Django views file download

Adding a download option for text and PDF files in the Django application was shown in this tutorial using a simple script.

The new Django users will get an idea to add a download option without and with a download link in the Django app after reading this tutorial. I am a trainer of web programming courses. I like to write article or tutorial on various IT topics. The download option is a general requirement for any website like the online book, free application software, free games, etc. The file can be downloaded after executing a particular URL or clicking the download link and getting permission from the user.

The ways of downloading a text file without any download link and a PDF file using the download link in the Django app will be shown in this tutorial. Prerequisites: Before practicing the script of this tutorial, you have to complete the following tasks.

Each view function takes an HttpRequest object as its first parameter, which is typically named request.

The view returns an HttpResponse object that contains the generated response. Each view function is responsible for returning an HttpResponse object. So, to recap, this view function returns an HTML page that includes the current date and time. Django provides help for returning HTTP error codes.

Return an instance of one of those subclasses instead of a normal HttpResponse in order to signify an error. For example:. However, as documented in the HttpResponse documentation, you can also pass the HTTP status code into the constructor for HttpResponse to create a return class for any status code you like.

Asked 9 years, 9 months ago. Active 8 years ago. Viewed 22k times. Thanks in advance! Angelia Angelia 1 1 gold badge 2 2 silver badges 9 9 bronze badges.

Add a comment. Active Oldest Votes. Victor Neo Victor Neo 2, 1 1 gold badge 15 15 silver badges 13 13 bronze badges. You can retrieve the object any way you like.

Asynchronous backends like async S3 or even Blobstore have to take special care of preventing faked uploads. After a successful upload to the actual server these backends have to generate a separate request which contains the POST data and a file ID identifying the uploaded file the Blobstore automatically sends the blob key and async S3 would send the file and bucket name.

The problem here is that a user can manually generate a request which matches the ID of some other user's private file, thus getting access to that file because it's now fake-uploaded to his private files, too. In order to prevent this asynchronous backends have to guarantee that no file ID is used twice for an upload. Since the actual download permissions can be out of the backend's control the download solution consists of two layers.

This means that you should also use that function as a fallback even if you only have public downloads. The function takes two required arguments: the request and the Django File object that should be served e. Otherwise it returns None. Otherwise the public download URL is used. You can specify the backends in your settings. The default upload backend simply returns the URL unmodified. The default download backend transfers the file in chunks via Django, so it's definitely not the most efficient mechanism, but it uses only a small amount of memory important for large files and requires less resources than passing a file object directly to the response.

The default public downloads backend simply returns None. This default configuration should work with practically all servers, but it's not the most efficient solution. Please take a look at the backends which are shipped with django-filetransfers to see if something fits your solution better.