C# WebClient download file to absolute path

user_12560753 0
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I'm working with ASP.NET Core and try to download a file to an absolute path.

But the problem I have is that the file always gets downloaded to the project directory and the filename itself gets the name of the whole path.

My Code:

string path = @"C:\Users\User\file.txt";
string url = "https://example.com/file.txt";
using (var client = new WebClient())
{
    client.DownloadFile(url, path);
}

With this code the file gets then saved in the project folder with the file name C:\Users\User\file.txt, instead of being saved in the directory C:\Users\User with the file name file.txt.

The backslashes and the colon get replaced with some special characters, because they are not allowed in the filename.

webclient c#
1 Answers

Update

This worked for me:

using (WebClient client = new WebClient()) {
    client.DownloadFile("https://localhost:5001/", @"D:\file.html");
}

According to this and other answers, your absolute path should work. Are you certain your path is formatted correctly and the destination folder exists?

Original Answer

Use this if all else fails, since saving to a valid folder should work.

WebClient.DownloadFile will download to the location of the current application (specified by Application.Startup) for a relative path. From the docs:

Parameters

address Uri
The URI specified as a String, from which to download data.

fileName String
The name of the local file that is to receive the data.

If you are going to use WebClient, you will need to move the file after you have downloaded it, e.g.

// Download to a local file.
using (var client = new WebClient())
{
    client.DownloadFile(url, fileName);
}

// Get the full path of the download and the destination folder.
string fromPath = Path.Combine(Application.StartupPath, fileName);
string toPath = Path.Combine(destinationFolder, fileName);

// Move the file.
File.Move(fromPath, toPath);
user_67898160
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