[javascript] Download a file by jQuery.Ajax

I have a Struts2 action in the server side for file downloading.

<action name="download" class="com.xxx.DownAction">
    <result name="success" type="stream">
        <param name="contentType">text/plain</param>
        <param name="inputName">imageStream</param>
        <param name="contentDisposition">attachment;filename={fileName}</param>
        <param name="bufferSize">1024</param>
    </result>
</action>

However when I call the action using the jQuery:

$.post(
  "/download.action",{
    para1:value1,
    para2:value2
    ....
  },function(data){
      console.info(data);
   }
);

in Firebug I see the data is retrieved with the Binary stream. I wonder how to open the file downloading window with which the user can save the file locally?

Ok so here is the working code when Using MVC and you are getting your file from a controller

lets say you have your byte array declare and populate, the only thing you need to do is to use the File function (using System.Web.Mvc)

byte[] bytes = .... insert your bytes in the array
return File(bytes, System.Net.Mime.MediaTypeNames.Application.Octet, "nameoffile.exe");

and then, in the same controller, add thoses 2 functions

protected override void OnResultExecuting(ResultExecutingContext context)
    {
        CheckAndHandleFileResult(context);

        base.OnResultExecuting(context);
    }

    private const string FILE_DOWNLOAD_COOKIE_NAME = "fileDownload";

    /// <summary>
    /// If the current response is a FileResult (an MVC base class for files) then write a
    /// cookie to inform jquery.fileDownload that a successful file download has occured
    /// </summary>
    /// <param name="context"></param>
    private void CheckAndHandleFileResult(ResultExecutingContext context)
    {
        if (context.Result is FileResult)
            //jquery.fileDownload uses this cookie to determine that a file download has completed successfully
            Response.SetCookie(new HttpCookie(FILE_DOWNLOAD_COOKIE_NAME, "true") { Path = "/" });
        else
            //ensure that the cookie is removed in case someone did a file download without using jquery.fileDownload
            if (Request.Cookies[FILE_DOWNLOAD_COOKIE_NAME] != null)
                Response.Cookies[FILE_DOWNLOAD_COOKIE_NAME].Expires = DateTime.Now.AddYears(-1);
    }

and then you will be able to call your controller to download and get the "success" or "failure" callback

$.fileDownload(mvcUrl('name of the controller'), {
            httpMethod: 'POST',
            successCallback: function (url) {
            //insert success code

            },
            failCallback: function (html, url) {
            //insert fail code
            }
        });

Noone posted this @Pekka's solution... so I'll post it. It can help someone.

You don't need to do this through Ajax. Just use

window.location="download.action?para1=value1...."

Adding some more things to above answer for downloading a file

Below is some java spring code which generates byte Array

@RequestMapping(value = "/downloadReport", method = { RequestMethod.POST })
    public ResponseEntity<byte[]> downloadReport(
            @RequestBody final SomeObejct obj, HttpServletResponse response) throws Exception {

        OutputStream out = new ByteArrayOutputStream();
        // write something to output stream
        HttpHeaders respHeaders = new HttpHeaders();
        respHeaders.setContentType(MediaType.APPLICATION_OCTET_STREAM);
        respHeaders.add("X-File-Name", name);
        ByteArrayOutputStream bos = (ByteArrayOutputStream) out;
        return new ResponseEntity<byte[]>(bos.toByteArray(), respHeaders, HttpStatus.CREATED);
    }

Now in javascript code using FileSaver.js ,can download a file with below code

var json=angular.toJson("somejsobject");
var url=apiEndPoint+'some url';
var xhr = new XMLHttpRequest();
//headers('X-File-Name')
xhr.onreadystatechange = function() {
    if (this.readyState == 4 && this.status == 201) {
        var res = this.response;
        var fileName=this.getResponseHeader('X-File-Name');
        var data = new Blob([res]);
        saveAs(data, fileName); //this from FileSaver.js
    }
}    
xhr.open('POST', url);
xhr.setRequestHeader('Authorization','Bearer ' + token);
xhr.setRequestHeader('Content-Type', 'application/json');
xhr.responseType = 'arraybuffer';
xhr.send(json);

