generate and download a .csv file with PHP and jQuery - php

Question

I want to generate a .csv file then download it with AJAX
Insite csv.php I have this code:
<?php
header("Content-type: text/csv");
header("Content-Disposition: attachment; filename=file.csv");
header("Pragma: no-cache");
header("Expires: 0");
$file = fopen("th.csv","r");
$list = array();
while(! feof($file))
{
$list[] = (fgetcsv($file));
}
fclose($file);
$list[] = array('name5', 'town5');
$list[] = array('name6', 'town6');
$list = array_filter($list);
outputCSV($list);
function outputCSV($list) {
$output = fopen("php://output", "w");
foreach ($list as $row) {
fputcsv($output, $row);
}
fclose($output);
}
?>
so when I'm going to csv.php it makes me download the csv file.
Then inside test.php I have this jQuery code:
$(document).on('click', '#listCSV', function() {
var el = $(this),
csv = el.attr('csv');
$.ajax({
type: 'POST',
url: 'csv.php',
data: {
listCSV: csv
},
success: function(data, textStatus, jqXHR) {
el.html($(data));
}
});
});
But when I'm clicking on #listCSV nothing happens, nothing is being downloaded
Any idea how can I download the csv file when clicking on #listCSV?

Answer 1

generate the csv file and store it in a directory.
say:
root/csv/file_timestamp.csv
when the file is generated just use the file_timestamp.csv location on you're link.
so if your file_timestamp.csv is can be accessed via
http://project/csv/file_timestamp.csv
then just link it to a regular link:
<a href="http://project/csv/file_timestamp.csv"/>download csv</a>
Note:
if you're not expecting multiple users to generate csv files then just make a temporary file then you can set the link as static. if not just delete every file in the csv folder every 3mins

Answer 2

You need to change header information to output it as download :
$out = fopen("php://output", 'w');
$emails = array();
header('Content-Type: application/download');
header('Content-Disposition: attachment; filename="'.$this->filename.'.csv"');
foreach($contacts as $adr) $emails[] = $adr->getEmail();
fputcsv($out, $emails);
fclose($out);
exit;