Question

In the CodeIgniter framework I have a form action that posts the id of a number of checkboxes to a controller. The controller checks each id to ensure it is valid, and then prints off a pdf document. This works fine.

So, my current method is /items, and I am posting to the /documents method

function documents()
  if ($this->input->post() && validate_documents())
  {
    $this->load->library('Print_docs');
    $this->print_docs->execute($this->input->post());
  }
}

So, if the docs get printed, then this works fine: the user remains on the /items method and pdf is offered as a download in the browser.

If, however, validate_documents() is false, then I dont want anything to happen – i.e. the user should remain on the /items method. However, what is actually happening is that the user is somehow being redirected to the /documents method – and the browser is blank.

So, why is the user being redirected to the /documents method? And how do I keep the user on the /items method no matter what?

Answer 1

A form post is a page refresh. When the pdf is generated, the page “refresh” is actually you downloading the pdf – so the browser doesn’t take you away from the /items method — it’s the same as if you open a link with target="_blank", the page is opened in a new window and the current page is untouched.

You can do 1 of 2 things here:

1. Redirect if there is an error in the documents method back to /items
2. Submit the form via ajax, so whether there is an error or not, you stay on /items