Module: ActionController::DataStreaming

Relationships & Source Files
Extension / Inclusion / Inheritance Descendants
Included In: Base, ::ActionView::TestCase::TestController, Rails::ApplicationController, Rails::InfoController, Rails::MailersController, Rails::WelcomeController
Super Chains via Extension / Inclusion / Inheritance
Class Chain: self, ::ActiveSupport::Concern
Instance Chain: self, Rendering
Defined in:	actionpack/lib/action_controller/metal/data_streaming.rb

Overview

Methods for sending arbitrary data and for streaming files to the browser, instead of rendering.

Constant Summary

Rendering - Included

RENDER_FORMATS_IN_PRIORITY

Class Method Summary

::ActiveSupport::Concern - Extended

append_features, class_methods, included

Instance Method Summary

#send_data(data, options = {})

Sends the given binary data to the browser.
#send_file(path, options = {}) protected

Sends the file.

Rendering - Included

#render_to_body,
#render_to_string	Overwrite render_to_string because body can now be set to a rack body.

Instance Method Details

#send_data(data, options = {})

Sends the given binary data to the browser. This method is similar to render plain: data, but also allows you to specify whether the browser should display the response as a file attachment (i.e. in a download dialog) or as inline data. You may also set the content type, the apparent file name, and other things.

Options:

:filename - suggests a filename for the browser to use.
:type - specifies an HTTP content type. Defaults to 'application/octet-stream'. You can specify either a string or a symbol for a registered type register with Mime::Type.register, for example :json If omitted, type will be guessed from the file extension specified in :filename. If no content type is registered for the extension, default type 'application/octet-stream' will be used.
:disposition - specifies whether the file will be shown inline or downloaded. Valid values are 'inline' and 'attachment' (default).
:status - specifies the status code to send with the response. Defaults to 200.

Generic data download:

send_data buffer

Download a dynamically-generated tarball:

send_data generate_tgz('dir'), filename: 'dir.tgz'

Display an image Active Record in the browser:

send_data image.data, type: image.content_type, disposition: 'inline'

See #send_file for more information on HTTP Content-* headers and caching.

[ GitHub ]

# File 'actionpack/lib/action_controller/metal/data_streaming.rb', line 127


def send_data(data, options = {}) #:doc:
  send_file_headers! options
  render options.slice(:status, :content_type).merge(:text => data)
end

#send_file(path, options = {}) (protected)

Sends the file. This uses a server-appropriate method (such as X-Sendfile) via the Rack::Sendfile middleware. The header to use is set via config.action_dispatch.x_sendfile_header. Your server can also configure this for you by setting the X-Sendfile-Type header.

Be careful to sanitize the path parameter if it is coming from a web page. send_file(params[:path]) allows a malicious user to download any file on your server.

Options:

:filename - suggests a filename for the browser to use. Defaults to File.basename(path).
:type - specifies an HTTP content type. You can specify either a string or a symbol for a registered type register with Mime::Type.register, for example :json If omitted, type will be guessed from the file extension specified in :filename. If no content type is registered for the extension, default type 'application/octet-stream' will be used.
:disposition - specifies whether the file will be shown inline or downloaded. Valid values are 'inline' and 'attachment' (default).
:status - specifies the status code to send with the response. Defaults to 200.
:url_based_filename - set to true if you want the browser guess the filename from the URL, which is necessary for i18n filenames on certain browsers (setting :filename overrides this option).

The default Content-Type and Content-Disposition headers are set to download arbitrary binary files in as many browsers as possible. IE versions 4, 5, 5.5, and 6 are all known to have a variety of quirks (especially when downloading over SSL).

Simple download:

send_file '/path/to.zip'

Show a JPEG in the browser:

send_file '/path/to.jpeg', type: 'image/jpeg', disposition: 'inline'

Show a 404 page in the browser:

send_file '/path/to/404.html', type: 'text/html; charset=utf-8', status: 404

Read about the other Content-* HTTP headers if you'd like to provide the user with more information (such as Content-Description) in www.w3.org/Protocols/rfc2616/rfc2616-sec14.html#sec14.11.

Also be aware that the document may be cached by proxies and browsers. The Pragma and Cache-Control headers declare how the file may be cached by intermediaries. They default to require clients to validate with the server before releasing cached responses. See www.mnot.net/cache_docs/ for an overview of web caching and www.w3.org/Protocols/rfc2616/rfc2616-sec14.html#sec14.9 for the Cache-Control header spec.

Raises:

(MissingFile)

[ GitHub ]

# File 'actionpack/lib/action_controller/metal/data_streaming.rb', line 67


def send_file(path, options = {}) #:doc:
  raise MissingFile, "Cannot read file #{path}" unless File.file?(path) and File.readable?(path)

  options[:filename] ||= File.basename(path) unless options[:url_based_filename]
  send_file_headers! options

  self.status = options[:status] || 200
  self.content_type = options[:content_type] if options.key?(:content_type)
  self.response_body = FileBody.new(path)
end