export csv in zend framework

Question

I'm trying to export a database table as a .csv downloadable from the browser. My code is zend framework based and I'm almost there with the following action:

public function exportTableAction()
{
    $this->_helper->layout->disableLayout();
    $this->_helper->viewRenderer->setNoRender();

    $fileName = $this->_getParam('fileName');
    $tableName = $this->_getParam('tableName');       

    header('Content-type: application/octet-stream');
    header('Content-Disposition: attachment; filename="'.$fileName.'"');

    echo $this->getCsv($tableName, $fileName);
}

I can download my .csv file containing valid data. However, even if I disabled the layout and the renderer, I still get the output of the header, sidebar, and footer of my page at the end of my .csv file. Is there a way to disable any html output other than the one generated in my exportTableAction? Or can I send the header information and the csv string to the browser in a different way?

BTW: I'm using the action stack plugin to help me render the header and sidebar as follows:

...
$actionStack = $front->getPlugin('Zend_Controller_Plugin_ActionStack');
$actionStack->pushStack($userlogAction);
$actionStack->pushStack($rightcolAction);

Cheers, Adrian

Answer 1

We found a solution to the problem. I replaced the following line

$this->_helper->viewRenderer->setNoRender();

by

$this->_helper->viewRenderer->setNeverRender();

If setNeverRender() is used, no views are rendered (from plugin neither).

Answer 2

You can use contextSwitch action helper.

public $contexts = array(
    'test'     => array('csv')
);

public function testAction()
{
    $filename = time() . '.csv';
    $this->_helper->contextSwitch()->addContext('csv',
            array('suffix' => 'csv',
                  'headers' => array('Content-Type' => 'application/csv',
                                     'Content-Disposition' => 'attachment; filename="'. $filename.'"')))->initContext('csv');
    ........................
    ........................
}

Answer 3

$this->_helper->viewRenderer->setNoRender();
$this->view->layout()->disableLayout();

$response = $this->getResponse();
$response->setHeader('Content-type', 'application/octet-stream');
$response->setHeader('Content-Disposition', 'attachment; filename="contatos.csv"');

echo $your_csv_content;

Answer 4

public function getCsv($tableName, $fileName)
{   
    $content = new $tableName();

    $content_arr = array();     
    $content_arr = $content->fetchAll('1=1','id ASC');

    $csv_terminated = "\n";
    $csv_separator = ",";
    $csv_enclosed = '"';
    $csv_escaped = "\\";        

    $schema_insert = "";

    $l = $csv_enclosed . str_replace($csv_enclosed, $csv_escaped . $csv_enclosed,
    stripslashes("Email Address")) . $csv_enclosed;
    $schema_insert .= $l;
    $schema_insert .= $csv_separator;

    $l = $csv_enclosed . str_replace($csv_enclosed, $csv_escaped . $csv_enclosed,
    stripslashes("Add Date")) . $csv_enclosed;
    $schema_insert .= $l;
    $schema_insert .= $csv_separator;

    $out = trim(substr($schema_insert, 0, -1));
    $out .= $csv_terminated;

    if(count($content_arr) > 0)
    {               
        foreach($content_arr as $content)
        {   
             $schema_insert = '';

            if ($content->email != '' || $content->add_date != '')
            {                           
                    $schema_insert .= $csv_enclosed . 
                    str_replace($csv_enclosed, $csv_escaped . $csv_enclosed, $content->email) . $csv_enclosed;

                     $schema_insert .= $csv_separator;

                    $schema_insert .= $csv_enclosed . 
                    str_replace($csv_enclosed, $csv_escaped . $csv_enclosed, $content->add_date) . $csv_enclosed;
                    $schema_insert .= $csv_separator;

           }        

            $schema_insert .= $csv_separator;
            $out .= $schema_insert;
            $out .= $csv_terminated;

        }
    }
    return $out;
}`