In this article I will explain with an example, how to upload file asynchronously with jQuery Uploadify plugin in ASP.Net using C# and VB.Net.
Note: The Uploadify plugin is a Flash based plugin and the modern browser doesn't support Flash player. Thus, we need to make use HTML5 File API.
 
 
Adding Generic Handler
You will need to add a new Generic Handler (ASHX) file using Add New Item Dialog of Visual Studio as shown below.
Asynchronous File Upload with jQuery Uploadify in ASP.Net
 
 
Building the Generic Handler for uploading the Files
The uploaded File is read from the Request.Files collection and is saved to a Folder (Directory) on Server’s Disk.
Then Name of the uploaded file is returned back to the Client in JSON format.
C#
<%@ WebHandler Language="C#" Class="Handler" %>
 
using System;
using System.IO;
using System.Net;
using System.Web;
using System.Web.Script.Serialization;
 
public class Handler : IHttpHandler
{
    public void ProcessRequest(HttpContext context)
    {
        //Check if Request is to Upload the File.
        if (context.Request.Files.Count > 0)
        {
            //Fetch the Uploaded File.
            HttpPostedFile postedFile = context.Request.Files[0];
           
            //Set the Folder Path.
            string folderPath = context.Server.MapPath("~/Uploads/");
 
            //Set the File Name.
            string fileName = Path.GetFileName(postedFile.FileName);
            
            //Save the File in Folder.
            postedFile.SaveAs(folderPath + fileName);
 
            //Send File details in a JSON Response.
            string json = new JavaScriptSerializer().Serialize(
                new
                {
                    name = fileName
                });
            context.Response.StatusCode = (int)HttpStatusCode.OK;
            context.Response.ContentType = "text/json";
            context.Response.Write(json);
            context.Response.End();
        }
    }
 
    public bool IsReusable
    {
        get
        {
            return false;
        }
    }
}
 
VB.Net
<%@ WebHandler Language="VB" Class="Handler" %>
 
Imports System
Imports System.IO
Imports System.Net
Imports System.Web
Imports System.Web.Script.Serialization
 
Public Class Handler : Implements IHttpHandler
    Public Sub ProcessRequest(ByVal context As HttpContextImplements IHttpHandler.ProcessRequest
        'Check if Request is to Upload the File.
        If context.Request.Files.Count > 0 Then
           
            'Fetch the Uploaded File.
             Dim postedFile As HttpPostedFile = context.Request.Files(0)
           
            'Set the Folder Path.
            Dim folderPath As String = context.Server.MapPath("~/Uploads/")
 
            'Set the File Name.
            Dim fileName As String = Path.GetFileName(postedFile.FileName)
           
            'Save the File in Folder.
            postedFile.SaveAs(folderPath + fileName)
           
            'Send File details in a JSON Response.
            Dim json As String = New JavaScriptSerializer().Serialize(New With {
                .name = fileName
            })
            context.Response.StatusCode = CInt(HttpStatusCode.OK)
            context.Response.ContentType = "text/json"
            context.Response.Write(json)
            context.Response.End()
        End If
    End Sub
 
    Public ReadOnly Property IsReusable() As Boolean Implements IHttpHandler.IsReusable
        Get
            Return False
        End Get
    End Property
 
End Class
 
 
HTML Markup
The HTML Markup consists of a Form with an HTML FileUpload element and a Button. Below the Form there is a Bootstrap Progress Bar for displaying the progress of the uploading File with percentage.
The Upload Button has been assigned a jQuery Click event handler. When the Upload button is clicked, an AJAX call is made to the Generic Handler using jQuery.
The data of the selected File is read into an HTML5 FormData JavaScript object and the File is uploaded using XmlHttpRequest (XHR).
A Progress event handler is attached to the XmlHttpRequest (XHR), which displays the progress of the File being uploaded using the Bootstrap Progress Bar with percentage.
Finally, the received Name of the uploaded File is displayed in an HTML SPAN element.
<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
<head runat="server">
    <title></title>
    <style type="text/css">
        body { font-familyArialfont-size10pt; }
       .progress { width:400px}
    </style>
</head>
<body>
    <form id="form1" runat="server">
        <input type="file" name="postedFile" /><input type="button" id="btnUpload" value="Upload" />
        <div class="progress" style="display: none">
            <div class="progress-bar" role="progressbar"></div>
        </div>
        <div id="lblMessage" style="color: Green"></div>
        <script type="text/javascript" src="https://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/1.8.3/jquery.min.js"></script>
        <link rel="stylesheet" href="https://maxcdn.bootstrapcdn.com/bootstrap/3.3.2/css/bootstrap.min.css" />
        <script type="text/javascript">
            $("body").on("click""#btnUpload"function () {
                $.ajax({
                    url: 'Handler.ashx',
                    type: 'POST',
                    data: new FormData($('form')[0]),
                    cache: false,
                    contentType: false,
                    processData: false,
                    success: function (file) {
                        setTimeout(function () {
                            $(".progress").hide();
                            $("#lblMessage").html("<b>" + file.name + "</b> has been uploaded.");
                        }, 1000);
                    },
                    error: function (a) {
                        $("#lblMessage").html(a.responseText);
                    },
                    failure: function (a) {
                        $("#lblMessage").html(a.responseText);
                    },
                    xhr: function () {
                        var fileXhr = $.ajaxSettings.xhr();
                        if (fileXhr.upload) {
                            $(".progress").show();
                            fileXhr.upload.addEventListener("progress"function (e) {
                                if (e.lengthComputable) {
                                    var percentage = Math.ceil(((e.loaded / e.total) * 100));
                                    $('.progress-bar').text(percentage + '%');
                                    $('.progress-bar').width(percentage + '%');
                                    if (percentage == 100) {
                                        $('.progress-bar').text('100%');
                                    }
                                }
                            }, false);
                        }
                        return fileXhr;
                    }
                });
            });
        </script>
    </form>
</body>
</html>
 
 
Web.Config Settings for uploading Large Files
Below is the Web.Config configuration for uploading files upto 2GB.
<configuration>
 <system.web>
    <compilation debug="true" targetFramework="4.5.2"/>
    <httpRuntime executionTimeout="120" maxRequestLength="2147483647"/>
    <pages controlRenderingCompatibilityVersion="4.0"/>
 </system.web>
 <system.webServer>
    <security>
      <requestFiltering>
        <requestLimits maxAllowedContentLength="2147483648"/>
      </requestFiltering>
    </security>
 </system.webServer>
</configuration>
 
 
Screenshot
Asynchronous File Upload with jQuery Uploadify in ASP.Net
 
 
Browser Compatibility

The above code has been tested in the following browsers only in versions that support HTML5.
Internet Explorer  FireFox  Chrome  Safari  Opera 

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