Creating a download link

Pádraig · #1 May 29th, 2007, 17:55

Hello.

I was wondering how you create a download link. For example if someone wanted to download a (X)HTML and CSS file that was zipped up, how would I code this.

Thanks,
Padraig.

karinne · #2 May 29th, 2007, 18:15

hmmm ... a simple link would do?!

Code: Select all

<a href="something.zip">some code in zip</a>

or maybe I'm not understanding the question!?

Pádraig · #3 May 29th, 2007, 18:24

That worked for me.

Thanks Karinne!

Ryan Fait · #4 May 29th, 2007, 22:17

If you don't want to zip it, you can force a browser to download a file using PHP (ie, like an HTML page that a browser would normally try to render).

Pádraig · #5 May 29th, 2007, 22:31

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ryan Fait

If you don't want to zip it, you can force a browser to download a file using PHP (ie, like an HTML page that a browser would normally try to render).

Do you know where I can find any useful tutorials that explains how to do this?

Ryan Fait · #6 May 29th, 2007, 22:35

PHP: Select all


<?php

$f = fopen("file.html", "rb"); // path to file on server
$content_len = (int) filesize("file.html"); // path to file on server
$content_file = fread($f, $content_len);
fclose($f);

$output_file = 'file.html'; // the name of the file when downloaded

@ob_end_clean();
@ini_set('zlib.output_compression', 'Off');
header('Pragma: public');

header('Last-Modified: '.gmdate('D, d M Y H:i:s') . ' GMT');
header('Cache-Control: no-store, no-cache, must-revalidate');
header('Cache-Control: pre-check=0, post-check=0, max-age=0');
header('Cache-Control: private');
header('Content-Transfer-Encoding: none');
header('Content-Type: application/octetstream; name="'.$output_file.'"');
header('Content-Type: application/octet-stream; name="'.$output_file.'"');
header('Content-Disposition: inline; filename="'.$output_file.'"');
header("Content-length: $content_len");

echo $content_file;
exit();

?>

Pádraig · #7 May 29th, 2007, 22:47

Thanks a lot for that, Ryan!

I will try and learn some php soon.

Ryan Fait · #8 May 29th, 2007, 22:51

No problem. To use that script, put it in an empty text file with the extension .php. If you link to that file in a browser, it will download whatever file is referenced in the first couple of lines.

Just be careful with it, though. Don't leave it open ended where someone can choose a file to download anywhere on your server. That PHP script can access anything on your server, regardless of whether it's in a password protected directory or out of your root directory.

Pádraig · #9 May 29th, 2007, 22:55

I'll definetly have a look at some php tutorials before trying something like this. I'll save that script to my computer in the mean time. Thanks again for the help and the script.

Pádraig.

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
Download button - to download a PDF file	attila001122	Web Page Design	4	Aug 15th, 2008 11:44
order confirmation email download link	Aaron1988	PHP Forum	0	Sep 25th, 2006 20:03
Need help creating live web page changes when user clicks a link	dannyboy	Other Programming Languages	2	Feb 5th, 2006 11:43
creating a link to an ftp web site	wat55up74	Web Page Design	2	Feb 1st, 2006 04:31

		Webforumz.com > Main Forums > Design Your Website > Starting Out
Creating a download link