Verifying file download with Selenium - html

Question

I need to use selenium to verify a download. I need to click on the download file link and check that it is downloadable or not. (Means download is starting or not)
I need to create a simple HTML script for this. But as Selenium does not recognize the 'Save As' dialog box for file download, I am not able to proceed.
Is there any solution within Selenium for this. I cannot use any other 3rd party tool as this is a part of centralized UI testing script.
Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

My solution (in C#) is get the Url of the file to download and any cookie and make the request using WebClient:
var testLink = seleniumDriver.FindElement(By.LinkText("Link to file"));
var pdfHref = testLink.GetAttribute("href");
var manage = seleniumDriver.Manage();
var cookies = manage.Cookies.AllCookies;
using (var wc = new WebClient())
{
foreach (var cookie in cookies)
{
var cookieText = cookie.Name + "=" + cookie.Value;
wc.Headers.Add(HttpRequestHeader.Cookie, cookieText);
}
var fileResult = wc.DownloadData(new Uri(pdfHref));
// or use wc.DownloadString or wc.DownloadFile
// Do any test required
}