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<td><h1>CodeIgniter User Guide Version 2.1.2</h1></td>
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Download Helper
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<h1>Download Helper</h1>

<p>The Download Helper lets you download data to your desktop.</p>


<h2>Loading this Helper</h2>

<p>This helper is loaded using the following code:</p>
<code>$this->load->helper('download');</code>

<p>The following functions are available:</p>

<h2>force_download('<var>filename</var>', '<var>data</var>')</h2>

<p>Generates server headers which force data to be downloaded to your desktop. Useful with file downloads.
The first parameter is the <strong>name you want the downloaded file to be named</strong>, the second parameter is the file data.
Example:</p>

<code>
$data = 'Here is some text!';<br />
$name = 'mytext.txt';<br />
<br />
force_download($name, $data);
</code>

<p>If you want to download an existing file from your server you'll need to read the file into a string:</p>

<code>
$data = file_get_contents("/path/to/photo.jpg"); // Read the file's contents<br />
$name = 'myphoto.jpg';<br />
<br />
force_download($name, $data);
</code>




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