[angularjs] Angularjs simple file download causes router to redirect

We also had to develop a solution which would even work with APIs requiring authentication (see this article)

Using AngularJS in a nutshell here is how we did it:

Step 1: Create a dedicated directive

// jQuery needed, uses Bootstrap classes, adjust the path of templateUrl
app.directive('pdfDownload', function() {
return {
    restrict: 'E',
    templateUrl: '/path/to/pdfDownload.tpl.html',
    scope: true,
    link: function(scope, element, attr) {
        var anchor = element.children()[0];

        // When the download starts, disable the link
        scope.$on('download-start', function() {
            $(anchor).attr('disabled', 'disabled');
        });

        // When the download finishes, attach the data to the link. Enable the link and change its appearance.
        scope.$on('downloaded', function(event, data) {
            $(anchor).attr({
                href: 'data:application/pdf;base64,' + data,
                download: attr.filename
            })
                .removeAttr('disabled')
                .text('Save')
                .removeClass('btn-primary')
                .addClass('btn-success');

            // Also overwrite the download pdf function to do nothing.
            scope.downloadPdf = function() {
            };
        });
    },
    controller: ['$scope', '$attrs', '$http', function($scope, $attrs, $http) {
        $scope.downloadPdf = function() {
            $scope.$emit('download-start');
            $http.get($attrs.url).then(function(response) {
                $scope.$emit('downloaded', response.data);
            });
        };
    }] 
});

Step 2: Create a template

<a href="" class="btn btn-primary" ng-click="downloadPdf()">Download</a>

Step 3: Use it

<pdf-download url="/some/path/to/a.pdf" filename="my-awesome-pdf"></pdf-download>

This will render a blue button. When clicked, a PDF will be downloaded (Caution: the backend has to deliver the PDF in Base64 encoding!) and put into the href. The button turns green and switches the text to Save. The user can click again and will be presented with a standard download file dialog for the file my-awesome.pdf.

Our example uses PDF files, but apparently you could provide any binary format given it's properly encoded.