The above will download file

That's it works so fine in any browser (I'm using asp.net core)

            function onDownload() {_x000D_
_x000D_
  const api = '@Url.Action("myaction", "mycontroller")'; _x000D_
  var form = new FormData(document.getElementById('form1'));_x000D_
_x000D_
  fetch(api, { body: form, method: "POST"})_x000D_
      .then(resp => resp.blob())_x000D_
      .then(blob => {_x000D_
          const url = window.URL.createObjectURL(blob);_x000D_
        $('#linkdownload').attr('download', 'Attachement.zip');_x000D_
          $('#linkdownload').attr("href", url);_x000D_
          $('#linkdownload')_x000D_
              .fadeIn(3000,_x000D_
                  function() { });_x000D_
_x000D_
      })_x000D_
      .catch(() => alert('An error occurred'));_x000D_
_x000D_
_x000D_
_x000D_
}

 _x000D_
 <button type="button" onclick="onDownload()" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">Click to Process Files</button>_x000D_
 _x000D_
 _x000D_
 _x000D_
 <a role="button" href="#" style="display: none" class="btn btn-sm btn-secondary" id="linkdownload">Click to download Attachments</a>_x000D_
 _x000D_
 _x000D_
 <form asp-controller="mycontroller" asp-action="myaction" id="form1"></form>_x000D_
 _x000D_
 

        function onDownload() {
            const api = '@Url.Action("myaction", "mycontroller")'; 
            //form1 is your id form, and to get data content of form
            var form = new FormData(document.getElementById('form1'));

            fetch(api, { body: form, method: "POST"})
                .then(resp => resp.blob())
                .then(blob => {
                    const url = window.URL.createObjectURL(blob);
                    $('#linkdownload').attr('download', 'Attachments.zip');
                    $('#linkdownload').attr("href", url);
                    $('#linkdownload')
                        .fadeIn(3000,
                            function() {

                            });
                })
                .catch(() => alert('An error occurred'));                 

        }

You can with HTML5

NB: The file data returned MUST be base64 encoded because you cannot JSON encode binary data

In my AJAX response I have a data structure that looks like this:

{
    result: 'OK',
    download: {
        mimetype: string(mimetype in the form 'major/minor'),
        filename: string(the name of the file to download),
        data: base64(the binary data as base64 to download)
    }
}

That means that I can do the following to save a file via AJAX

var a = document.createElement('a');
if (window.URL && window.Blob && ('download' in a) && window.atob) {
    // Do it the HTML5 compliant way
    var blob = base64ToBlob(result.download.data, result.download.mimetype);
    var url = window.URL.createObjectURL(blob);
    a.href = url;
    a.download = result.download.filename;
    a.click();
    window.URL.revokeObjectURL(url);
}

The function base64ToBlob was taken from here and must be used in compliance with this function

function base64ToBlob(base64, mimetype, slicesize) {
    if (!window.atob || !window.Uint8Array) {
        // The current browser doesn't have the atob function. Cannot continue
        return null;
    }
    mimetype = mimetype || '';
    slicesize = slicesize || 512;
    var bytechars = atob(base64);
    var bytearrays = [];
    for (var offset = 0; offset < bytechars.length; offset += slicesize) {
        var slice = bytechars.slice(offset, offset + slicesize);
        var bytenums = new Array(slice.length);
        for (var i = 0; i < slice.length; i++) {
            bytenums[i] = slice.charCodeAt(i);
        }
        var bytearray = new Uint8Array(bytenums);
        bytearrays[bytearrays.length] = bytearray;
    }
    return new Blob(bytearrays, {type: mimetype});
};

This is good if your server is dumping filedata to be saved. However, I've not quite worked out how one would implement a HTML4 fallback

How to DOWNLOAD a file after receiving it by AJAX

It’s convenient when the file is created for a long time and you need to show PRELOADER

Example when submitting a web form:

<script>
$(function () {
    $('form').submit(function () {
        $('#loader').show();
        $.ajax({
            url: $(this).attr('action'),
            data: $(this).serialize(),
            dataType: 'binary',
            xhrFields: {
                'responseType': 'blob'
            },
            success: function(data, status, xhr) {
                $('#loader').hide();
                // if(data.type.indexOf('text/html') != -1){//If instead of a file you get an error page
                //     var reader = new FileReader();
                //     reader.readAsText(data);
                //     reader.onload = function() {alert(reader.result);};
                //     return;
                // }
                var link = document.createElement('a'),
                    filename = 'file.xlsx';
                // if(xhr.getResponseHeader('Content-Disposition')){//filename 
                //     filename = xhr.getResponseHeader('Content-Disposition');
                //     filename=filename.match(/filename="(.*?)"/)[1];
                //     filename=decodeURIComponent(escape(filename));
                // }
                link.href = URL.createObjectURL(data);
                link.download = filename;
                link.click();
            }
        });
        return false;
    });
});
</script>

Optional functional is commented out to simplify the example.

