Auto download the file attachment using PHPWord - php

Question

I'm trying to use PHPWord to generate word documents. And the document can be generated successfully. But there is a problem where my generated word document will be saved on the server. How can I make it available to download straight away?
Sample:
$PHPWord = new PHPWord();
//Searching for values to replace
$document = $PHPWord->loadTemplate('doc/Temp1.docx');
$document->setValue('Name', $Name);
$document->setValue('No', $No);
$document->save('php://output'); //it auto save into my 'doc' directory.
How can i link to the header to download it as follows:
header("Content-Disposition: attachment; filename='php://output'"); //not sure how to link this filename to the php://output..
Kindly advise.

Answer 1

php://output is a write-only stream, that writes to your screen (like echo).
So, $document->save('php://output'); will not save the file anywhere on the server, it will just echo it out.
Seems, $document->save, doesn't support stream wrappers, so it literally made a file called "php://output". Try using another file name (I suggest a temp file, as you just want to echo it out).
$temp_file = tempnam(sys_get_temp_dir(), 'PHPWord');
$document->save($temp_file);
In the header, the filename field is what PHP tells the browser the file is named, it doesn't have to be a name of a file on the server. It's just the name the browser will save it as.
header("Content-Disposition: attachment; filename='myFile.docx'");
So, putting it all together:
$PHPWord = new PHPWord();
//Searching for values to replace
$document = $PHPWord->loadTemplate('doc/Temp1.docx');
$document->setValue('Name', $Name);
$document->setValue('No', $No);
// // save as a random file in temp file
$temp_file = tempnam(sys_get_temp_dir(), 'PHPWord');
$document->save($temp_file);
// Your browser will name the file "myFile.docx"
// regardless of what it's named on the server
header("Content-Disposition: attachment; filename='myFile.docx'");
readfile($temp_file); // or echo file_get_contents($temp_file);
unlink($temp_file); // remove temp file

Answer 2

$objWriter = PHPWord_IOFactory::createWriter($PHPWord, 'Word2007');
$filename = 'MyFile.docx';
$objWriter->save($filename);
header('Content-Description: File Transfer');
header('Content-Type: application/octet-stream');
header('Content-Disposition: attachment; filename='.$filename);
header('Content-Transfer-Encoding: binary');
header('Expires: 0');
header('Cache-Control: must-revalidate, post-check=0, pre-check=0');
header('Pragma: public');
header('Content-Length: ' . filesize($filename));
flush();
readfile($filename);
unlink($filename); // deletes the temporary file
exit;

Answer 3

This is work for me:
$objWriter = \PhpOffice\PhpWord\IOFactory::createWriter($phpWord, 'Word2007', $download = true);
header("Content-Disposition: attachment; filename='File.docx'");
$objWriter->save("php://output");

Answer 4

now whit Ver 0.13.0
https://github.com/PHPOffice/PHPWord
<?
require_once "../include/PHPWord-develop/bootstrap.php";
$templateProcessor = new \PhpOffice\PhpWord\TemplateProcessor('template.docx');
$templateProcessor->setValue('var01', 'Sun');
$templateProcessor->setValue('var02', 'Mercury');
//#####################################################
// Save File
//#####################################################
//#####################################################
header("Content-Disposition: attachment; filename='output01.docx'");
$templateProcessor->saveAs('php://output');
//#####################################################
//#####################################################
?>

Answer 5

A simple solution for Laravel based on #user3214824 answer.
// ...
$objWriter = \PhpOffice\PhpWord\IOFactory::createWriter($PHPWord, 'Word2007');
$doc_name = 'fileName.docx';
$objWriter->save($doc_name); // saving in the public path just for testing
return response()->download(public_path($doc_name))->deleteFileAfterSend(true);

Answer 6

Sorry this came in later. I stumbled on this while trying to solve the same problem. I was able to get it working on Laravel 5 using below:
$file_dir = $template_upload_dir.DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR.'filename.docx';
$tags = array();
if (file_exists($file_dir)) {
$templateProcessor = new TemplateProcessor($file_dir);
$tags = $templateProcessor->getVariables();
$replace = array('');
$templateProcessor->setValue($tags, $replace);
$save_file_name = $fullname.'-'.$inv_code.'-'.date('YmdHis').'.docx';
$templateProcessor->saveAs($save_file_name);
return response()->download($save_file_name)->deleteFileAfterSend(true);
}
Hope it helps someone!!!

Answer 7

// Save File
$objWriter = PHPWord_IOFactory::createWriter($PHPWord, 'Word2007');
header("Content-Disposition: attachment; filename='myFile.docx'");
$objWriter->save("php://output");