[FIXED] How do i reference whatever content is being sent in this response?

Issue

I am currently working in a system that was built on symfony 1.4 long before i came into this company.

I am trying to modify a function that forces an excel download, but i cant figure out where the content is being set. My assumption is that it is somehow grabbing the entirety of the '$this' object?

i see headers:

$this->getResponse()->setHttpHeader('Content-Disposition', 'filename=winners.xls');
$this->getResponse()->setHttpHeader('Content-Type', 'application/vnd.ms-excel; charset=utf-8');

and i see this function being invoked:

$this->setLayout('none');

and everything else is variables that are being passed to the view.

I just need to be able to reference the content being sent for download, so that i can run it through PHPExcel.

Any idea how to reference the content being sent?

UPDATE: Here's the entire function

$round = $request->getParameter("round");
$league = $request->getParameter("league");

$this->all_contest_ids = array();
$contest = asPickem::getInstance()->getContest();

// find all child contest ids
$this->all_contest_ids[] = $contest->getId();
if ($contest->getNode()->hasChildren()) {
  foreach ($contest->getNode()->getDescendants() as $child) {
    $this->all_contest_ids[] = $child->getId();
  }
}


if (!$round || $round == "-1") {
  $tablename = ucfirst(asPickem::getInstance()->getProduct()->getSlug()) . 'RankUserOverall';
  $query = Doctrine_Core::getTable($tablename)->getRankingsQuery(asPickem::getInstance()->getContest()->getId(), $this->getExcludedUserEntryIds());
  $this->title = "Overall Rankings";
} // show round results
else {

  if (isset($league)) {
    $tablename = ucfirst(asPickem::getInstance()->getProduct()->getSlug()) . 'RankLeagueUser';
    $query = Doctrine_Core::getTable($tablename)->getRankingsQuery($league, $round);

  } else {
    $tablename = ucfirst(asPickem::getInstance()->getProduct()->getSlug()) . 'RankUser';
    $query = Doctrine_Core::getTable($tablename)->getRankingsQuery(asPickem::getInstance()->getContest()->getId(), $round, $this->getExcludedUserEntryIds($this->round));

  }


  $r = Doctrine_Core::getTable('CampaignRound')->find($round);

  $this->title = $r->getView() . " Rankings";
}

$limit = $request->getParameter("limit", 100);
if ($limit > 0) {
  $query->limit($limit);
}

$this->rankings = $query->execute();

// load survey questions
$survies = array();
$thisSurvies = Doctrine_Core::getTable('Survey')->getByContest(asPickem::getInstance()->getContest()->getId());

foreach ($thisSurvies as $survey) {
  $survies[] = $survey;
}

// if this contest is a child of a portal then include the parent surveys
$c = asPickem::getInstance()->getContest();
while ($c->getParent()) {
  $c = $c->getParent();

  if ($c->getProduct()->getSlug() == 'portal') {
    $this->includeParentSurveyQuestions = true;
    break;
  }
}


if ($this->includeParentSurveyQuestions) {
  $contest = asPickem::getInstance()->getContest();
  while ($contest->getParent()) {
    $contest = $contest->getParent();
    $parentSurvies = Doctrine_Core::getTable('Survey')->getByContest($contest->getId());

    foreach ($parentSurvies as $survey) {
      $survies[] = $survey;
    }
  }
}

$this->questions = array();
foreach ($survies as $survey) {
  foreach ($survey->getSortedQuestions() as $question) {
    $this->questions[$question->getId()] = $question->getQuestionText();
  }
}
unset($survies);

$temp = tempnam(sys_get_temp_dir(), 'html');
file_put_contents($temp, $this->getResponse()->getTemplate());

//build instance of PHPExcel object, and load/read html file
require_once dirname(__FILE__) . '/../../../../../EXCEL/PHPExcel.php';
$objPHPExcel = new PHPExcel();
$excelHTMLReader = PHPExcel_IOFactory::createReader('HTML');
$excelHTMLReader->loadIntoExisting($temp, $objPHPExcel);
$objPHPExcel->getActiveSheet()->setTitle('userlist');

//delete the temporary file
unlink($temp);

$this->getResponse()->setHttpHeader('Content-Disposition', 'filename=winners.xls');
$this->getResponse()->setHttpHeader('Content-Type', 'application/vnd.ms-excel; charset=utf-8');

$writer = PHPExcel_IOFactory::createWriter($objPHPExcel, 'Excel2007');
$this->renderText($writer->save('php://output'));

$this->setLayout('none');

Solution

I was able to figure this out, and the answer is as follows...

this is how i was able to reference the information being sent to the view:

$this->setLayout('none');
$view = $this->getController()->getView($this->getContext()->getModuleName(), $this->getContext()->getActionName(), sfview::SUCCESS);
$view->execute();
$view->getAttributeHolder()->add($this->getVarHolder()->getAll());
$exContent = $view->render();

for those who may end up facing a similar problem, here is a look at the entirety of what i used to get the reference, and run it through PHPExcel in order to stop the Excel alert pop-up about the file and it:

$this->setLayout('none');
$view = $this->getController()->getView($this->getContext()->getModuleName(), $this->getContext()->getActionName(), sfview::SUCCESS);
$view->execute();
$view->getAttributeHolder()->add($this->getVarHolder()->getAll());
$exContent = $view->render();

$temp = tempnam(sys_get_temp_dir(), 'html');
file_put_contents($temp, $exContent);

//build instance of PHPExcel object, and load/read html file
require_once dirname(__FILE__) . '/../../../../../EXCEL/PHPExcel.php';
$objPHPExcel = new PHPExcel();
$excelHTMLReader = PHPExcel_IOFactory::createReader('HTML');
$excelHTMLReader->loadIntoExisting($temp, $objPHPExcel);
$objPHPExcel->getActiveSheet()->setTitle('userlist');

//delete the temporary file
unlink($temp);

header('Content-Type: application/vnd.ms-excel'); // header for .xls file
header('Content-Disposition: attachment;filename=winners.xls'); // specify the download file name
header('Cache-Control: max-age=0');

$writer = PHPExcel_IOFactory::createWriter($objPHPExcel, 'Excel5');
$writer->save('php://output');

$this->setLayout(false);

Hope this is able to help someone. Thanks!

Answered By - finesse.png

Answer Checked By - Marie Seifert (PHPFixing Admin)