No need to create temporary files on the server.

On jQuery v2.2.4 OK. There will be an error on the old version:

Uncaught DOMException: Failed to read the 'responseText' property from 'XMLHttpRequest': The value is only accessible if the object's 'responseType' is '' or 'text' (was 'blob').

function downloadURI(uri, name) 
{
    var link = document.createElement("a");
    link.download = name;
    link.href = uri;
    link.click();
}

In Rails, I do it this way:

function download_file(file_id) {
  let url       = '/files/' + file_id + '/download_file';
    $.ajax({
    type: 'GET',
    url: url,
    processData: false,
    success: function (data) {
       window.location = url;
    },
    error: function (xhr) {
     console.log(' Error:  >>>> ' + JSON.stringify(xhr));
    }
   });
 }

The trick is the window.location part. The controller's method looks like:

# GET /files/{:id}/download_file/
def download_file
    send_file(@file.file,
          :disposition => 'attachment',
          :url_based_filename => false)
end

Here is what I did, pure javascript and html. Did not test it but this should work in all browsers.

Javascript Function

var iframe = document.createElement('iframe');
iframe.id = "IFRAMEID";
iframe.style.display = 'none';
document.body.appendChild(iframe);
iframe.src = 'SERVERURL'+'?' + $.param($scope.filtro);
iframe.addEventListener("load", function () {
     console.log("FILE LOAD DONE.. Download should start now");
});

Using just components that is supported in all browsers no additional libraries.

Here is my server side JAVA Spring controller code.

@RequestMapping(value = "/rootto/my/xlsx", method = RequestMethod.GET)
public void downloadExcelFile(@RequestParam(value = "param1", required = false) String param1,
    HttpServletRequest request, HttpServletResponse response)
            throws ParseException {

    Workbook wb = service.getWorkbook(param1);
    if (wb != null) {
        try {
            String fileName = "myfile_" + sdf.format(new Date());
            response.setContentType("application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.spreadsheetml.sheet");
            response.setHeader("Content-disposition", "attachment; filename=\"" + fileName + ".xlsx\"");
            wb.write(response.getOutputStream());
            response.getOutputStream().close();
        } catch (IOException e) {
            e.printStackTrace();
        }
    }
    }

I try to download a CSV file and then do something after download has finished. So I need to implement an appropriate callback function.

Using window.location="..." is not a good idea because I cannot operate the program after finishing download. Something like this, change header so it is not a good idea.

fetch is a good alternative however it cannot support IE 11. And window.URL.createObjectURL cannot support IE 11.You can refer this.

This is my code, it is similar to the code of Shahrukh Alam. But you should take care that window.URL.createObjectURL maybe create memory leaks. You can refer this. When response has arrived, data will be stored into memory of browser. So before you click a link, the file has been downloaded. It means that you can do anything after download.

$.ajax({
    url: 'your download url',
    type: 'GET',
}).done(function (data, textStatus, request) {
    // csv => Blob
    var blob = new Blob([data]);

    // the file name from server.
    var fileName = request.getResponseHeader('fileName');

    if (window.navigator && window.navigator.msSaveOrOpenBlob) { // for IE
    window.navigator.msSaveOrOpenBlob(blob, fileName);
    } else { // for others
    var url = window.URL.createObjectURL(blob);
    const a = document.createElement('a');
    a.style.display = 'none';
    a.href = url;
    a.download = fileName;
    document.body.appendChild(a);
    a.click();
    window.URL.revokeObjectURL(url);

    //Do something after download 
    ...

    }
}).then(after_download)
}

The simple way to make the browser downloads a file is to make the request like that:

 function downloadFile(urlToSend) {
     var req = new XMLHttpRequest();
     req.open("GET", urlToSend, true);
     req.responseType = "blob";
     req.onload = function (event) {
         var blob = req.response;
         var fileName = req.getResponseHeader("fileName") //if you have the fileName header available
         var link=document.createElement('a');
         link.href=window.URL.createObjectURL(blob);
         link.download=fileName;
         link.click();
     };

     req.send();
 }

This opens the browser download pop up.

