What are the potential pitfalls when trying to output a variable as a downloadable text file without saving it on the server first?

When trying to output a variable as a downloadable text file without saving it on the server first, the potential pitfall is that the file may not be properly formatted or may not be downloaded correctly due to headers being sent. To solve this issue, you can use output buffering to capture the content of the variable and then send it as a downloadable text file with the appropriate headers. 

<?php
// Start output buffering
ob_start();

// Your variable containing the text content
$text = "Hello, this is a downloadable text file.";

// Send appropriate headers for file download
header('Content-Type: text/plain');
header('Content-Disposition: attachment; filename="download.txt"');

// Output the content of the variable
echo $text;

// Flush the output buffer
ob_end_flush();

Keywords

PHP file handling header function content-disposition download file

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