Unable to generate a file to download with Django

Question

Part which is working fine :

I have made a <form> whose submit call makes an ajax request.Code for the same :

 $.ajax({

            type: 'POST',
            url: '/uploaded_proto_file/',
            data: formdata,
            processData: false,
            contentType: false,

            success: function (data) {
                console.log("in success")
                console.log("data is --->"+data)
                return;

            },
            error: function (data) {
                console.log("in error")

                return;
            }

        });

I am able to receive the call for the same on the function below. Now i need to send a file (which is in my document structure) that needs to auto downloaded in my browser. I execute this function based on this answer

def uploaded_proto_file(request):
   with open(
            '/Users/metal/Documents/test_pb2.py','rb') as text_file:
        response = HttpResponse(FileWrapper(text_file.getvalue()), content_type='application/zip')
        response['Content-Disposition'] = 'attachment; filename=test_pb2.py'
        return response

The above code wasn't working fine, so I debugged it and found this error on the filewrapper statement

Now I changed the solution a bit but the file sent back in response is not getting auto downloaded , it is getting printed in the console (as my success block in ajax function has console.log(data))
Changed solution :

with open(
            '/Users/metal/Documents/test_pb2.py','rb') as text_file:
        response = HttpResponse(text_file, content_type='application/zip')
        response['Content-Disposition'] = 'attachment; filename=test_pb2.py'
        return response

As you can see above I removed FileWrapper and was atleast able to send the file back to ajax request. But the problem still persists as the file is not getting auto downloaded.

P.S. : I have also tried opening the file in different modes like 'r','rb'.

Any help would be appreciated !

score 0 · Accepted Answer · answered Apr 14 '18 at 16:22

0

You can't return a file to an ajax request and expect it to be downloaded. What you need is to separate into a few steps:

Your ajax request triggers the file creation process
Django puts that file somewhere where it can be downloaded and returns the URL to the file as ajax response
Your js response handler can now do two things:
1. Generate a button in the HTML for the user to click and download the file (using the URL from the response)
2. Create the button and auto-click it (call .click() on it) and then delete it again. A bit like in this example

answered Apr 14 '18 at 16:22

dirkgroten

20,112
2
29
42

I understood the second part but is there a way I can do it without the downloadable url , I dont want to upload the file somewhere else and then pass the url when I already have the file content in my success block – Metal Apr 14 '18 at 17:10
Actually, if you look at the example linked in my response, you can use a data URI in your download button, so maybe try that. – dirkgroten Apr 14 '18 at 17:16

Unable to generate a file to download with Django

1 Answers1