PHPExcel file download using AJAX call

Question

I have a PHPExcel code which I use to export file, It works completely fine when i run it through normal static inputs but when tried with ajax calls the file is not getting downloaded. the php code to generate code is as follows

include "dbconnect.php";
include 'PHPExcel/Classes/PHPExcel/IOFactory.php';
include 'PHPExcel/Classes/PHPExcel.php';
$objPHPExcel = new PHPExcel();
if (isset($_POST['sql'])) {
    $sql=mysql_query($_POST['sql']);
    echo $sql;
    if($sql === FALSE) {
        die(mysql_error()); // TODO: better error handling
    }
    $objPHPExcel->setActiveSheetIndex(0);
    $objPHPExcel->getActiveSheet()->setCellValue('A1', 'A');
    $objPHPExcel->getActiveSheet()->setCellValue('B1', 'B');
    $objPHPExcel->getActiveSheet()->setCellValue('C1', 'C');
    $objPHPExcel->getActiveSheet()->setCellValue('D1', 'D');
    $objPHPExcel->getActiveSheet()->setCellValue('E1', 'E');
    $objPHPExcel->getActiveSheet()->setCellValue('F1', 'F');
    $objPHPExcel->getActiveSheet()->setCellValue('G1', 'G');
    $objPHPExcel->getActiveSheet()->setCellValue('H1', 'H');
    $objPHPExcel->getActiveSheet()->setCellValue('I1', 'I');
    $objPHPExcel->getActiveSheet()->setCellValue('J1', 'J');
    $objPHPExcel->getActiveSheet()->setCellValue('K1', 'K');
    $objPHPExcel->getActiveSheet()->setCellValue('L1', 'L');
    $objPHPExcel->getActiveSheet()->setCellValue('M1', 'M');

    $n=2;

    while($sqlr= mysql_fetch_array($sql)) {
        $objPHPExcel->getActiveSheet()->setCellValue('A'.$n, $sqlr['a']);
        $objPHPExcel->getActiveSheet()->setCellValue('B'.$n, $sqlr['b']);
        $objPHPExcel->getActiveSheet()->setCellValue('C'.$n, $sqlr['c']);
        $objPHPExcel->getActiveSheet()->setCellValue('D'.$n, $sqlr['d']);
        $objPHPExcel->getActiveSheet()->setCellValue('E'.$n, $sqlr['e']);
        $objPHPExcel->getActiveSheet()->setCellValue('F'.$n, $sqlr['f']);
        $objPHPExcel->getActiveSheet()->setCellValue('G'.$n, $sqlr['g']);
        $objPHPExcel->getActiveSheet()->setCellValue('H'.$n, $sqlr['h']);
        $objPHPExcel->getActiveSheet()->setCellValue('I'.$n, $sqlr['i']);
        $objPHPExcel->getActiveSheet()->setCellValue('J'.$n, $sqlr['j']);
        $objPHPExcel->getActiveSheet()->setCellValue('K'.$n, $sqlr['k']);
        $objPHPExcel->getActiveSheet()->setCellValue('L'.$n, $sqlr['l']);
        $objPHPExcel->getActiveSheet()->setCellValue('M'.$n, $sqlr['m']);
        $n++;
    }
    $objPHPExcel->getActiveSheet()->setTitle('SORTED');

    $objPHPExcel->setActiveSheetIndex(0);
    for($col = 'A'; $col !== 'Z'; $col++) {
        $objPHPExcel->getActiveSheet()
            ->getColumnDimension($col)
            ->setAutoSize(true);

        $objPHPExcel->getActiveSheet()->getStyle("A1:M1")->getFont()->setBold(true);
        $objPHPExcel->getActiveSheet()
            ->getStyle('A1:M1')
            ->getFill()
            ->setFillType(PHPExcel_Style_Fill::FILL_SOLID)
            ->getStartColor()
            ->setARGB('75b847');
    }

    $objPHPExcel->setActiveSheetIndex(0);
    $objWriter = PHPExcel_IOFactory::createWriter($objPHPExcel, 'Excel2007');
    ob_end_clean();
    header('Content-Type: application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.spreadsheetml.sheet');
    header('Content-Disposition: attachment;filename="reports.xls"');
    header('Cache-Control: max-age=0');
    $objWriter->save('php://output');
}
else {
    echo "no luck";
}
?>

And the JS is as follows

$(document).on("click", "#submit2", function() {
    var sql=$("#sql").val();
    console.log(sql);
    $.ajax({
        type: "POST",
        url: 'exreports.php',
        data: {
            sql : sql
        },
        success: function () {
            window.open(this.url,'_blank' );
        }
    });

});

But this is not downloading the file, I dont want to refresh the page as user might perform some other operations, if there is any way to download in the same window it will be great.

Thanks in advance

Possible duplicate of [PHPExcel download using ajax call](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/27701981/phpexcel-download-using-ajax-call) — Red Bottle, Mar 30 '17 at 05:49
I tried that but its not working for me,no luck using that too @NochetImchen — Akshay Wani, Mar 30 '17 at 05:50
@NochetImchen tried that too but its not redirecting and addition to that I am also posting some data, i guess its not entering into a success callback — Akshay Wani, Mar 30 '17 at 05:54
write the code `window.location.href()` seperately not inside ajax. You cannot download files using ajax anyway. It is a security thing so browsers don't allow it. — Red Bottle, Mar 30 '17 at 06:32

score 0 · Answer 1 · edited Jul 21 '17 at 05:23

0

https://stackoverflow.com/a/27702111/8221063

add target=_blank in your ajax success function like below

success: function(){
  window.open('http://YOUR_URL','_blank' );
},

otherwise you can handle smartly to open your Excel download link in new tab with jQuery trigger function or etc.

edited Jul 21 '17 at 05:23

Abhishek Pandey

13,302
8
38
68

answered Jul 20 '17 at 13:51

Lucas Duarte

51
10

PHPExcel file download using AJAX call

1 Answers1