HttpRequest.MapPath Method

  • Reference

Definition

Namespace:
System.Web
Assembly:
System.Web.dll

Maps the virtual path in the requested URL to a physical path on the server for the current request.

Overloads

MapPath(String)

Maps the specified virtual path to a physical path.
MapPath(String, String, Boolean)

Maps the specified virtual path to a physical path.

MapPath(String)

Maps the specified virtual path to a physical path.

public:
 System::String ^ MapPath(System::String ^ virtualPath);
public string MapPath (string virtualPath);
member this.MapPath : string -> string
Public Function MapPath (virtualPath As String) As String

Parameters

virtualPath
String

The virtual path (absolute or relative) for the current request.

Returns

String

The physical path on the server specified by virtualPath.

Exceptions

HttpException

No HttpContext object is defined for the request.

Examples

The following code example uses the MapPath method to convert a virtual path to a fully qualified physical path on the server. This example has two parts:

  • An .aspx page maps the path, reads the file, and displays results of the read operation.

  • A class, UpperCaseFilterStream, that changes all characters passed through it to uppercase.

The first part of the example shows how to convert a virtual path to a fully qualified physical path using the MapPath method. This physical path is then passed to a StreamReader object, which obtains the contents of the file. The Write method is then called to display the content of the file on the page. The Filter property is used to attach a filter to the response stream that makes the text displayed to the page all uppercase.

<%@ Page Language="C#" %>
<%@ Import Namespace="System.IO" %>
<%@ import Namespace="Samples.AspNet.CS.Controls"  %>
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN"
    "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd">
<script runat="server">

    private void Page_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
    {

      // Filter the text to be rendered as all uppercase.
      Response.Filter = new UpperCaseFilterStream(Response.Filter);

      // Convert a virtual path to a fully qualified physical path.
      string fullpath = Request.MapPath("~\\TestFile.txt");

      try
      {
        // Read the contents of the file using a StreamReader.
        using (StreamReader sr = new StreamReader(fullpath))
        while (sr.Peek() >= 0)
        {
          Response.Write((char)sr.Read());
        }
        Message.Text = "Reading the file was successful.";
        
      }
      catch (Exception ex)
      {
        Message.Text = "The process failed.";
      }    
     }

</script>
<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" >
  <head>
    <title>HttpResponse.MapPath Example</title>
  </head>
  <body>
    <form id="form1" runat="server">

      <asp:Label id="Message" 
                 runat="server"/>

    </form>
  </body>
</html>

<%@ Page Language="VB" Debug="true"%>
<%@ Import Namespace="System.IO" %>
<%@ Import Namespace="Samples.AspNet.VB.Controls" %>
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN"
    "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd">
<script runat="server">
     
  Private Sub Page_Load(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As EventArgs)
      
    ' Filter the text to be rendered as all uppercase.
    Response.Filter = New UpperCaseFilterStream(Response.Filter)
    
    ' Convert a virtual path to a fully qualified physical path.
    Dim fullpath As String = Request.MapPath("~\\TestFile.txt")
    
    Try
      
      Dim sr As StreamReader = New StreamReader(fullpath)
      
      Do While sr.Peek() >= 0
        Response.Write(Convert.ToChar(sr.Read()))
      Loop
      sr.Close()
      Message.Text = "Reading the file was successful."
      
    Catch ex As Exception
      
      Message.Text = "The process failed."

    End Try

    
  End Sub

</script>
<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" >
  <head>
    <title>HttpResponse.MapPath Example</title>
  </head>
  <body>
    <form id="Form1" runat="server">

      <asp:Label id="Message" 
                 runat="server"/>

    </form>
  </body>
</html>

The second part of the example shows a class that inherits from Stream and converts all characters in a stream to uppercase. Put this code in the App_Code folder for your application.


using System;
using System.IO;
using System.Text;

namespace Samples.AspNet.CS.Controls
{

   public class UpperCaseFilterStream : Stream
   // This filter changes all characters passed through it to uppercase.
   {
      private Stream strSink;
      private long lngPosition;

      public UpperCaseFilterStream(Stream sink)
      {
          strSink = sink;
      }

