Returning a CSV file from CGI

willdooUK has asked for the wisdom of the Perl Monks concerning the following question:

Hi - I have a csv file sitting in a directory that only my CGI script can see. This is good, 'cos it means that it can't be got at from a web browser.

I want to let the sales team get at the file, so I'm writing an HTML page which submits a password to a simple CGI script. The script should check the password is OK, then return the CSV file.

However:

What I'd like to happen is for the browser to pop up a 'save as' dialogue box, and let the user save the file. This is what would happen if I gave the users the direct URL of the file.

At the moment, I can only manage to get the script to print it out to the browser, so the content appears as a web page.

Can I get the CGI to not splurge it out to the page? Change the header type maybe? I guess it has something to do with the perceived MIME type.

Any help is much appreciated.

willdooUK
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Comment on Returning a CSV file from CGI

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Re: Returning a CSV file from CGI by earthboundmisfit (Chaplain) on Sep 17, 2001 at 21:51 UTC
Yes, you can alter the MIME type of the displayed page by calling `$q->header('application/unknown');`	[reply]
Re: Returning a CSV file from CGI by arturo (Vicar) on Sep 17, 2001 at 22:04 UTC
You could also use your webserver's built-in access control to do this job. Simply put the file in a directory and tell your webserver that only those with the right password can access the files in that directory. `perl -e 'print "How sweet does a rose smell? "; chomp ($n = <STDIN>); +$rose = "smells sweet to degree $n"; other_name = rose; print "$oth +er_name\n"'` [download]	[reply] [d/l]