How to open UNC directory which residing into network shared location from aspx page

It is not possible to directly open a UNC path from a web application due to security restrictions. Browsers do not allow access to the local file system for security reasons.

One solution would be to create a network share on the web server that points to the UNC path and then use server-side code to read the contents of the directory and return it to the client. You can use ASP.NET or any other server-side scripting language to achieve this.

Here is an example of how to read the contents of a directory in ASP.NET using C#:

string directoryPath = @"\azurefile1\hdcshared\Benedict Insurance Letters\EmailLetters\Original\Requirements"; string[] files = Directory.GetFiles(directoryPath);

This code will return an array of file names in the specified directory. You can then use this information to display a list of files to the user.

Alternatively, you can use a third-party file manager like FileRun or FileManager to achieve this functionality. These tools have a web interface and can be configured to access files on a network share.

As others pointed out, you can't launch a windows file explorer on the "client" side computer. As pointed out, when you launch a windows file explorer, it launches on the server side - not the users computer (running a browser). However, you can certainly build your own "file" page in asp.net, and "display" the files in a gridview, or listview. And, you can even say drop in a treeview, and "fake" a file like explorer. So, say we drop in a treeview control into our page. So, we have this markup (I used the "auto format", so it will setup the icons automatic for you. So, this markup:

    <h3 id="fileHead" runat="server"></h3>
    <asp:TreeView ID="TreeView1" runat="server" ImageSet="XPFileExplorer" 
        NodeIndent="15" OnTreeNodeExpanded="TreeView1_TreeNodeExpanded1" >
        <HoverNodeStyle Font-Underline="True" ForeColor="#6666AA" />
        <NodeStyle Font-Names="Tahoma" Font-Size="8pt" ForeColor="Black"
            HorizontalPadding="2px" NodeSpacing="0px" VerticalPadding="2px" />
        <ParentNodeStyle Font-Bold="False" />
        <SelectedNodeStyle BackColor="#B5B5B5" Font-Underline="False" 
            HorizontalPadding="0px" VerticalPadding="0px" />
    </asp:TreeView>

So, I just dragged + dropped in a treeview. And the code is quite easy - and it not even recursive (it does not help for this type of problem). So, my code looks like this:

    Dim sRoot As String = "c:\SERVER01"

    Public Class MyFolder
        Public MyFiles As FileInfo()
        Public MyFolders As DirectoryInfo()
    End Class

    Protected Sub Page_Load(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles Me.Load

        If Not IsPostBack Then
            fileHead.InnerText = sRoot
            Dim MyFiles As MyFolder = GetFiles(sRoot)
            LoadTreeFiles(sRoot, MyFiles, "", Nothing)
        End If

    End Sub

So, above is the page load. And then the additional code on that page is this:

    Public Function GetFiles(sRootFolder) As MyFolder

        Dim MyDir As New DirectoryInfo(sRootFolder)
        Dim cMyFolder As New MyFolder

        cMyFolder.MyFolders = MyDir.GetDirectories("*.*", SearchOption.TopDirectoryOnly)
        cMyFolder.MyFiles = MyDir.GetFiles("*.*", SearchOption.TopDirectoryOnly)

        Return cMyFolder

    End Function


    Sub LoadTreeFiles(fRootL As String,
                      lParent As MyFolder,
                      sParentID As String,
                      tTreeNode As TreeNode)

        ' add folders if any
        For Each sFolder As DirectoryInfo In lParent.MyFolders
            Dim child As New TreeNode
            child.Text = sFolder.Name
            child.Value = sFolder.FullName
            child.Expanded = False
            child.PopulateOnDemand = True
            child.ShowCheckBox = False

            If sParentID = "" Then
                TreeView1.Nodes.Add(child)
            Else
                tTreeNode.ChildNodes.Add(child)
            End If
        Next
        ' now any files
        For Each sFile As FileInfo In lParent.MyFiles

            Dim child As New TreeNode
            child.Text = sFile.Name
            child.Value = sFile.FullName
            child.Expanded = False
            child.ShowCheckBox = True
            child.PopulateOnDemand = False

            If sParentID = "" Then
                TreeView1.Nodes.Add(child)
            Else
                tTreeNode.ChildNodes.Add(child)
            End If
        Next

    End Sub

    Protected Sub TreeView1_TreeNodeExpanded1(sender As Object, e As TreeNodeEventArgs) Handles TreeView1.TreeNodeExpanded

        Dim child As TreeNode = e.Node
        Dim dtChild As MyFolder = GetFiles(child.Value)

        LoadTreeFiles(child.Value, dtChild, child.Text, child)

    End Sub

Now, about is the "max" amount of code I would dare post here. Not too much, and apologies if this posting has too much code. So, now, the result looks like this: