Serving files for download

Routes can be used to serve file downloads with the BinaryFileResponse response object. Using the BinaryFileResponse to serve a file for download allows you to keep the original file’s URL private or to send dynamic content as a file download.

In this recipe, we will create a route that provides a download for a PDF.

Getting started

This recipe uses a PDF file that is located in the same directory as the module. You can use any other available file type, such as a text file. A test PDF can be found on the World Wide Web Consortium website at https://www.w3.org/WAI/ER/tests/xhtml/testfiles/resources/pdf/dummy.pdf.

How to do it…

1. First, we need to create the src/Controller directory in the module’s directory. We will put our controller class in this directory, which gives our controller class the Controller namespace:

   mkdir -p src/Controller

2. Create a file named DownloadController.php in the Controller directory. This...