php - file_get_contents() for dynamic script

Question

I have a script that outputs an image.

Works fine

include('../myfolder/myImageScript.php'); // outputs image on page

Fails

echo file_get_contents('../myfolder/myImageScript.php'); // nothing displayed

I think this fails because in php a script, in my case myImageScript.php, isn't executed when called via the file_get_contents() function, but is when called using a include() the script is executed.

I am struggling to get a zip function to work due to the empty output of file_get_contents().

the file i'm trying to call via file_get_contents() is:

myImageScript.php

$imgstr = "data:image/jpeg;base64,/9j/........... rest of string";
if (!preg_match('/data:([^;]*);base64,(.*)/', $imgstr, $matches)) {
die("error");
}

// Decode the data
$content = base64_decode($matches[2]);

// Output the correct HTTP headers
header('Content-Type: '.$matches[1]);
//header("Content-Type: image/jpeg"); // tried this made no difference

// Output the actual image data
echo $content;

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

http://stackoverflow.com/questions/8889025/unzip-a-file-with-php — RST, Jan 31 '15 at 10:15
Sorry, not sure what exactly you want to do here... do you need to zip a image? Why do you need to use a second script to access a static file?Could you not just zip the file directly? if you call myImageScript.php directly (say from the browser) does it work? — smarques, Jan 31 '15 at 10:17
@smarques I am trying to zip 3 DATA URI images. It would not work so i am trying to call it using another script. I thought that by doing it externally I could parse a header and then maybe it would work. — , Jan 31 '15 at 10:45
@smarques Basically the bottom line is I have 3 data uri images on a page and i would like to download them into a zip file by using any means. JS, PHP etc — , Jan 31 '15 at 10:46

smarques · Accepted Answer · 2015-01-31T11:50:46.097

Something like this should work, BUT you need to enable ZipArchive http://php.net/manual/en/class.ziparchive.php (should not be a problem)

    <?php
    $imgstr = "data:image/gif;base64,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";
if (!preg_match('/data:([^;]*);base64,(.*)/', $imgstr, $matches)) {
die("error");

$content = base64_decode($matches[2]);
$zip = new ZipArchive;
$filename  = tempnam("/tmp", "testmeZip");
$res = $zip->open($filename, ZipArchive::CREATE);
if ($res === TRUE) {
    $zip->addFromString('test.gif', $content);//you can use $matches to figure out extension
    $zip->close();
    echo 'ok';
} else {
    echo 'failed';
}


header("Pragma: public");
header("Expires: 0");
header("Cache-Control: must-revalidate, post-check=0, pre-check=0");
header("Cache-Control: public");
header("Content-Description: File Transfer");
header("Content-type: application/octet-stream");
header("Content-Disposition: attachment; filename=\"test.zip\"");
header("Content-Transfer-Encoding: binary");
// make sure the file size isn't cached
clearstatcache();
header("Content-Length: ".filesize($filename));
// output the file
readfile($filename);

Thanks for the solution, I have tried it but it said that the contents are corrupt. I have modified it and got it to work. Thanks again. — , Jan 31 '15 at 16:23
great, could you maybe post your solution for future reference? — smarques, Feb 01 '15 at 09:45

php - file_get_contents() for dynamic script

1 Answers1