Not being prompted to download CSV file - php

I've created a custom solution in WordPress that will generate a CSV file to be downloaded by clicking a simple hyperlink, linked directly to this file. Instead of being prompted to download the file to the computer; the CSV opens in the the browser window instead.
FWIW I'm on Media Temple using a vanilla install of WordPress.

Send the proper mime type
header('Content-type: text/csv');
And use the Content-Disposition header to tell it to download: http://www.jtricks.com/bits/content_disposition.html
header('Content-Disposition: attachment; filename="mycssfile.csv"');
You always want to send the proper mime type, otherwise firewalls, anti-virus software and some browsers may have issues with it...

You can use PHP's header() function to change Content-type
header('Content-Type: application/csv');
header('Content-Disposition: attachment; filename="myFile.csv"');
The above code will force a prompt to the user for download. where myFile.csv should be replaced with the path to the file you want downloaded.

This works:
$filename = 'export.csv';
header('Content-type: application/csv');
header('Content-Disposition: attachment; filename='.$filename);
Also, I personally do not like links on my sites, I like buttons. If you want a button to do for the export function you can use the code below. I just thought I would post it because it took me a bit to figure out the first time :)
<input type="button" value="Export to CSV" onClick="window.location.href='something.php?action=your_action';"/>

You need to send the browser a MIME type of application/csv so it will offload the responsibility of handling the file to whatever the OS recommends (or user chooses).
In PHP (before any output is sent to the client):
header('Content-type: application/csv');

Related

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"');

PHP to force download breaks document

I am using the following code in a php document to force download of a pdf form since the submission works only after you have it on your local machine rather online.
It downloads the file ok but it corrupts it.
I can no longer open the pdf document.
<?php
$file_name = 'costumer.pdf';
$file_url = 'http://www.lopezi.com/forms/' . $file_name;
header('Content-Type: application/pdf');
header("Content-Transfer-Encoding: Binary");
header("Content-disposition: attachment; filename=\"".$file_name."\"");
readfile($file_url);
?>
The Content-Transfer-Encoding header shouldn't be needed in this case. Further I suspect that you have corruption in the outputted file.
Download it somewhere, open notepad, and drag the file in there. If any PHP warnings or errors were generated you will see them at the top.
Also, try to avoid the option of having more content return from the script, causing problems with the download, end with something like:
die(file_get_contents($file_url));
This way you cannot accidentally break the code easily by adding more output.

echo the contents of a File to the user but make it act as a download

I have a script where I get the contents of a file and then echo it to the screen, the problem is that it actually echos the binary file to the page, what I want if for it to act like a download where the download dialog will display.
how can I achieve this?
From the PHP header() manual:
// 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');
Change the content-type and the filename. You can user readfile over file_get_contents, but either or should work.
You use the unofficial but ubiquitously supported Content-disposition header. See the first example here. There are a few quirks in browser support for the filename.
You could also simply change the Content-type header to application/octet-stream, but then you can't suggesta a filename to the user without more complex mechanisms.
(Note: application/binary is perhaps an option that's better than application/octet-stream because "If Content-Type matches one of generic values, such as application/octet-stream [...], many browsers treat this as a permission to second-guess the value based on the aforementioned signals, and try to come up with something more specific. The rationale for this step is that some badly configured web servers fall back to these types on all returned content." Source: Google Browser Security Handbook).
You have to change the Content-Type of the HTTP response.
In "raw" PHP (ie. without use of any framework), it would look like:
header("Content-Type: application/octet-stream");
It is necessary to invoke it at the beginning of the script, before any of the data is echoed.
Thanks #Brad for the answer. i have done some modifications in it. What i found is if my content is echoed than no need to do "readfile". What i have done is.
header('Content-type: application/pdf');
header('Content-Disposition: attachment; filename="download.pdf"');
$pdf = $thirdPartyAPI->getPdf($ID);
echo $pdf;
ob_clean();
flush();
exit;

Firefox : Open XLSX file not saving file butn opening binary

I generate a file server side and I want the client to automatically open it : it's a XLSX file. Firefox just opens the file and I see the binary content of the XLSX file in the browser, but I want it to be open via a Save As... box.
It works fine in Chrome with the same code (it saves it) but not firefox...
Any ideas ?
Have a look at this - Php exec and return binary
Are you sending proper headers??
something like
header("Content-Type: application/octet-stream");
header("Content-Disposition: attachment; filename=\"yourfile.xlsx\"");
UPDATE
header('Content-Type: application/xls');
header('Content-Disposition: attachment; filename=example.xlsx');
header('Pragma: no-cache');
echo file_get_contents("/path/to/yourfile.xlsx");
UPDATE 2
Spread sheet mime types
application/vnd.ms-excel [official]
application/msexcel
application/x-msexcel
application/x-ms-excel
application/vnd.ms-excel
application/x-excel
application/x-dos_ms_excel
application/xls
UPDATE 3
Regarding your javascript problem did you try using
location.href instead of window.open ??
You need to ensure you are sending this mime type as the Content-Type header:-
application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.spreadsheetml.sheet
So you need to map the .xslx extension to this mime type on the server

How to use the CSV MIME-type?

In a web application I am working on, the user can click on a link to a CSV file. There is no header set for the mime-type, so the browser just renders it as text. I would like for this file to be sent as a .csv file, so the user can directly open it with calc, excel, gnumeric, etc.
header('Content-Type: text/csv');
echo "cell 1, cell 2";
This code works as expected on my computer (Isn't that how it always is?) but does not work on another computer.
My browser is a nightly build of FF 3.0.1 (on linux). The browsers it did not work in were IE 7 and FF 3.0 (on windows)
Are there any quirks I am unaware of?
You could try to force the browser to open a "Save As..." dialog by doing something like:
header('Content-type: text/csv');
header('Content-disposition: attachment;filename=MyVerySpecial.csv');
echo "cell 1, cell 2";
Which should work across most major browsers.
You are not specifying a language or framework, but the following header is used for file downloads:
"Content-Disposition: attachment; filename=abc.csv"
With Internet Explorer you often have to specify the Pragma: public header as well for the download to function properly..
header('Pragma: public');
Just my 2 cents..
This code can be used to export any file, including csv
// application/octet-stream tells the browser not to try to interpret the file
header('Content-type: application/octet-stream');
header('Content-Length: ' . filesize($data));
header('Content-Disposition: attachment; filename="export.csv"');
I tried to use text/csv but it did not work for me after that tried different stuff and I figured out that if we use this text/plain. Now the file upload is completed. as expected. This problem was in the Yii2 file upload widget.
Example response after success.
{"files":[{"name":"unit_ids list - Sheet1.csv","type":"text/plain","size":30,"base_url":"https://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/cdn.abc.co","path":"1/g2qVy3JtyZBLaRUd8c5gMOtSyrTEwdzR.csv","url":"https://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/cdn.abc.co/1/g2qVy3JtyZBLaRUd8c5gMOtSyrTEwdzR.csv","delete_url":"/coupons/default/sheet-delete?path=1%2Fg2qVy3JtyZBLaRUd8c5gMOtSyrTEwdzR.csv"}]}

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