    System.Web.HttpContext c= System.Web.HttpContext.Current;
    String ReadmeText= "Hello!\n\nThis is a README..." + DateTime.Now.ToString("G"); 
    string archiveName= String.Format("archive-{0}.zip", 
                                      DateTime.Now.ToString("yyyy-MMM-dd-HHmmss")); 
    Response.ContentType = "application/zip";
    Response.AddHeader("content-disposition", "filename=" + archiveName);

    using (ZipFile zip = new ZipFile())
    {
        // filesToInclude is an IEnumerable<String>, like String[] or List<String>
        zip.AddFiles(filesToInclude, "files");            

        // Add a file from a string
        zip.AddEntry("Readme.txt", "", ReadmeText);
        zip.Save(Response.OutputStream);
    }
    // Response.End();  // no! See http://stackoverflow.com/questions/1087777
    Response.Close();

DotNetZip is free.

Answer 6

Creating ZIP file "on the fly" would be done using our Rebex ZIP component.

The following sample describes it fully, including creating a subfolder:

// prepare MemoryStream to create ZIP archive within
using (MemoryStream ms = new MemoryStream())
{
    // create new ZIP archive within prepared MemoryStream
    using (ZipArchive zip = new ZipArchive(ms))
    {            
         // add some files to ZIP archive
         zip.Add(@"c:\temp\testfile.txt");
         zip.Add(@"c:\temp\innerfile.txt", @"\subfolder");

         // clear response stream and set the response header and content type
         Response.Clear();
         Response.ContentType = "application/zip";
         Response.AddHeader("content-disposition", "filename=sample.zip");

         // write content of the MemoryStream (created ZIP archive) to the response stream
         ms.WriteTo(Response.OutputStream);
    }
}

// close the current HTTP response and stop executing this page
HttpContext.Current.ApplicationInstance.CompleteRequest();