Delete a file after download it using nodejs

Question

I'm using Node.js and I need to delete a file after user download it. Is there any way to call a callback method after pipe process ends, or any event for that purpose?

exports.downloadZipFile = function(req, res){
    var fileName = req.params['fileName'];
    res.attachment(fileName);
    fs.createReadStream(fileName).pipe(res); 

    //delete file after download             
};

Solution

You can call fs.unlink() on the finish event of res.

Or you could use the end event of the file stream:

var file = fs.createReadStream(fileName);
file.on('end', function() {
  fs.unlink(fileName, function() {
    // file deleted
  });
});
file.pipe(res);

Comments

[Freedom_Ben]

Qix is an example of why people are leaving stack overflow

[moncheery]

for the record i didnt find the answer by googling but i did find this question which has helped me. perhaps if i already knew the answer i'd know what to google for. thanks for asking Ragnar

[Yoshiyahu]

Qix, I google'd and got this question. I think we just divided by zero.

[Cumulo Nimbus]

is there an equivalent way to do this with Koa? ctx.body = fs.createReadStream(filename) is what I was doing before, but i'd like to delete the file on 'end' using your method