Downloadable XML file

rubyonrails-talk
1

Hi All,

I'm trying to create an XML file that the user can download, but I'm not sure how to do it. I'm able to create an action in my controller that renders to a .rxml template, which allows the user to view the XML in their browser window, but I don't want them to have to see the XML, then save it to their computer. I'd like to have them click a link and have a standard Save/Open dialog box (in IE) appear. Do I need to save the XML file to my server filesystem first, or can I just stream the file straight to the user?

Thanks in advance for your help, Arash

2

You can stream it inline:

class MyController < ApplicationController

  def get_file     my_file = <<-FILE       <your file contents here>     FILE     send_data my_file, :filename => 'myfile.xml'   end

end

Hope this helps.

3

I think you need to set the header "Content-Disposition" to "Attachment"... that makes the browser treat the file as something to download. Can't remember off the top of my head how to set a response header in rails, but google should help with that.

b

archerid wrote:

4

Thanks Zack & Ben.

I managed to get it working with a take-off on Zack suggestion. I used send_data to write out the file like this:

send_data render :template=>"/route/gpx.rxml", :filename => "tb.xml"

It works like a charm.