What potential issues could arise when using headers in PHP to force a file download?

One potential issue that could arise when using headers in PHP to force a file download is that the headers must be set before any output is sent to the browser. If there is any whitespace or other output before the headers are set, it can cause the headers to be ignored or result in errors. To solve this issue, you can use output buffering to capture any output before setting the headers. 

<?php
ob_start();
// code to generate file content

// set headers for file download
header('Content-Type: application/octet-stream');
header('Content-Disposition: attachment; filename="example.txt"');

ob_end_flush();
exit;
?>

Keywords

headers PHP file download content type content disposition

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