I have a Struts2 action in the server side for file downloading.
<action name="download" class="com.xxx.DownAction">
<result name="success" type="stream">
<param name="contentType">text/plain</param>
<param name="inputName">imageStream</param>
<param name="contentDisposition">attachment;filename={fileName}</param>
<param name="bufferSize">1024</param>
</result>
</action>
However when I call the action using the jQuery:
$.post(
"/download.action",{
para1:value1,
para2:value2
....
},function(data){
console.info(data);
}
);
in Firebug I see the data is retrieved with the Binary stream. I wonder how to open the file downloading window with which the user can save the file locally?
2019 modern browsers update
This is the approach I'd now recommend with a few caveats:
fetch('https://jsonplaceholder.typicode.com/todos/1')
.then(resp => resp.blob())
.then(blob => {
const url = window.URL.createObjectURL(blob);
const a = document.createElement('a');
a.style.display = 'none';
a.href = url;
// the filename you want
a.download = 'todo-1.json';
document.body.appendChild(a);
a.click();
window.URL.revokeObjectURL(url);
alert('your file has downloaded!'); // or you know, something with better UX...
})
.catch(() => alert('oh no!'));
2012 Original jQuery/iframe/Cookie based approach
Bluish is completely right about this, you can't do it through Ajax because JavaScript cannot save files directly to a user's computer (out of security concerns). Unfortunately pointing the main window's URL at your file download means you have little control over what the user experience is when a file download occurs.
I created jQuery File Download which allows for an "Ajax like" experience with file downloads complete with OnSuccess and OnFailure callbacks to provide for a better user experience. Take a look at my blog post on the common problem that the plugin solves and some ways to use it and also a demo of jQuery File Download in action. Here is the source
Here is a simple use case demo using the plugin source with promises. The demo page includes many other, 'better UX' examples as well.
$.fileDownload('some/file.pdf')
.done(function () { alert('File download a success!'); })
.fail(function () { alert('File download failed!'); });
Depending on what browsers you need to support you may be able to use https://github.com/eligrey/FileSaver.js/ which allows more explicit control than the IFRAME method jQuery File Download uses.