I have a struts 2 operation on the server side for file download.

<action name="download" class="com.xxx.DownAction">
    <result name="success" type="stream">
        <param name="contentType">text/plain</param>
        <param name="inputName">imageStream</param>
        <param name="contentDisposition">attachment;filename={fileName}</param>
        <param name="bufferSize">1024</param>
    </result>
</action>

However, when I call an operation using jQuery:

$.post(
  "/download.action",{
    para1:value1,
    para2:value2
    ....
  },function(data){
      console.info(data);
   }
);

In Firebug, I see that the data is retrieved through the Binary stream. I want to know how to open the file download window so that users can save files locally?

#1 building

1. Framework independent: Servlet download file as attachment

<!-- with JS -->
<a href="javascript:window.location='downloadServlet?param1=value1'">
    download
</a>

<!-- without JS -->
<a href="downloadServlet?param1=value1" >download</a>

2. Struts 2 Framework: download files as attachments

<!-- with JS -->
<a href="javascript:window.location='downloadAction.action?param1=value1'">
    download
</a>

<!-- without JS -->
<a href="downloadAction.action?param1=value1" >download</a>

It is best to use < s: a > tags with OGNL to point to URLs created with < s: URL > Tags:

<!-- without JS, with Struts tags: THE RIGHT WAY -->    
<s:url action="downloadAction.action" var="url">
    <s:param name="param1">value1</s:param>
</s:ulr>
<s:a href="%{url}" >download</s:a>

In this case, you need to write the content disposition header to the response to specify that you need to download the file (attachment) and that the file (inline) cannot be opened by the browser. You also need to specify the content type, and you may need to add a filename and length (to help the browser draw a realistic progress bar).

For example, when downloading a ZIP:

response.setContentType("application/zip");
response.addHeader("Content-Disposition", 
                   "attachment; filename=\"name of my file.zip\"");
response.setHeader("Content-Length", myFile.length()); // or myByte[].length...

Use struts 2 (unless you use Action as a Servlet, for example, Direct flow Hackers program ), you don't need to write anything directly to the response; just use the Stream result type And configure in struts.xml: Example

<result name="success" type="stream">
   <param name="contentType">application/zip</param>
   <param name="contentDisposition">attachment;filename="${fileName}"</param>
   <param name="contentLength">${fileLength}</param>
</result>

3. Agnostic framework (/ Struts2 framework): Servlet (/ Action) opens files in browser

If you want to open a file in the browser instead of downloading a file, you must set the content disposition to inline, but the target cannot be the current window location; you must locate a new window created using javascript, < iframe > in the page, or a new window created dynamically using "discussed target" = "U blank":

<!-- From a parent page into an IFrame without javascript -->   
<a href="downloadServlet?param1=value1" target="iFrameName">
    download
</a>

<!-- In a new window without javascript --> 
<a href="downloadServlet?param1=value1" target="_blank">
    download
</a>

<!-- In a new window with javascript -->    
<a href="javascript:window.open('downloadServlet?param1=value1');" >
    download
</a>

#2 building

I've created some features as a solution (inspired by the @ John culviner plug-in):

// creates iframe and form in it with hidden field,
// then submit form with provided data
// url - form url
// data - data to form field
// input_name - form hidden input name

function ajax_download(url, data, input_name) {
    var $iframe,
        iframe_doc,
        iframe_html;

    if (($iframe = $('#download_iframe')).length === 0) {
        $iframe = $("<iframe id='download_iframe'" +
                    " style='display: none' src='about:blank'></iframe>"
                   ).appendTo("body");
    }

    iframe_doc = $iframe[0].contentWindow || $iframe[0].contentDocument;
    if (iframe_doc.document) {
        iframe_doc = iframe_doc.document;
    }

    iframe_html = "<html><head></head><body><form method='POST' action='" +
                  url +"'>" +
                  "<input type=hidden name='" + input_name + "' value='" +
                  JSON.stringify(data) +"'/></form>" +
                  "</body></html>";

    iframe_doc.open();
    iframe_doc.write(iframe_html);
    $(iframe_doc).find('form').submit();
}

Demo with click event:

$('#someid').on('click', function() {
    ajax_download('/download.action', {'para1': 1, 'para2': 2}, 'dataname');
});

