Zip Folder And Its Content In Windows Runtime Apps

Kishor Bikram Oli

10y12.2k16100Article

Windows Windows AppsWindows Runtime Appsmetro appsZip Folder

16 Comments

Join the conversation! Your thoughts help the community grow.

Shadman Sakib6y ago
Nice, Helped me a lot. Rather than reading byte and write, I would suggest using streams. Might be helpful for large files. var entryName = file.Path.Replace(sourceFolderPath, ""); // file.Path.Remove(0, sourceFolderPath.Length); var readmeEntry = archive.CreateEntry(entryName, CompressionLevel.Optimal); var reader = await file.OpenStreamForReadAsync(); //var buffer = WindowsRuntimeBufferExtensions.ToArray(await FileIO.ReadBufferAsync(file)); using (var entryStream = readmeEntry.Open()) { await reader.CopyToAsync(entryStream); //await entryStream.WriteAsync(buffer, 0, buffer.Length); }
- Kishor Bikram Oli6y ago
  Correct. We can use streams.
Amit Dave10y ago
Keep up the Good work!
- Kishor Bikram Oli10y ago
  Thank you sir!
Kuppurasu Nagaraj10y ago
Nice Sharing..
- Kishor Bikram Oli10y ago
  Thank you sir!
Debasis Saha10y ago
Good One..
- Kishor Bikram Oli10y ago
  Thank you sir!
Vignesh Mani10y ago
good one
- Kishor Bikram Oli10y ago
  Thank you sir!
Bhuvanesh Mohankumar10y ago
Alternative for a ZIP readers third parties assemblies
- Kishor Bikram Oli10y ago
  Yeah, and easy too. Thank you!
Rahul Kumar Saxena10y ago
Good Show
- Kishor Bikram Oli10y ago
  Thank you sir!
Gowtham Rajamanickam10y ago
good one...
- Kishor Bikram Oli10y ago
  Thank you sir!

Here are the steps,

Step 1:

Create a simple Windows Project. New Project, Visual C#, Windows 8, Windows, then click Blank App (Windows 8.1).

new

Step 2:

Let's add a button in MainPage.xaml :

A button with the Click event.

Complete MainPage.xaml code snippet is:

<Page
x:Class="ZipFolderContents.MainPage"
xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
xmlns:local="using:ZipFolderContents"
xmlns:d="http://schemas.microsoft.com/expression/blend/2008"
xmlns:mc="http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/markup-compatibility/2006"
mc:Ignorable="d">
<Grid Background="#FF5D3FE4">
<Button x:Name="btn_ZipContents" Content="Zip Folder" HorizontalAlignment="Left" Margin="451,144,0,0" VerticalAlignment="Top" Click="btn_ZipContents_Click" Height="60" Width="204"/>
</Grid>
</Page>

Step 3:

For testing purposes, we will read a folder from Documents Library, zip its content and save it in our application local folder.

So lets create a folder named ‘TestFolder’ in Documents Library. Inside the ‘TestFolder’, add some folders, text files, images, videos, etc.

file

Step 4:

For accessing Documents Library, we have to declar it in app capabilities. Right click on Package.appmanifest > View Code

In Package.appmanifest XML, update the Capabilities node with:

<Capabilities>
<Capability Name="internetClient" />
<Capability Name="documentsLibrary" />
</Capabilities>

Step 5:

Now again in the Package.appmanifest designer view, we have to add File Type Association declarations as discussed here:

Package

Step 6:

In the code behind: MainPage.xaml.cs

Update your code with this:

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Diagnostics;
using System.IO;
using System.IO.Compression;
using System.Linq;
using System.Runtime.InteropServices.WindowsRuntime;
using System.Threading.Tasks;
using Windows.Foundation;
using Windows.Foundation.Collections;
using Windows.Storage;
using Windows.UI.Popups;
using Windows.UI.Xaml;
using Windows.UI.Xaml.Controls;
using Windows.UI.Xaml.Controls.Primitives;
using Windows.UI.Xaml.Data;
using Windows.UI.Xaml.Input;
using Windows.UI.Xaml.Media;
using Windows.UI.Xaml.Navigation;
// The Blank Page item template is documented at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=234238
namespace ZipFolderContents
{
/// <summary>
/// An empty page that can be used on its own or navigated to within a Frame.
/// </summary>
public sealed partial class MainPage : Page
{
public MainPage()
{
this.InitializeComponent();
}
private async void btn_ZipContents_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
{
try
{
string appFolderPath = ApplicationData.Current.LocalFolder.Path;
StorageFolder destinationFolder = await StorageFolder.GetFolderFromPathAsync(appFolderPath);
//Gets the folder named TestFolder from Documents Library Folder
StorageFolder sourceFolder = await KnownFolders.DocumentsLibrary.GetFolderAsync("TestFolder");
//Creates a zip file named TestFolder.zip in Local Folder
StorageFile zipFile = await destinationFolder.CreateFileAsync("TestFolder.zip", CreationCollisionOption.ReplaceExisting);
Stream zipToCreate = await zipFile.OpenStreamForWriteAsync();
ZipArchive archive = new ZipArchive(zipToCreate, ZipArchiveMode.Update);
await ZipFolderContentsHelper(sourceFolder, archive, sourceFolder.Path);
archive.Dispose();
MessageDialog msg = new MessageDialog("Success");
await msg.ShowAsync();
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
Debug.WriteLine(ex.ToString());
}
}
private async Task ZipFolderContentsHelper(StorageFolder sourceFolder, ZipArchive archive, string sourceFolderPath)
{
IReadOnlyList<StorageFile> files = await sourceFolder.GetFilesAsync();
foreach (StorageFile file in files)
{
ZipArchiveEntry readmeEntry = archive.CreateEntry(file.Path.Remove(0, sourceFolderPath.Length));
byte[] buffer = WindowsRuntimeBufferExtensions.ToArray(await FileIO.ReadBufferAsync(file));
using (Stream entryStream = readmeEntry.Open())
{
await entryStream.WriteAsync(buffer, 0, buffer.Length);
}
}
IReadOnlyList<StorageFolder> subFolders = await sourceFolder.GetFoldersAsync();
if (subFolders.Count() == 0)
{
return;
}
foreach (StorageFolder subfolder in subFolders)
{
await ZipFolderContentsHelper(subfolder, archive, sourceFolderPath);
}
}
}
}

Step 7:

Run the application and click on Zip Folder button, you will get a success message if everything is OK. And ‘TestFolder.zip’ is created in: This PC, C , Users > [Your User Name] > AppData, Local, Packages, [App package name] > LocalState

That’s it.
Thanks, Happy Coding!

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