How to Force-Download a CSV File Through AJAX in PHP?

Downloading Files with PHP and AJAX

Question:

How can I force-download a CSV file through an AJAX call in PHP?

Background:

You have created an AJAX function that generates a CSV file based on user input. After creation, you want to automatically download the file without prompting the user.

PHP Code:

In your PHP file (csv.php), you have attempted to use the following script to force download the CSV file:

<code class="php">$fileName = 'file.csv';
$downloadFileName = 'newfile.csv';

if (file_exists($fileName)) {
    header('Content-Description: File Transfer');
    header('Content-Type: text/csv');
    header('Content-Disposition: attachment; filename='.$downloadFileName);
    ob_clean();
    flush();
    readfile($fileName);
    exit;
}
echo "done";</code>

Issue:

When you run this script at the end of csv.php, the contents of the file are displayed on the page instead of being downloaded.

Solution:

AJAX cannot be used for directly downloading files. To force download the file, you can use one of the following methods:

• Pop up new window: Create a new window with the download link as its address.
• document.location = ...: Use the document.location = ... property to set the current location of the document to the download link.

Example:

You can modify your AJAX function as follows to pop up a new window with the download link:

<code class="javascript">function csv() {

    ajaxRequest = ajax();

    postdata = "data=" + document.getElementById("id").value;

    ajaxRequest.onreadystatechange = function () {
        var ajaxDisplay = document.getElementById('ajaxDiv');
        if (ajaxRequest.readyState == 4 && ajaxRequest.status == 200) {
            window.open(ajaxRequest.responseText);  // Pop up a new window with the download link
        }
    }

    ajaxRequest.open("POST", "csv.php", false);
    ajaxRequest.setRequestHeader('Content-Type', 'application/x-www-form-urlencoded');
    ajaxRequest.send(postdata);
}</code>

The above is the detailed content of How to Force-Download a CSV File Through AJAX in PHP?. For more information, please follow other related articles on the PHP Chinese website!