# Send\_file and locking files after download? **URL:** \ **Category:** Rails\ **Created:** [May 15, 2006, 1:08am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/send-file-and-locking-files-after-download/60504 "2006-05-15T01:08:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![markedman](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@markedman](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/markedman)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2006, 1:08am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/send-file-and-locking-files-after-download/60504/1 "2006-05-15T01:08:13Z")
Hello, I’m working on a download service which grants users a one-time-download access to files. The idea is to write an entry to a database table after a successful download that “locks” the download link for the user. After doing some quick tests with send\_file I noticed that send\_file does not block until the user has downloaded the full file, but proceeds with the rest of the controller code. For example: send\_file fullpath, :stream =\> false, :disposition =\> ‘attachment’, :filename =\> filename logger.info “\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\* LOCK DOWNLOAD!! \*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*” After send\_file starts the file transfer, I can immediately see the “LOCK DOWNLOAD” entry in the log files. This would mean that if the user interrupts a big file download, it would still be locked. What would be the solution? Do I have to somehow (…how?) write my own buffering file sending which blocks the control and breaks out of the controller if the user interrupts the transfer? I would imagine :stream =\> true could be a step closer to my needs, but it doesn’t seem to work since all I get is “Rails application failed to start properly”. Any ideas? ---
**Author:** ![markedman](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@markedman](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/markedman)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2006, 8:38am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/send-file-and-locking-files-after-download/60504/2 "2006-05-15T08:38:44Z")
On Mon, 2006-05-15 at 01:08 +0200, Markku Mäkelä wrote: > Hello, > > I’m working on a download service which grants users a one-time-download > access to files. The idea is to write an entry to a database table after > a successful download that “locks” the download link for the user. You should google “X-Sendfile”. It might help. – Zed A. Shaw > **[Zed A. shaw](https://zedshaw.com/)** > > Personal essays and writings by Zed A. Shaw. [http://mongrel.rubyforge.org/](http://mongrel.rubyforge.org/) ---
**Author:** ![markedman](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@markedman](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/markedman)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2006, 8:47pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/send-file-and-locking-files-after-download/60504/3 "2006-05-15T20:47:39Z")
Zed S. wrote: > You should google “X-Sendfile”. It might help. Hmm I don’t see how? My problem is that I want to execute code in the controller _after_ a successful download, but not if the download was interrupted. mod\_xsendfile just seems to replace Rails’ send\_file, but doesn’t allow the control to return to the controller after download. Nice looking little module anyway, might prove useful in some other project, so thanks anyway. -markku ---
**Author:** ![markedman](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@markedman](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/markedman)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2006, 8:55pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/send-file-and-locking-files-after-download/60504/4 "2006-05-15T20:55:49Z")
To be more exact, what I’m looking for is - first looping through a file send: block until user has downloaded the last byte of the file, or interrupts the transfer - then check if the connection was aborted, like PHP’s if( connection\_status() == 0 ) { lock\_the\_file(); } The problem is that send\_file seems to be non-blocking.