      // The following members of Stream must be overriden.
      public override bool CanRead
      {
         get { return true; }
      }

      public override bool CanSeek
      {
         get { return true; }
      }

      public override bool CanWrite
      {
         get { return true; }
      }

      public override long Length
      {
         get { return 0; }
      }

      public override long Position
      {
         get { return lngPosition; }
         set { lngPosition = value; }
      }

      public override long Seek(long offset, System.IO.SeekOrigin direction)
      {
         return strSink.Seek(offset, direction);
      }

      public override void SetLength(long length)
      {
         strSink.SetLength(length);
      }

      public override void Close()
      {
         strSink.Close();
      }

      public override void Flush()
      {
         strSink.Flush();
      }

      public override int Read(byte[] buffer, int offset, int count)
      {
         return strSink.Read(buffer, offset, count);
      }

      // The Write method actually does the filtering.
      public override void Write(byte[] buffer, int offset, int count)
      {
         byte[] data = new byte[count];
         Buffer.BlockCopy(buffer, offset, data, 0, count);
         string inputstring = Encoding.ASCII.GetString(data).ToUpper();
         data = Encoding.ASCII.GetBytes(inputstring);
         strSink.Write(data, 0, count);
      }
   }
}

Imports System.IO
Imports System.Text


Namespace Samples.AspNet.VB.Controls

    Public Class UpperCaseFilterStream
        Inherits Stream

        ' This filter changes all characters passed through it to uppercase.
        Private strSink As Stream
        Private lngPosition As Long


        Public Sub New(ByVal sink As Stream)
            strSink = sink
        End Sub

        ' The following members of Stream must be overriden.  
        Public Overrides ReadOnly Property CanRead() As Boolean
            Get
                Return True
            End Get
        End Property

        Public Overrides ReadOnly Property CanSeek() As Boolean
            Get
                Return True
            End Get
        End Property

        Public Overrides ReadOnly Property CanWrite() As Boolean
            Get
                Return True
            End Get
        End Property

        Public Overrides ReadOnly Property Length() As Long
            Get
                Return 0
            End Get
        End Property

        Public Overrides Property Position() As Long
            Get
                Return lngPosition
            End Get
            Set(ByVal value As Long)
                lngPosition = Value
            End Set
        End Property

        Public Overrides Function Seek( _
        ByVal offset As Long, ByVal direction As System.IO.SeekOrigin) As Long
            Return strSink.Seek(offset, direction)
        End Function 'Seek


        Public Overrides Sub SetLength(ByVal length As Long)
            strSink.SetLength(length)
        End Sub


        Public Overrides Sub Close()
            strSink.Close()
        End Sub


        Public Overrides Sub Flush()
            strSink.Flush()
        End Sub


        Public Overrides Function Read( _
        ByVal buffer() As Byte, ByVal offset As Integer, ByVal count As Integer) As Integer
            Return strSink.Read(buffer, offset, count)
        End Function 'Read


        ' The Write method actually does the filtering.
        Public Overrides Sub Write( _
        ByVal buffer() As Byte, ByVal offset As Integer, ByVal count As Integer)

            Dim data(count) As Byte
            System.Buffer.BlockCopy(buffer, offset, data, 0, count)
            Dim inputstring As String = Encoding.ASCII.GetString(data).ToUpper()
            data = Encoding.ASCII.GetBytes(InputString)
            strSink.Write(data, 0, count)

        End Sub

    End Class

End Namespace

Remarks

Caution

The MapPath property potentially contains sensitive information about the hosting environment. The return value should not be displayed to users.

Applies to

MapPath(String, String, Boolean)

Maps the specified virtual path to a physical path.

public:
 System::String ^ MapPath(System::String ^ virtualPath, System::String ^ baseVirtualDir, bool allowCrossAppMapping);
public string MapPath (string virtualPath, string baseVirtualDir, bool allowCrossAppMapping);
member this.MapPath : string * string * bool -> string
Public Function MapPath (virtualPath As String, baseVirtualDir As String, allowCrossAppMapping As Boolean) As String

Parameters

virtualPath
String

The virtual path (absolute or relative) for the current request.

baseVirtualDir
String

The virtual base directory path used for relative resolution.

allowCrossAppMapping
Boolean

true to indicate that virtualPath may belong to another application; otherwise, false.

Returns

String

The physical path on the server.

Exceptions

HttpException

allowCrossMapping is false and virtualPath belongs to another application.

-or-

No HttpContext object is defined for the request.

Remarks

Caution

The MapPath property potentially contains sensitive information about the hosting environment. The return value should not be displayed to users.

Applies to