Download excel file with php

Question

I need to download an excel file from the external link.

i wrote 2 codes and both went wrong :

first one :

$url = "www.example.com";
$data = file_get_contents($url);
$destination = "test.xlsx";
$file = fopen($destination, "w+");
fputs($file, $data);
fclose($file);

after running this script, I can't my test.xlsx file, and got and excel error:

Excel cannot open this file, The file format or file extension is not valid. 
Verify that the file has not been corrupted and that the file extension matches the format of the file.

second one :

$ch = curl_init();
$targetFile = fopen( 'test.xlsx', 'w' );
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_HEADER, 0);
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_VERBOSE, 0);
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER, 1);
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_HTTPHEADER, array("Content-Type:             
application/vnd.ms-excel"));
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_URL,     
www.example.com');
curl_setopt( $ch, CURLOPT_FILE, $targetFile );
curl_exec( $ch );
fclose( $targetFile );

and again I got the same error. when I am trying to open that link from the browser , xlsx file downloads automatically but I cannot download that link from code, plz help

Did you look into code loaded file? May be some errors in it? Or site need authorization? — Ivan Bolnikh, Jul 13 '17 at 13:00
@IvanBolnikh I can access that file from the browser , so authorization is not the answer, and I didn't get the first part of your answer sry. — Pourya Fard, Jul 13 '17 at 13:04
@PouryaFard - it could still be authorisation.... some sites won't allow access unless its through a browser, to prevent people writing scripts to access their data — Mark Baker, Jul 13 '17 at 13:05
@Mark Baker, if I set User Agent in curl opts authorisation will be ok? — Pourya Fard, Jul 13 '17 at 13:13

score 0 · Answer 1 · answered Jul 13 '17 at 12:59

0

my understanding of the question is like

yoursite www.yoursite.com

site with file www.sitewithfile.com/path/file.xlxs

l thing you use a link

<a href='www.sitewithfile.com/path/file.xlxs' target='__blank'>Download</a>

answered Jul 13 '17 at 12:59

Billy Watsy

74
1
10

Tnx for the answer , I just want to download that file (from URL) and manipulate that excel and then store some data at DB , the only problem is downloading file, I cant download xlsx file from the link. – Pourya Fard Jul 13 '17 at 13:03
Download this will open a new tab in browser and download if you want to manipute excel file try using PHPExcel library – Billy Watsy Jul 13 '17 at 13:12
Tnx for answer , but tag will be some text with link , u are suggesting me html page that will download xlsx file , i want to do that by running my script , not html page – Pourya Fard Jul 13 '17 at 13:19
for security reasons you can not edit file on someone's server hence it wont be possible.(authorization) but you can access that is to download it via a URL not to edit it on the different website – Billy Watsy Jul 13 '17 at 13:29
plz read my comment better , i need to download that file into my server , and edit that in my server , – Pourya Fard Jul 13 '17 at 13:39
if thats the case try these answers https://stackoverflow.com/questions/4504212/need-php-script-to-download-a-file-on-a-remote-server-and-save-locally – Billy Watsy Jul 13 '17 at 13:44
i did that and this question describes the error of that work:D – Pourya Fard Jul 13 '17 at 14:25

Download excel file with php

1 Answers1