Download CSV file to local Download's folder - php

I have a php file which converts the form data to csv format and then it should get downloaded automatically to the user's local download folder.
$time = time();
$filename = 'exceldownloads/myreport_'.$time.'.csv';
$file = fopen($filename,'w');
fputcsv($file,$rowexcel);
The above code works fine and stores the csv file in the specified folder in server. But my requirement is to download it to a local folder. I have seen many solutions to the above problem, but they are working only if we know the local destination folder. However, My requirement is to make it downloadable to the end-user local download's folder (whose download location Im unaware of). Is there anyway to get it downloaded on to the end user system without specifically mentioning the destination path.

You can export the output of your web page as an attachment, which will be shown as a download to the user. You can do this by outputting appropriate headers right before you make any output to the user.
Here's an example, that creates a download of a CSV file called foo.csv:
header("Content-type: text/csv");
header("Content-Disposition: attachment;Filename=foo.csv");
After outputting the headers, you just output all of the file's data to the page content.
*Edit: * Here's a working snippet, as requested:
header("Content-type: text/csv");
header("Content-Disposition: attachment;Filename=foo.csv");
echo implode(";", $rowexcel) . "\r\n"; // you should expand this accordingly
alternatively, here is another snippet, based on your code:
$filename = 'myreport'.time().'.csv';
$f = fopen($filename,'w');
fputcsv($f,$rowexcel);
header('Content-type: application/csv');
header('Content-Disposition: attachment;filename="'.$filename.'"');
readfile($filename);
If you are not getting any download, make sure that you don't output anything before the header() calls. Also, make sure that you don't have any UTF8 BOM bytes at the beginning of your PHP file, as these can be misinterpreted for output

Related

readfile download a blank/empty file

I'm trying to use readfile to download a file from the server.
The file definitely exists and when I use the URL in browser directly it downloads the correct file as predicted.
However when I do it with the following code, it download the file with the correct filename but it is completely blank in content, and zero bytyes.
I am wondering if this code is in fact incorrect and it is instead creating a new file, which of course would be blank.
function downloadFile($filename){
$downloadroot = 'http://my.url.co.uk/exports/'.$filename.'.csv';
header('Content-Type: application/csv');
header('Content-Disposition: attachment; filename='.$filename.'.csv');
header('Pragma: no-cache');
readfile("$downloadroot");
}
What would be the cause of this? Is there an alternative way to download files from a URL without having to create some sort of "save target as" link?
You could use file_get_contents() see http://php.net/file_get_contents for the full details.
Or if it's only csv's you're trying to read:
http://php.net/manual/en/function.fgetcsv.php

PHP Postgtres Generate CSV File for Download

I have a postgresql database table and using PHP for the backend. On the user interface, I provide users with a way of generating reports. What I want to do is that when a user wishes to generate a report, a CSV file should be provided for download.
I already know how to generate a CSV file for results of a query, but now in this case I don't want the file to be saved on disk. Instead, it should be downloaded by the browser.
You simply need to provide a page for download...
#downloadCSV.php?reportID=1
header('Content-Type: text/plain');
header('Content-Disposition: attachment; filename="yourfile.csv"');
// do your postgresql query and put the result into $csv
echo $csv;
In this way you don't have to create a real file on your server
The second header Content-Disposition: attachment; forces the browser to download a file instead to show the content in a page

Rename a file with PHP right before it downloads without saving it to the server?

I have an Adobe Illustrator file (AI) that we currently have a link to on a website which then downloads the file to your computer.
The link looks something like this...
http://domain.com/crm/index.php?entryPoint=fileupload_download&id=22440435-e8ee-bd6f-7612-533b2cd7690f&field=fuaifile_c&type=D1_Designs
What I need to do is rename this file as it downloads.
So I am asking if it is possible to pass this download through another PHP file right before it downloads which would allow me to change the filename on the fly that the user downloads. I cannot change the filename on the server but when it downloads I would like to be able to add some ID numbers to the filename on the fly if this is possibble? Any ideas how to accomplish this without having to resave the image on the server with a new name?
What you are looking for is the Content-Disposition header, as specified in RFC 2183:
Content-Disposition: attachment; filename=example.ai
You can set this header using the PHP header() function.
It's ugly, and assumes these aren't "large" files that would exceed your memory_limit, but
$data = file_get_contents($original_url);
header('Content-disposition: attachment; filename="new name with id numbers');
header("Content-type: application/octet-stream");
echo $data;
You could always enhance this to do byte serving - suck 10k from original url, spit out 10k to user, etc...
Just set the Content-Disposition:
header('Content-Disposition: attachment; filename="downloaded.pdf"');
(Example taken from PHP docs: http://www.php.net/manual/en/function.header.php).
Adding id:
$id = generateIdFromSomewhere();
header('Content-Disposition: attachment; filename="downloaded'.$id.'.pdf"');

Force download file that's not placed on the server

I'm trying to force download a pdf file that I'm generating. I don't need the pdf file to be actually saved on the server.
So when I generate my pdf file, I get the file content. I then encode it with base64. Now the problem is that I need to force download it. I've looked all over the web, but I haven't found any search results that tells me how to do this without the file actually being placed on the site.
I've tried the following code:
header("Content-type: application/pdf");
header("Content-disposition: attachment; filename=\"invoice.pdf\"");
header("Content-Length: ".filesize($pdffile));
readfile(base64_decode($pdffile));
But, it's giving me a corrupt pdf file, (1 kb). The actual file should be around 50kb.
Any ideas, as to what I can try?
readfile trying to output content from file, but you have only data string. Try this instead:
header("Content-type: application/pdf");
header("Content-disposition: attachment; filename=\"invoice.pdf\"");
echo base64_decode($pdffile);
I also suggest rename $pdffile to $pdfcontent for even better clarification.

Make temporary Files downloadable from Website

On a webservice I'm developing, a user should be able to download his data in a HTML file. This file contains everything (including images as base64).
Now to make the user download this, I would have to create the file and save it on my webserver. Afterwards, I'd have to delete it using a cronjob, because I can't figure out when the download is complete.
Is there another way? Would it be possible to download a file to the user which does not physically exist on my webserver, but gets somehow created temporarily?
Thank you for your help!
As far as the WWW is concerned, there is no such thing as a file. There are just HTTP resources.
The server might get the data from a file, it might not.
Just output the data for the file from your PHP program. (i.e. by putting it outside <?php and ?> or using echo or any other technique that causes PHP to output something).
You need to make sure you use the right Content-Type header, but since you are using HTML, that is text/html which is the default.
You can add a Content-Disposition header if you want the user to be prompted to save their download somewhere instead of rendering the downloaded HTML in the browser window.
header("Content-Disposition: attachment; filename='foo.html'");
<?php
// We'll be outputting a PDF
header('Content-type: application/pdf');
// It will be called downloaded.pdf
header('Content-Disposition: attachment; filename="downloaded.pdf"');
// The PDF source is in original.pdf
readfile('original.pdf');
?>
From: http://php.net/manual/en/function.header.php

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