Question

I have been made aware of the Accept-Range header.

I have a URL that I am calling that always returns a 2mb file. I don’t need this much and only need the last section 20-50k.

I am not sure how to go about using it? Would I need to use cURL? I am currently using file_get_contents().

Would someone be able to provide me with an example / tutorial?

Thanks.

EDIT: If this isn’t possible then what is post on about? Here …
EDIT: Ulrika! I’m not insane.

Answer 1

This is possible using the Range header, provided the server supports it. See the HTTP 1.1 spec. You would want to send a header in the following format in your request:

Range: bytes=-50000

This would give you the last 50,000 bytes. Adjust to whatever you need.

You can specify this header in file_get_contents using a context. For example:

// Create a stream
$opts = array(
  'http'=>array(
    'method' => "GET",
    'header' => "Range: bytes=-50000\r\n"
  )
);

$context = stream_context_create($opts);

// Open the file using the HTTP headers set above
$file = file_get_contents('http://www.example.com/', false, $context);