How To Read and Display Binary Data in ASP

MORE INFORMATION

Part I provides the ASP code that receives and then displays the binary file using an appropriate MIME type, and Part II shows how to create the Visual Basic 5.0 (or later) ActiveX DLL component that extends the capability of ASP to read binary data.

Part I: ASP Sample That Opens an Excel Worksheet Containing Macros

   <%
   Response.buffer = TRUE
   Response.ContentType = "application/x-msexcel"

   Dim vntStream

   Set oMyObject = Server.CreateObject("MyObject.BinRead")
   vntStream = oMyObject.readBinFile("c:\temp\tempxls.xls")

   Response.BinaryWrite(vntStream)

   Set oMyObject = Nothing

   Response.End
   %>
				

NOTE: For Acrobat files, change the MIME type by using Response.ContentType = "application/pdf". For a .gif image, use Response.ContentType = "image/gif".

Part II: The Visual Basic 5.0 ActiveX DLL (MyObject.BinRead)

To create the component that performs the binary read, perform the following steps:

1. Create a new ActiveX DLL project in Visual Basic 5.0 or later.
2. Rename the project MyObject.
3. Rename the class module BinRead.
4. Cut and paste the following code into the General Declarations section of the class module:
   

      Function readBinFile(ByVal bfilename As String) As Variant
             Dim fl As Long
             Dim FileNum As Long
             Dim binbyte() As Byte
             Dim binfilestr As String
   
             On Error GoTo errHandler
             
             FileNum = FreeFile
             Open bfilename For Binary Access Read As #FileNum
   
             fl = FileLen(bfilename)
             ReDim binbyte(fl)
   
             Get #FileNum, , binbyte
   
             Close #FileNum
   
             readBinFile = binbyte
             Exit Function
   
         errHandler:
             Exit Function
         End Function
   						

5. Save the project.
6. On the File menu click Make MyObject.dll.

If your Web server is on a separate machine from where you created the component, you need to copy the component onto the Web server and register it using RegSvr32.

To incorporate the file created in Part I into another ASP page that has text or other formatting, use a server side include statement.