How Can I Force a File Download Using PHP?

Enforcing File Downloads with PHP

When navigating to a web page, how can we force a file download using PHP?

Solution:

PHP provides a function called readfile() for this purpose. By configuring the headers and utilizing readfile(), we can trigger downloads.

Implementation:

1. Configure Headers:
   Set the following headers to prompt the download:

   header('Content-Type: application/octet-stream');
   header("Content-Transfer-Encoding: Binary"); 
   header("Content-disposition: attachment; filename=\"" . basename($file_url) . "\""); 

   • Content-Type: Specifies the file type (e.g., application/zip for ZIP files).
   • Content-Transfer-Encoding: Ensures binary data is transferred accurately.
   • Content-disposition: Sets the "attachment" option to initiate a download and specifies the file name using the basename() function to extract the file name from the URL.

2. Use readfile():
   Use readfile() to read the file contents and send them to the browser:

   readfile($file_url); 

3. Example:
   To download a file named "go.exe" from "http://example.com/go.exe", use the following code:

   $file_url = 'http://example.com/go.exe';
   header('Content-Type: application/octet-stream');
   header("Content-Transfer-Encoding: Binary"); 
   header("Content-disposition: attachment; filename=\"" . basename($file_url) . "\""); 
   readfile($file_url); 

Additional Notes:

• Ensure you set the appropriate Content-Type header based on the file type.
• Triggering a download with header(location) can result in a halt in execution instead of a page redirect.

The above is the detailed content of How Can I Force a File Download Using PHP?. For more information, please follow other related articles on the PHP Chinese website!