CODEWITHSUNDEEP
node.jsexpressfscontent-typecontent-disposition
Nickie Ferrante
Nickie Ferrante

Reputation: 37

How to download a file .zip instead of a binary in JS?

I am trying to build a simple website with backend built with NodeJS + ExpressJS which allows users to download some ZIP files from the client.

However when I tested the logic in Postman,the returned data was a string of symbols, indicating that it was a binary, not a .zip file.

Here is the code snippet:

app.post('/', (req, res) => {
    try {
        const { specialID } = req.body;

    if (!specialID) {
        res.writeHead(400, { 'Content-Type': 'text/plain' });
        return res.end('specialID needs to be specified');
    }

    const specialIDsMap = {
        one: 1,
        22: 2,
        '33threee': 3,
    };
    const targetFile = specialIDsMap[specialID];
    const filePath = `./zips/${targetFile}.zip`;
    const fileName = 'test-file.zip';


 fs.exists(filePath, (exists) => {
            if (exists) {
                res.writeHead(200, {
                    'Content-Type': 'application/octet-stream',
                    'Content-Disposition': 'attachment; filename=' + fileName,
                });
                fs.createReadStream(filePath).pipe(res);
            } else {
                res.writeHead(400, { 'Content-Type': 'text/plain' });
                res.end('ERROR File does not exist');
            }
        });

What do I have to do to make sure that the server gives me the .zip file instead of a binary?

Upvotes: 0

Views: 1033

Answers (1)

lamtacvu
lamtacvu

Reputation: 685

It is because your file is not a zipped file, consider using ArchiverJs may solve your issue.

Code example:

res.writeHead(200, {
      'Content-Type': 'application/zip',
      'Content-disposition': 'attachment; filename='+fileName  
});

let zip = Archiver('zip');
zip.pipe(res);

zip.file(filePath , { name: fileName  })
        .finalize();

Upvotes: 1

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