#3 building

OK, based on the ndpu code, this is an improved version of Ajax download (I think)-

function ajax_download(url, data) {
    var $iframe,
        iframe_doc,
        iframe_html;

    if (($iframe = $('#download_iframe')).length === 0) {
        $iframe = $("<iframe id='download_iframe'" +
                    " style='display: none' src='about:blank'></iframe>"
                   ).appendTo("body");
    }

    iframe_doc = $iframe[0].contentWindow || $iframe[0].contentDocument;
    if (iframe_doc.document) {
        iframe_doc = iframe_doc.document;
    }

    iframe_html = "<html><head></head><body><form method='POST' action='" +
                  url +"'>" 

    Object.keys(data).forEach(function(key){
        iframe_html += "<input type='hidden' name='"+key+"' value='"+data[key]+"'>";

    });

        iframe_html +="</form></body></html>";

    iframe_doc.open();
    iframe_doc.write(iframe_html);
    $(iframe_doc).find('form').submit();
}

Use in this way-

$('#someid').on('click', function() {
    ajax_download('/download.action', {'para1': 1, 'para2': 2});
});

These parameters are sent as appropriate post parameters, just as they are from the input, rather than as json encoded strings in the previous example.

CAVEAT: beware of the possibility of variable injections on these forms. There may be a safer way to code these variables. Or consider escaping it.

#4 building

OK, this is the working code when using MVC. You are getting the file from the controller

It can be said that you declare and fill the byte array, and the only thing to do is to use the File function (using System.Web.Mvc)

byte[] bytes = .... insert your bytes in the array
return File(bytes, System.Net.Mime.MediaTypeNames.Application.Octet, "nameoffile.exe");

Then add those two functions to the same controller

protected override void OnResultExecuting(ResultExecutingContext context)
    {
        CheckAndHandleFileResult(context);

        base.OnResultExecuting(context);
    }

    private const string FILE_DOWNLOAD_COOKIE_NAME = "fileDownload";

    /// <summary>
    /// If the current response is a FileResult (an MVC base class for files) then write a
    /// cookie to inform jquery.fileDownload that a successful file download has occured
    /// </summary>
    /// <param name="context"></param>
    private void CheckAndHandleFileResult(ResultExecutingContext context)
    {
        if (context.Result is FileResult)
            //jquery.fileDownload uses this cookie to determine that a file download has completed successfully
            Response.SetCookie(new HttpCookie(FILE_DOWNLOAD_COOKIE_NAME, "true") { Path = "/" });
        else
            //ensure that the cookie is removed in case someone did a file download without using jquery.fileDownload
            if (Request.Cookies[FILE_DOWNLOAD_COOKIE_NAME] != null)
                Response.Cookies[FILE_DOWNLOAD_COOKIE_NAME].Expires = DateTime.Now.AddYears(-1);
    }

You can then call the controller to download and get a success or failure callback

$.fileDownload(mvcUrl('name of the controller'), {
            httpMethod: 'POST',
            successCallback: function (url) {
            //insert success code

            },
            failCallback: function (html, url) {
            //insert fail code
            }
        });

#5 building

You can use HTML5

Note: the returned file data must be base64 encoded because you cannot JSON encode binary data

In my AJAX response, I have a data structure as follows:

{
    result: 'OK',
    download: {
        mimetype: string(mimetype in the form 'major/minor'),
        filename: string(the name of the file to download),
        data: base64(the binary data as base64 to download)
    }
}

This means that I can do the following to save the file via AJAX

var a = document.createElement('a');
if (window.URL && window.Blob && ('download' in a) && window.atob) {
    // Do it the HTML5 compliant way
    var blob = base64ToBlob(result.download.data, result.download.mimetype);
    var url = window.URL.createObjectURL(blob);
    a.href = url;
    a.download = result.download.filename;
    a.click();
    window.URL.revokeObjectURL(url);
}

The base64ToBlob function is taken from here , must be used with this function

function base64ToBlob(base64, mimetype, slicesize) {
    if (!window.atob || !window.Uint8Array) {
        // The current browser doesn't have the atob function. Cannot continue
        return null;
    }
    mimetype = mimetype || '';
    slicesize = slicesize || 512;
    var bytechars = atob(base64);
    var bytearrays = [];
    for (var offset = 0; offset < bytechars.length; offset += slicesize) {
        var slice = bytechars.slice(offset, offset + slicesize);
        var bytenums = new Array(slice.length);
        for (var i = 0; i < slice.length; i++) {
            bytenums[i] = slice.charCodeAt(i);
        }
        var bytearray = new Uint8Array(bytenums);
        bytearrays[bytearrays.length] = bytearray;
    }
    return new Blob(bytearrays, {type: mimetype});
};

This is good if your server is dumping file data to save. However, I haven't figured out how to implement HTML4 backup advertising