File Download in PHP

File Download in PHP

Using PHP you can create web page to download file easily using built-in readfile() function. The readfile() function reads a file and writes it to the output buffer.

PHP readfile() function

int readfile ( string $filename [, bool $use_include_path = false [, resource $context ]] )  

• $filename: represents the file name
• $use_include_path: It is the optional parameter. It is by default false. You can set it to true to the search the file in the included_path.
• $context: represents the context stream resource.
• int: It returns the number of bytes read from the file.

Download Text File in PHP

<?php

$file_url = 'http://www.your_remote_server.com/f.txt';  
header('Content-Type: application/octet-stream');  
header("Content-Transfer-Encoding: utf-8");   
header("Content-disposition: attachment; filename=\"" . basename($file_url) . "\"");   
readfile($file_url);

?>

Download Binary File in PHP

<?php

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

?>