How to Display uploaded files (PDF, DOC etc) as downloadable link in CodeIgniter

Question

I am relatively new to CodeIgniter but I can grasp a thing or two. I am currenly facing a problem where I want the admin to view or download uploaded files (pdf and doc) submitted upon user registration. Everything is working well but I would wish the admin to download the files not just see the filename.

Here is my Controller:

<?php

class NominationController extends CI_Controller {

public function __construct() {
    parent::__construct();
    $this->load->model('Nomination');
    $this->load->library('session');
    }
/*
function for manage Nomination.
return all Nominations.
created by your name
created at 25-07-16.
*/
public function manageNomination() { 

    $data["Nominations"] = $this->Nomination->getAll();
    $this->load->view('Nomination/manage-Nomination', $data);

}
/*
function for  add Nomination get
created by your name
created at 25-07-16.
*/
public function addNomination() {

    $this->load->view('Nomination/add-Nomination');

}
/*
function for add Nomination post
created by your name
created at 25-07-16.
*/


public function addNominationPost() {
                    $data['title'] = $this->input->post('title');
                            $data['first_name'] = $this->input->post('first_name');
                            $data['last_name'] = $this->input->post('last_name');
                            $data['email_id'] = $this->input->post('email_id');
                            $data['phone_no'] = $this->input->post('phone_no');
                            $data['company'] = $this->input->post('company');
                            $data['popularity'] = $this->input->post('popularity');
                            $data['nominee_type'] = $this->input->post('nominee_type');
                            $data['innovation_name'] = $this->input->post('innovation_name');
                            $data['organisation_type'] = $this->input->post('organisation_type');
                            $data['category'] = $this->input->post('category');
                            $data['date_of_innovation'] = $this->input->post('date_of_innovation');
                            $data['company_offices'] = $this->input->post('company_offices');
                            $data['need_addressed'] = $this->input->post('need_addressed');
                            $data['user_benefits'] = $this->input->post('user_benefits');
                            $data['uniqueness'] = $this->input->post('uniqueness');
                            if ($_FILES['supporting_documents']['name']) { 
        $data['supporting_documents'] = $this->doUpload('supporting_documents');
     } 
                    $this->Nomination->insert($data);
    $this->session->set_flashdata('success', 'Nomination added Successfully');
    redirect('success');
}
/*
function for edit Nomination get
returns  Nomination by id.
created by your name
created at 25-07-16.
*/
public function editNomination($Nomination_id) {
    $data['Nomination_id'] = $Nomination_id;
    $data['Nomination'] = $this->Nomination->getDataById($Nomination_id);
    $this->load->view('Nomination/edit-Nomination', $data);
}
/*
function for edit Nomination post
created by your name
created at 25-07-16.
*/
public function editNominationPost() {

    $Nomination_id = $this->input->post('Nomination_id');
    $Nomination = $this->Nomination->getDataById($Nomination_id);
                    $data['title'] = $this->input->post('title');
                    $data['first_name'] = $this->input->post('first_name');
                    $data['last_name'] = $this->input->post('last_name');
                    $data['email_id'] = $this->input->post('email_id');
                    $data['phone_no'] = $this->input->post('phone_no');
                    $data['company'] = $this->input->post('company');
                    $data['popularity'] = $this->input->post('popularity');
                    $data['nominee_type'] = $this->input->post('nominee_type');
                    $data['innovation_name'] = $this->input->post('innovation_name');
                    $data['organisation_type'] = $this->input->post('organisation_type');
                    $data['category'] = $this->input->post('category');
                    $data['date_of_innovation'] = $this->input->post('date_of_innovation');
                    $data['company_offices'] = $this->input->post('company_offices');
                    $data['need_addressed'] = $this->input->post('need_addressed');
                    $data['user_benefits'] = $this->input->post('user_benefits');
                    $data['uniqueness'] = $this->input->post('uniqueness');
                    if ($_FILES['supporting_documents']['name']) { 
        $data['supporting_documents'] = $this->doUpload('supporting_documents');
        unlink('./uploads/Nomination/'.$Nomination[0]->supporting_documents);
    } 
            $edit = $this->Nomination->update($Nomination_id,$data);
    if ($edit) {
        $this->session->set_flashdata('success', 'Nomination Updated');
        redirect('success');
    }
}
/*
function for view Nomination get
created by your name
created at 25-07-16.
*/
public function viewNomination($Nomination_id) {
    $data['Nomination_id'] = $Nomination_id;
    $data['Nomination'] = $this->Nomination->getDataById($Nomination_id);
    $this->load->view('Nomination/view-Nomination', $data);
}
/*
function for delete Nomination    created by your name
created at 25-07-16.
*/
public function deleteNomination($Nomination_id) {
    $delete = $this->Nomination->delete($Nomination_id);
    $this->session->set_flashdata('success', 'Nomination deleted');
    redirect('manage-Nomination');
}
/*
function for activation and deactivation of Nomination.
created by your name
created at 25-07-16.
*/
public function changeStatusNomination($Nomination_id) {
    $edit = $this->Nomination->changeStatus($Nomination_id);
    $this->session->set_flashdata('success', 'Nomination '.$edit.' Successfully');
    redirect('manage-Nomination');
}
    /*
function for upload files
return uploaded file name.
created by your name
created at 25-07-16.
*/
public function doUpload($file) {
    $config['upload_path'] = './uploads/Nomination';
    $config['allowed_types'] = '*';
    $this->load->library('upload', $config);
        if ( ! $this->upload->do_upload($file))
        {
          $error = array('error' => $this->upload->display_errors());
          $this->load->view('upload_form', $error);
        }
        else
        {
          $data = array('upload_data' => $this->upload->data());
          return $data['upload_data']['file_name'];
        }
    }

}

Here is my View.php

<tr>
                    <td width='30%' class='label-view text-right'>
                    <?php echo SiteHelpers::activeLang('Uniqueness', (isset($fields['uniqueness']['language'])? $fields['uniqueness']['language'] : array())) ;?>
                    </td>
                    <td><?php echo $row['uniqueness'] ;?> </td>

                </tr>

                <tr>
                    <td width='30%' class='label-view text-right'>
                    <?php echo SiteHelpers::activeLang('Supporting Documents', (isset($fields['supporting_documents']['language'])? $fields['supporting_documents']['language'] : array())) ;?>
                    </td>
                    <td><?php echo $row['supporting_documents'] ;?></td>
                </tr>

Here is the screenshot of my output: I would like the pdf file or doc to be clickable

Here is how I have set my MySQL:

..just in case its not set correctly

I feel its something small but my eyeballs are sore for the past week and I think Google knows my name and where I sleep by now :)

Any help accorded will go a long away. Thank you

Answer 1

According to the documentation: https://www.codeigniter.com/user_guide/helpers/url_helper.html#base_url

You can import the Url Helper like this:

$this->load->helper('url');

Then, you can use

<a href="<?= base_url('path/to/directory/' . $row['supporting_documents']); ?>"> Download </a>

The method base_url will return your site base URL, as specified in your config file. Plus, the argument will concatenate that URL with the string you supplied. That will be the complete URL of your file.