File Server

Sisk provides the Sisk.Http.FileSystem namespace, which contains tools for serving static files, directory listing and file conversion. This feature allows you to serve files from a local directory, with support for range requests (audio/video streaming) and custom file processing.

Serving static files #

The easiest way to serve static files is Router.MapFileSystem. This method maps a URL prefix to a directory on disk.

using Sisk.Core.Http;
using Sisk.Core.Http.FileSystem;

// maps the root of the server to the current directory
mainRouter.MapFileSystem("/", Directory.GetCurrentDirectory());

// maps /assets to the "public/assets" folder
mainRouter.MapFileSystem(
    "/assets",
    Path.Combine(Directory.GetCurrentDirectory(), "public", "assets"));

When a request matches the route prefix, the HttpFileServerHandler will look for a file in the specified directory. If found, it will serve the file; otherwise, it will return a 404 response (or 403 if access is denied).

HttpFileServer.CreateServingRoute is still available when you need to create a Route object explicitly, but MapFileSystem is the most direct option for application code.

HttpFileServerHandler #

For more control over how files are served, you can instantiate and configure HttpFileServerHandler manually.

var fileHandler = new HttpFileServerHandler("/var/www/html");

// enable directory listing (disabled by default)
fileHandler.AllowDirectoryListing = true;

// set a custom route prefix (this will be trimmed from the request path)
fileHandler.RoutePrefix = "/public";

// register the handler under /public
mainRouter.MapFileSystem("/public", fileHandler);

Configuration #

Directory Listing #

When AllowDirectoryListing is enabled, and the user requests a directory path, Sisk will generate an HTML page listing the contents of that directory.

The directory listing includes:

• Navigation to the parent directory (..).
• List of subdirectories.
• List of files with size and last modification date.

File Converters #

File converters allow you to intercept specific file types and handle them differently. For example, you might want to transcode an image, compress a file on the fly, or serve a file using partial content (Range requests).

Sisk includes two built-in converters for media streaming:

• HttpFileAudioConverter: Handles .mp3, .ogg, .wav, .flac, .ogv.
• HttpFileVideoConverter: Handles .webm, .avi, .mkv, .mpg, .mpeg, .wmv, .mov, .mp4.

These converters enable support for HTTP Range Requests, allowing clients to seek through audio and video files.

Creating a custom converter #

To create a custom file converter, inherit from HttpFileServerFileConverter and implement CanConvert and Convert.

using Sisk.Core.Http;
using Sisk.Core.Http.FileSystem;

public class MyTextConverter : HttpFileServerFileConverter
{
    public override bool CanConvert(FileInfo file)
    {
        // apply only to .txt files
        return file.Extension.Equals(".txt", StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase);
    }

    public override HttpResponse Convert(FileInfo file, HttpRequest request)
    {
        string content = File.ReadAllText(file.FullName);
        
        // uppercase all text content
        return new HttpResponse(200)
        {
            Content = new StringContent(content.ToUpper())
        };
    }
}

Then, add it to your handler:

var handler = new HttpFileServerHandler("./files");
handler.FileConverters.Add(new MyTextConverter());