What are the common pitfalls to avoid when trying to implement a file download script in PHP?

One common pitfall when implementing a file download script in PHP is not setting the correct headers for the file download. This can result in the file being displayed in the browser instead of being downloaded. To avoid this issue, make sure to set the appropriate headers before outputting the file content. 

// Set headers for file download
header('Content-Description: File Transfer');
header('Content-Type: application/octet-stream');
header('Content-Disposition: attachment; filename="example.txt"');
header('Content-Length: ' . filesize('example.txt'));

// Output the file content
readfile('example.txt');

Keywords

file download PHP script headers content-disposition error handling

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