PHP Force Download Causing 0 Byte Files - php

Question

I'm trying to force download files from my web server using PHP.
I'm not a pro in PHP but I just can't seem to get around the problem of files downloading in 0 bytes in size.
CODE:
$filename = "FILENAME...";
header("Content-type: $type");
header("Content-Disposition: attachment;filename=$filename");
header("Content-Transfer-Encoding: binary");
header('Pragma: no-cache');
header('Expires: 0');
set_time_limit(0);
readfile($file);
Can anybody help?
Thanks.

Answer 1

You're not checking that the file exists. Try using this:
$file = 'monkey.gif';
if (file_exists($file))
{
header('Content-Description: File Transfer');
header('Content-Type: application/octet-stream');
header('Content-Disposition: attachment; filename='.basename($file));
header('Content-Transfer-Encoding: binary');
header('Expires: 0');
header('Cache-Control: must-revalidate, post-check=0, pre-check=0');
header('Pragma: public');
header('Content-Length: ' . filesize($file));
ob_clean();
flush();
readfile($file);
exit;
}else
{
echo "File does not exists";
}
And see what you get.
You should also note that this forces a download as an octet stream, a plain binary file. Some browsers will struggle to understand the exact type of the file. If, for example, you send a GIF with a header of Content-Type: application/octet-stream, then the browser may not treat it like a GIF image. You should add in specific checks to determine what the content type of the file is, and send an appropriate Content-Type header.

Answer 2

I use the following method in phunction and I haven't had any issues with it so far:
function Download($path, $speed = null)
{
if (is_file($path) === true)
{
$file = #fopen($path, 'rb');
$speed = (isset($speed) === true) ? round($speed * 1024) : 524288;
if (is_resource($file) === true)
{
set_time_limit(0);
ignore_user_abort(false);
while (ob_get_level() > 0)
{
ob_end_clean();
}
header('Expires: 0');
header('Pragma: public');
header('Cache-Control: must-revalidate, post-check=0, pre-check=0');
header('Content-Type: application/octet-stream');
header('Content-Length: ' . sprintf('%u', filesize($path)));
header('Content-Disposition: attachment; filename="' . basename($path) . '"');
header('Content-Transfer-Encoding: binary');
while (feof($file) !== true)
{
echo fread($file, $speed);
while (ob_get_level() > 0)
{
ob_end_flush();
}
flush();
sleep(1);
}
fclose($file);
}
exit();
}
return false;
}
You can try it simply by doing:
Download('/path/to/file.ext');

Answer 3

You need to specify the Content-Length header:
header("Content-Length: " . filesize($filename));
Also, you shouldn't send a Content-Transfer-Encoding header. Both of the HTTP/1.0 and HTTP/1.1 specs state that "HTTP does not use the Content-Transfer-Encoding (CTE) field of RFC 1521".

Answer 4

This problem as same as my website project. This code I've used:
<?php
$file = $_SERVER["DOCUMENT_ROOT"].'/.../.../'.$_GET['file'];
if(!file)
{
// File doesn't exist, output error
die('file not found');
}
else
{
//$file_extension = strtolower(substr(strrchr($file,"."),1));
$file_extension = end(explode(".", $file));
switch( $fileExtension)
{
case "pdf": $ctype="application/pdf"; break;
case "exe": $ctype="application/octet-stream"; break;
case "zip": $ctype="application/zip"; break;
case "doc": $ctype="application/msword"; break;
case "xls": $ctype="application/vnd.ms-excel"; break;
case "ppt": $ctype="application/vnd.ms-powerpoint"; break;
case "gif": $ctype="image/gif"; break;
case "png": $ctype="image/png"; break;
case "jpeg":
case "jpg": $ctype="image/jpg"; break;
default: $ctype="application/force-download";
}
nocache_headers();
// Set headers
header("Pragma: public"); // required
header("Expires: 0");
header("Cache-Control: must-revalidate, post-check=0, pre-check=0");
header("Cache-Control: public"); // required for certain browsers
header("Content-Description: File Transfer");
header("Content-Type: $ctype");
header("Content-Disposition: attachment; filename=".$file.";" );
header("Content-Transfer-Encoding: binary");
header("Content-Length: ".filesize($file));
readfile($file);
}
?>
I think the problem is on the server setting like PHP setting or cache setting, but I don't have any idea to do this my opinion.

Answer 5

i am doing this to download a PDF ...
$filename = 'Application.pdf';
header("Content-Type: application/pdf");
header("Content-Disposition: attachment; filename=$filename");
echo $pdf;
i think you are missing the last row, where you actually send the file contents of whatever you have in $file.
Pablo

Answer 6

The file opened ok for me when I changed the directory to the file location.
$reportLocation = REPORTSLOCATION;
$curDir = getcwd();
chdir($reportLocation);
if (file_exists($filename)) {
header('Content-Disposition: attachment; filename="' . $filename . '"');
header('Content-Type: application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.spreadsheetml.sheet');
header('Content-Length: ' . filesize($filename));
header('Content-Transfer-Encoding: binary');
header('Cache-Control: must-revalidate');
header('Pragma: public');
ob_clean();
flush();
readfile($filename);
}
chdir($curDir);

Answer 7

The trick is to check with file_exists to confirm the correct path.
The big confusion is that for PHP paths you don't need to start with '/' to say your website start path.
'/folder/file.ext' #bad, needs to know the real full path
in php / is the website main path already, you don't need to mention it. Just:
'folder/file.ext' #relative to the / website
This will work with file_exists, header filename, readfile, etc...

Answer 8

if script work work for small files but for huge files return 0 byte file. you must increate memory_limit via php.ini
also you can add the following line before your code
ini_set('memory_limit','-1');