CodeIgniter force_download is not working

Question

CodeIgniter force_download is not working

My Code:

if(!empty($articlefile)){
  if(file_exists('./media/journals/xml/'.$articlefile)){
    $this->load->helper('download');
    $articlefile = str_replace(" ", "%20", $articlefile); 
    $path=file_get_contents(getBaseUrl().'media/journals/xml/'.$articlefile);
    force_download($articlefile,$path);
  }else{
    redirect(getBaseUrl());
    exit();
  }
}

The same code was working fine before and today this code is not working I don't know why? I am using the PHP 7.4 version but still getting errors.

Answer 1

From looking at your code, I am wondering what the $path variable contains right before the force_download call is issued. For example, if there is in error such that $path = null, then force_download will fail because $articleFile is not a full path. It appears from your code that the article file is on the local file system, and I am questioning your usage of getBaseUrl in the file_get_contents call.

I would also try a basic example to see if your routing and control structures are working as expected.

Using the example from the force_download page in the manual in conjunction with your code I might try:

if(!empty($articlefile)){
if(file_exists('./media/journals/xml/'.$articlefile)){
$this->load->helper('download');
//$articlefile = str_replace(" ", "%20", $articlefile); 
//$path=file_get_contents(getBaseUrl().'media/journals/xml/'.$articlefile);
//force_download($articlefile,$path);

$data = 'Here is some text!';
$name = 'mytext.txt';
force_download($name, $data);
}
else{
redirect(getBaseUrl());
exit();
}
}

If that works, you can separately try your name and data variables to narrow down which one is not performing as expected.