content-disposition

What is content-disposition?

The content-disposition npm package is used to create and parse HTTP Content-Disposition headers. It is commonly used to set the disposition type (inline or attachment) and parameters for a response in a web application, which instructs the browser how to handle the content, such as to display it inline or to download it as a file.

What are content-disposition's main functionalities?

Creating Content-Disposition header for attachment

This code sample demonstrates how to create a Content-Disposition header for an attachment, suggesting the browser to download the file as 'filename.txt'.

const contentDisposition = require('content-disposition');
let header = contentDisposition('filename.txt');

Creating Content-Disposition header with Unicode filenames

This code sample shows how to create a Content-Disposition header for a file with a Unicode filename, ensuring proper encoding for non-ASCII characters.

const contentDisposition = require('content-disposition');
let header = contentDisposition('filename.txt', { type: 'attachment', filename: 'файл.txt' });

Parsing Content-Disposition header

This code sample illustrates how to parse a Content-Disposition header string to get an object representing the disposition type and parameters.

const contentDisposition = require('content-disposition');
let parsedHeader = contentDisposition.parse('attachment; filename="filename.txt"');

Other packages similar to content-disposition

mime

The 'mime' package can be used to determine a file's MIME type based on its extension, which is helpful when setting the Content-Type header. It does not directly handle Content-Disposition headers but is often used in conjunction with setting these headers.

form-data

The 'form-data' package allows for the creation and submission of FormData instances, which can include files with specific Content-Disposition. It is more focused on constructing multipart/form-data payloads than on creating or parsing Content-Disposition headers.

README

content-disposition

Create an attachment Content-Disposition header

Installation

$ npm install content-disposition

API

var contentDisposition = require('content-disposition')

contentDisposition([filename])

Create an attachment Content-Disposition header value using the given file name, if supplied.

res.setHeader('Content-Disposition', contentDisposition('∫ maths.pdf'))

Examples

Send a file for download

var contentDisposition = require('content-disposition')
var destroy = require('destroy')
var http = require('http')
var onFinished = require('on-finished')

var filePath = '/path/to/public/plans.pdf'

http.createServer(function onRequest(req, res) {
  // set headers
  res.setHeader('Content-Type', 'application/pdf')
  res.setHeader('Content-Disposition', contentDisposition(filePath))

  // send file
  var stream = fs.createReadStream(filePath)
  stream.pipe(res)
  onFinished(res, function (err) {
    destroy(stream)
  })
})

Testing

$ npm test

References

• RFC 2616: Hypertext Transfer Protocol -- HTTP/1.1
• RFC 5987: Character Set and Language Encoding for Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) Header Field Parameters
• RFC 6266: Use of the Content-Disposition Header Field in the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP)
• Test Cases for HTTP Content-Disposition header field (RFC 6266) and the Encodings defined in RFCs 2047, 2231 and 5987

License

MIT