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Download File endpoint returns binary data , but outputting with PHP still results in corrupted file

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bearinaustin

Could anyone help me diagnose an issue I am experiencing when downloading files from the Box content endpoint using PHP?

 

I'm able to upload content fine and I receive the correct response of RAW data when using the download endpoint. The trouble starts there however..

 

In the bolded portion when I attempt to output the raw data to the user for download, I end up with a corrupted file when trying to open the file. Does anyone have some tips for forcing the download of this raw data correctly to the web browser? I'm using PHP in this example, but if there is a better approach, I am open to investigating.

 

I am pulling the file name and other info from the "Get File's Info" endpoint, but have omitted it to remove extra stuff from my code example.

 

 

$url = "https://api.box.com/2.0/files/** file id **/content?access_token=".$token;

$header = '';
$header = array();

//////////////////////////////////////////
// Set Required CURL options
//////////////////////////////////////////
$options = array(
CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER => true, // return web page
CURLOPT_HEADER => false, // don't return headers
CURLOPT_FOLLOWLOCATION => true, // follow redirects
CURLOPT_ENCODING => "", // handle compressed
CURLOPT_USERAGENT => "test", // who am i
CURLOPT_AUTOREFERER => true, // set referer on redirect
CURLOPT_CONNECTTIMEOUT => 120, // timeout on connect
CURLOPT_TIMEOUT => 120, // timeout on response
CURLOPT_MAXREDIRS => 10);

//////////////////////////////////////////
// Specify API endpoint
//////////////////////////////////////////
$ch = curl_init ($endpoint);

//////////////////////////////////////////
// Write options
//////////////////////////////////////////
curl_setopt_array ( $ch, $options );

//////////////////////////////////////////
// Execute
//////////////////////////////////////////
$header['response'] = curl_exec ( $ch );
$header['errno'] = curl_errno ( $ch );
$header['errmsg'] = curl_error ( $ch );
$header['httpcode'] = curl_getinfo ( $ch, CURLINFO_HTTP_CODE );

//////////////////////////////////////////
// Close connection /unbind
//////////////////////////////////////////
curl_close ($ch);

header('Content-Description: File Transfer');
header('Content-Type: application/octet-stream');
header('Content-Disposition: attachment; filename=** some file name **');
header('Content-Transfer-Encoding: binary');
header('Expires: 0');
header('Cache-Control: must-revalidate');
header('Pragma: public');

print($header['response']);

 

 

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Comments

3 comments

Date Votes
  • LoCortes

    Hello ,

     

    I understand that you are able to download a file but it appears with no extension. Is that the situation? Have you tried to set the extension manually and see if it opens or the document is really corrupted?

     

    I would remove, maybe, the line 

    header('Content-Type: application/octet-stream');

     

    I am no expert on PHP but I would say that you are then forcing the element to be printed to be treated as a generic element and not the particular one you expect.

     

    Regards

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  • bearinaustin

    Thanks for the reply. Depending on the file type, I have tried a couple of different Content-Type headers like "image/png" etc.

     

    I ended up settling with a solution that actually works okay and uses the Box expiring link embed element. Attaching what I did for example purposes.

    $url = "https://api.box.com/2.0/files/".$file_id."?fields=expiring_embed_link&showDownload=true&access_token=".$token;

$header = '';
$header = array();
//////////////////////////////////////////
// Set Required CURL options
//////////////////////////////////////////
$options = array(
CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER => true, // return web page
CURLOPT_HEADER => false, // don't return headers
CURLOPT_FOLLOWLOCATION => true, // follow redirects
CURLOPT_ENCODING => "", // handle compressed
CURLOPT_USERAGENT => "test", // who am i
CURLOPT_AUTOREFERER => true, // set referer on redirect
CURLOPT_CONNECTTIMEOUT => 120, // timeout on connect
CURLOPT_TIMEOUT => 120, // timeout on response
CURLOPT_MAXREDIRS => 10);
//////////////////////////////////////////
// Specify API endpoint
//////////////////////////////////////////
$ch = curl_init ($endpoint);
//////////////////////////////////////////
// Write options
//////////////////////////////////////////
curl_setopt_array ( $ch, $options );
//////////////////////////////////////////
// Execute
//////////////////////////////////////////
$header['response'] = curl_exec ( $ch );
$header['errno'] = curl_errno ( $ch );
$header['errmsg'] = curl_error ( $ch );
$header['httpcode'] = curl_getinfo ( $ch, CURLINFO_HTTP_CODE );
//////////////////////////////////////////
// Close connection /unbind
//////////////////////////////////////////
curl_close ($ch);

if($header['httpcode'] == 200)
{
$file = json_decode($header['response'], true);

header('location: '.$file['expiring_embed_link']['url'].'?showDownload=true');
}

     

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  • LoCortes

    Hello ,

     

    when you use the REST API to download the document it returns a URL like this one: "https://dl.boxcloud.com/d/1/uydh28ktI4yTOgpeh7jf5gSVbqxxGVREqEWQgK7ELLubq9Hk7WSUm3M5LJ0fl8CGrtw2IH8PU3YfPU(...)nmo11K3ALKjev7Eg2R86cuq3EjZI1xtC3ZMUOvxpzidOMGXVwh8OlMNb3jfI3D138Nrb3wLgjtlyu9fOIeYVhGhf2nL460paarA../download"

     

    So... if you replace this piece

    '.$file['expiring_embed_link']['url'].'?showDownload=true'

    by the URL 

     

    header('location: https://dl.boxcloud.com/d/1/uydh28ktI4yTOgpeh7jf5gSVbqxxGVREqEWQgK7ELLubq9Hk7WSUm3M5LJ0fl8CGrtw2IH8PU3YfPU(...)nmo11K3ALKjev7Eg2R86cuq3EjZI1xtC3ZMUOvxpzidOMGXVwh8OlMNb3jfI3D138Nrb3wLgjtlyu9fOIeYVhGhf2nL460paarA../download');

     

    does it not work?

     

    Completely guessing here to be sincere 🙂 

     

    Regards

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