Download text/csv content as files from server in Angular

Question

I am trying to stream a csv file from a node.js server. The server portion is very simple :

server.get('/orders' function(req, res) {
  res.setHeader('content-type', 'text/csv');
  res.setHeader('content-disposition', 'attachment; filename='orders.csv');
  return orders.pipe(res); // assuming orders is a csv file readable stream (doesn't have to be a stream, can be a normal response)
}

In my angular controller I am trying to do something like this

$scope.csv = function() {
    $http({method: 'GET', url: '/orders'});
};

This function is called when there's a click on a button with ng-click in my view :

<button ng-click="csv()">.csv</button>

I have looked at other answers about downloading files from server in Angular, but didn't find anything that worked for me. Is there a common way to do this ? Seems like something that should be simple.

Solution 1

$http service returns a promise which has two callback methods as shown below.

$http({method: 'GET', url: '/someUrl'}).
  success(function(data, status, headers, config) {
     var anchor = angular.element('<a/>');
     anchor.attr({
         href: 'data:attachment/csv;charset=utf-8,' + encodeURI(data),
         target: '_blank',
         download: 'filename.csv'
     })[0].click();

  }).
  error(function(data, status, headers, config) {
    // handle error
  });

Solution 2

Most of the references on the web about this issue point out to the fact that you cannot download files via ajax call 'out of the box'. I have seen (hackish) solutions that involve iframes and also solutions like @dcodesmith's that work and are perfectly viable.

Here's another solution I found that works in Angular and is very straighforward.

In the view, wrap the csv download button with <a> tag the following way :

<a target="_self" ng-href="{{csv_link}}">
  <button>download csv</button>
</a>

(Notice the target="_self there, it's crucial to disable Angular's routing inside the ng-app more about it here)

Inside youre controller you can define csv_link the following way :

$scope.csv_link = '/orders' + $window.location.search;

(the $window.location.search is optional and onlt if you want to pass additionaly search query to your server)

Now everytime you click the button, it should start downloading.

Solution 3

var anchor = angular.element('<a/>');
anchor.css({display: 'none'}); // Make sure it's not visible
angular.element(document.body).append(anchor); // Attach to document

anchor.attr({
    href: 'data:attachment/csv;charset=utf-8,' + encodeURI(data),
    target: '_blank',
    download: 'filename.csv'
})[0].click();

anchor.remove(); // Clean it up afterwards

This code works both Mozilla and chrome

Solution 4

This is what worked for me for IE 11+, Firefox and Chrome. In safari it downloads a file but as unknown and the filename is not set.

if (window.navigator.msSaveOrOpenBlob) {
    var blob = new Blob([csvDataString]);  //csv data string as an array.
    // IE hack; see http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ie/hh779016.aspx
    window.navigator.msSaveBlob(blob, fileName);
} else {
    var anchor = angular.element('<a/>');
    anchor.css({display: 'none'}); // Make sure it's not visible
    angular.element(document.body).append(anchor); // Attach to document for FireFox

    anchor.attr({
        href: 'data:attachment/csv;charset=utf-8,' + encodeURI(csvDataString),
        target: '_blank',
        download: fileName
})[0].click();
anchor.remove();
}

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