CODEWITHSUNDEEP
javascriptfiledownload
ClydeFrog
ClydeFrog

Reputation: 1020

Download file without javascript

There's this website which has a javascript method in it that downloads a file. To call this method you have to set what language and serial number you're looking for and when that's done, the file is being generated according to the specified information you've just stated and then the file is being downloaded. Does anyone know how to specify this information, then send it and then download the file without going to this website?

Thanks in advance, Steve-O

Upvotes: 0

Views: 2422

Answers (2)

Omar Abid
Omar Abid

Reputation: 15966

JavaScript, as of the moment, can't download files. So how files gets downloaded? Well, the developer redirects the browser to a URL using

location.href = 'http://site.com/download.zip';

When the browser is redirected to this URL, it can't open the file, so it downloads it. You need to determine that URL the browser redirects to. There are many ways to do that. One that comes to mind is the Fiddler app that records each HTTP request and thus can give you the URL.

My guess, however, is that the URL is generated on the fly. You need to study the JavaScript in this case and see the required mechanism to make the server generates the URL.

Upvotes: 1

jfriend00
jfriend00

Reputation: 708146

If you use any tool that shows you what actual networking happens, you can discover the specific web requests that downloads the file. Chrome has those tools built in. The Firebug add-on adds those tools into Firefox. There are also apps that record all networking to/from the browser such as Fiddler which can be used to sleuth on the networking being done.

Of course, there may also be some authentication going on (a log-in, some cookies, etc...) that might be required, but all of that is visible with the right developer tools. Once you see exactly what is being sent over the wire, it's usually not hard to send that same request without a browser or without visiting that web page. If login credentials are required, that will still be required, but even that can be provided without a browser (e.g. from a server-side script).

Upvotes: 1

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