Refresh in download script does not work - php

Question

I have this download script which works perfectly, but one the file is downloaded, I want the page to reload. But once the file is downloaded, the page just dies? It is supposed to be a secure download script so users can't see the paths of files. It's called by using a POST submission
<?php
session_start();
//Assign variables from session
$userid = $_SESSION["id"];
$email = $_SESSION['email'];
$password = $_SESSION['password'];
//Require database connection and functions
require('includes/config.php');
include('includes/functions.php');
//Check if user is logged in
if (!$userid || !$email || !$password)
{
header("Location: index.php");
}
// Usage: Download
// Path to downloadable files (will not be revealed to users so they will never know your file's real address)
$hiddenPath = "uploaded_notes/";
// VARIABLES
if (!empty($_POST['file'])){
$file_id = $_POST['file'];
$result = mysql_query("SELECT * FROM files WHERE id='$file_id'");
$row = mysql_fetch_array($result);
$file = $row['location'];
$price = $row['price'];
$result2 = mysql_query("SELECT coins FROM users WHERE id='$userid'");
$row2 = mysql_fetch_array($result2);
$coins = $row2['coins'];
$new_coins = $coins-$price;
if ($new_coins >= 0)
{
mysql_query("UPDATE users SET coins = $new_coins WHERE id='$id'");
}
else {
header("Location: dashboard.php");
die();
}
//Insert into purchases
$datetime = date("Y-m-d H:i:s");#
mysql_query("INSERT INTO purchases (userid, fileid, datetime) VALUES ('$userid', '$file_id', '$datetime')");
$file = str_replace('%20', ' ', $file);
$category = (!empty($_GET['category'])) ? $_GET['category'] . '/' : '';
} else {
header('Location: dashboard.php');
die('Hacking attempt reported.');
}
$file_real = $hiddenPath . $category . $file;
$ip = $_SERVER['REMOTE_ADDR'];
// If requested file exists
if (file_exists($file_real)){
// Get extension of requested file
$extension = strtolower(substr(strrchr($file, "."), 1));
// Determine correct MIME type
switch($extension){
case "asf": $type = "video/x-ms-asf"; break;
case "avi": $type = "video/x-msvideo"; break;
case "exe": $type = "application/octet-stream"; break;
case "mov": $type = "video/quicktime"; break;
case "mp3": $type = "audio/mpeg"; break;
case "mpg": $type = "video/mpeg"; break;
case "mpeg": $type = "video/mpeg"; break;
case "rar": $type = "encoding/x-compress"; break;
case "txt": $type = "text/plain"; break;
case "wav": $type = "audio/wav"; break;
case "wma": $type = "audio/x-ms-wma"; break;
case "wmv": $type = "video/x-ms-wmv"; break;
case "zip": $type = "application/x-zip-compressed"; break;
case "jpg": $type = "image/jpeg"; break;
default: $type = "application/force-download"; break;
}
// Fix IE bug [0]
$header_file = (strstr($_SERVER['HTTP_USER_AGENT'], 'MSIE')) ? preg_replace('/\./', '%2e', $file, substr_count($file, '.') - 1) : $file;
// Prepare headers
header("Pragma: public");
header("Expires: 0");
header("Cache-Control: must-revalidate, post-check=0, pre-check=0");
header("Cache-Control: public", false);
header("Content-Description: File Transfer");
header("Content-Type: " . $type);
header("Accept-Ranges: bytes");
header("Content-Disposition: attachment; filename=\"" . $header_file . "\";");
header("Content-Transfer-Encoding: binary");
header("Content-Length: " . filesize($file_real));
// Send file for download
if ($stream = fopen($file_real, 'rb')){
while(!feof($stream) && connection_status() == 0){
//reset time limit for big files
print(fread($stream,1024*8));
flush();
}
fclose($stream);
}
}else{
// Requested file does not exist (File not found)
echo("Requested file does not exist");
die();
}
?>
The refresh code works if I put it right before
print(fread($stream,1024*8));
But after that it does not work...

Answer 1

Downloading a file is a one time thing. You won't be able to redirect after the file is downloaded. You can try adding a refresh header before pumping out your contents, but some browsers will see that as a cancellation.
See this post for more information: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/5960895/redirect-after-download-not-working-php
You can read this post, this post, and this post for more information.
Basically, what they all boil down to is the HTTP headers. A redirect header cannot be sent after you have echoed content. On the other hand, a redirect header before echoing content will just cancel the download.
A different way you could do this would be to have a hidden iframe, and submit your request there, but I am guessing that isn't what you are wanting.