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NAME

CGI::Easy::SendFile - send files from CGI to browser

SYNOPSIS

    use CGI::Easy::SendFile qw( send_file );

    my $r = CGI::Easy::Request->new();
    my $h = CGI::Easy::Headers->new();

    my $data = send_file($r, $h, '/path/file.zip');
    print $h->compose();
    print ${$data};

    # -- send "file" generated in memory instead of real file
    my $dynamic_file = '…some binary data…';
    my $data = send_file($r, $h, \$dynamic_file);

    # -- simulate static image served by web server 
    #    (without "download file" dialog popup in browser)
    my $data = send_file($r, $h, 'avatar.png', {
            type    => 'image/png',
            cache   => 1,
            inline  => 1,
    });

DESCRIPTION

This module provide single function, which helps you prepare CGI reply for sending file to browser.

EXPORTS

Nothing by default, but all documented functions can be explicitly imported.

INTERFACE

send_file( $r, $h, $file, \%opt )

Prepare HTTP headers and content for CGI reply to send file.

    $r      CGI::Easy::Request object
    $h      CGI::Easy::Headers object
    $file   STRING (file name) or SCALARREF (file contents)
    %opt
      {type}    STRING (default "application/x-download")
      {range}   BOOL (default TRUE if $file is STRING,
                              FALSE if $file is SCALARREF)
      {cache}   BOOL (default FALSE)
      {inline}  BOOL (default FALSE)
{type}

Custom value for 'Content-Type' header. These are equivalents:

    $data = send_file($r, $h, $file, {type=>'image/png'});

    $data = send_file($r, $h, $file);
    $h->{'Content-Type'} = 'image/png';
{range}

Enable/disable support for sending partial file contents, if requested (this is usually used by file downloader applications to fetch files faster using several simultaneous connections to download different file parts). You shouldn't enable this option for dynamic files generated by your CGI if contents of these files may differ for different CGI requests sent by same user to same url.

If your web server configured to gzip CGI replies, it will disable this feature. To make this feature working disable gzip in web server (usually by adding SetEnv no-gzip in .htaccess file).

When enabled and user requested partial contents will change 'Status' to '206 Partial Content'.

{cache}

Enable/disable caching file contents.

HTTP header 'Expires' will be removed if {cache} is TRUE, or set to 'Sat, 01 Jan 2000 00:00:00 GMT' if {cache} is FALSE.

If {cache} is TRUE and $file is STRING will set 'Last-Modified' header; when browser use 'If-Modified-Since' and file doesn't changed will set 'Status' to '304 Not Modified' and return REF to empty string to avoid sending any needless data to browser.

You may want to add custom 'ETag' caching manually:

    $h->{ETag} = calc_my_ETag($file);
    if ($r->{ENV}{IF_NONE_MATCH} eq $h->{ETag}) {
        $h->{Status} = '304 Not Modified';
        $data = \q{};
    } else {
        $data = send_file($r, $h, $file, {cache=>1});
    }
    print $h->compose(), ${$data};
{inline}

Try to control how browser should handle sent file (this have sense only for file types which browser can just show instead of asking user where to save downloaded file on disk - like images).

If FALSE will set 'Content-Disposition' to 'attachment', this should force browser to save downloaded file instead of just showing it.

Return SCALARREF with (full/partial/empty) file contents which should be send as body of CGI reply.

BUGS AND LIMITATIONS

No bugs have been reported.

Sending large files will use a lot of memory - this module doesn't use temporary files and keep everything in memory.

SUPPORT

Please report any bugs or feature requests through the web interface at http://rt.cpan.org/NoAuth/ReportBug.html?Queue=CGI-Easy-SendFile. I will be notified, and then you'll automatically be notified of progress on your bug as I make changes.

You can also look for information at:

AUTHOR

Alex Efros <powerman-asdf@ya.ru>

LICENSE AND COPYRIGHT

Copyright 2009-2010 Alex Efros <powerman-asdf@ya.ru>.

This program is distributed under the MIT (X11) License: http://www.opensource.org/licenses/mit-license.php

Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:

The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.

THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.