You might be interested to read the thread that was posted here: http://www.php.net/readfile There's a bit of discussion as to why the ob_flush() and flush() are in there. It's not my function. I don't take any credit for it, and frankly I don't care whether you think its useful or not, or whether you think parts of it are redundant, or if it can be done better; I just thought someone on this list who was working with file downloads might find it useful. I must admit I am a bit bothered by the fact that I can't submit something to this list without some smart ass know-it-all making some comments about how they could do it better. It almost makes me not want to contribute anything. -B > -----Original Message----- > From: Richard Lynch [mailto:ceo@xxxxxxxxx] > Sent: Tuesday, November 21, 2006 3:40 PM > To: Brad Fuller > Cc: php-general@xxxxxxxxxxxxx > Subject: RE: Useful function for file download (i.e. MP3) > > On Tue, November 21, 2006 1:26 pm, Brad Fuller wrote: > >> I think it will use 1M... > >> > >> > function readfile_chunked($filename,$retbytes=true) { > >> > $chunksize = 1*(1024*1024); // how many bytes per chunk > >> > >> :-) > > > > Yes 1M is what I meant, although you can set it to whatever you want. > > > >> The multiple calls to ob_flush() within the body of the loop are > >> probably not a Good Idea, as a general rule... > > > > I think you missed the point of the function. > > I think not. > > I think you'd want to call ob_flush() in a loop at the top until > ob_get_level() returned 0, rather than rely on the number of > ob_handlers stacked up being smaller than the number of Megabytes to > be pumped out. > > That's assuming you would want to override any and all ob_start() in > the first place, which seems a decidedly odd way to structure a web > application to me. > > I would expect that your MP3 output URL would have already turned OFF > output buffering in any php.ini type setting, and wouldn't have > started any output buffering up in the first place, since you > almost-for-sure knew from the very beginning of this request that you > were outputting an MP3 file, which, by its very nature, you would not > want to bufffer. > > >> flush() is also probably overkill, really, for any file big enough > >> for > >> this function to be desirable in the first place... > > > > Php.net says "flush() has no effect on the buffering scheme of your > > webserver or the browser on the client side. Thus you need to call > > both > > ob_flush() and flush() to flush the output buffers. " > > flush() is largely irrelevant to the HTTP interaction. > > TCP/IP, HTTP, Apache, etc all add buffers and network lag that render > flush() meaningless in this context. > > Later versions of PHP, I think, pushed the boundary of flush() up > to/through the Apache layer of buffering. > > But they have zero effect on TCP/IP stack, much less any sort of other > client-server buffering. > > -- > Some people have a "gift" link here. > Know what I want? > I want you to buy a CD from some starving artist. > http://cdbaby.com/browse/from/lynch > Yeah, I get a buck. So? > > -- > PHP General Mailing List (http://www.php.net/) > To unsubscribe, visit: http://www.php.net/unsub.php > -- PHP General Mailing List (http://www.php.net/) To unsubscribe, visit: http://www.php.net/unsub.php