I faced the same issue and successfully solved it. My use-case is this.

"Post JSON data to the server and receive an excel file. That excel file is created by the server and returned as a response to the client. Download that response as a file with custom name in browser"

$("#my-button").on("click", function(){

// Data to post
data = {
    ids: [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
};

// Use XMLHttpRequest instead of Jquery $ajax
xhttp = new XMLHttpRequest();
xhttp.onreadystatechange = function() {
    var a;
    if (xhttp.readyState === 4 && xhttp.status === 200) {
        // Trick for making downloadable link
        a = document.createElement('a');
        a.href = window.URL.createObjectURL(xhttp.response);
        // Give filename you wish to download
        a.download = "test-file.xls";
        a.style.display = 'none';
        document.body.appendChild(a);
        a.click();
    }
};
// Post data to URL which handles post request
xhttp.open("POST", excelDownloadUrl);
xhttp.setRequestHeader("Content-Type", "application/json");
// You should set responseType as blob for binary responses
xhttp.responseType = 'blob';
xhttp.send(JSON.stringify(data));
});

The above snippet is just doing following

• Posting an array as JSON to the server using XMLHttpRequest.
• After fetching content as a blob(binary), we are creating a downloadable URL and attaching it to invisible "a" link then clicking it. I did a POST request here. Instead, you can go for a simple GET too. We cannot download the file through Ajax, must use XMLHttpRequest.

Here we need to carefully set few things on the server side. I set few headers in Python Django HttpResponse. You need to set them accordingly if you use other programming languages.

# In python django code
response = HttpResponse(file_content, content_type="application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.spreadsheetml.sheet")

Since I download xls(excel) here, I adjusted contentType to above one. You need to set it according to your file type. You can use this technique to download any kind of files.

Use window.open https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/Window/open

For example, you can put this line of code in a click handler:

window.open('/file.txt', '_blank');

It will open a new tab (because of the '_blank' window-name) and that tab will open the URL.

Your server-side code should also have something like this:

res.set('Content-Disposition', 'attachment; filename=file.txt');

And that way, the browser should prompt the user to save the file to disk, instead of just showing them the file. It will also automatically close the tab that it just opened.

The HTML Code:-

'<button type="button" id="GetFile">Get File!</button>'


The jQuery Code:-

'$('#GetFile').on('click', function () {
    $.ajax({
        url: 'https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/s.cdpn.io/172905/test.pdf',
        method: 'GET',
        xhrFields: {
            responseType: 'blob'
        },
        success: function (data) {
            var a = document.createElement('a');
            var url = window.URL.createObjectURL(data);
            a.href = url;
            a.download = 'myfile.pdf';
            document.body.append(a);
            a.click();
            a.remove();
            window.URL.revokeObjectURL(url);
        }
    });
});'

If the server is writing the file back in the response (including cookies if you use them to determine whether the file download started), Simply create a form with the values and submit it:

function ajaxPostDownload(url, data) {
    var $form;
    if (($form = $('#download_form')).length === 0) {
        $form = $("<form id='download_form'" + " style='display: none; width: 1px; height: 1px; position: absolute; top: -10000px' method='POST' action='" + url + "'></form>");
        $form.appendTo("body");
    }
    //Clear the form fields
    $form.html("");
    //Create new form fields
    Object.keys(data).forEach(function (key) {
        $form.append("<input type='hidden' name='" + key + "' value='" + data[key] + "'>");
    });
    //Submit the form post
    $form.submit();
}

Usage:

ajaxPostDownload('/fileController/ExportFile', {
    DownloadToken: 'newDownloadToken',
    Name: $txtName.val(),
    Type: $txtType.val()
});

Controller Method:

[HttpPost]
public FileResult ExportFile(string DownloadToken, string Name, string Type)
{
    //Set DownloadToken Cookie.
    Response.SetCookie(new HttpCookie("downloadToken", DownloadToken)
    {
        Expires = DateTime.UtcNow.AddDays(1),
        Secure = false
    });

    using (var output = new MemoryStream())
    {
        //get File
        return File(output.ToArray(), "application/vnd.ms-excel", "NewFile.xls");
    }
}

I found a fix that while it's not actually using ajax it does allow you to use a javascript call to request the download and then get a callback when the download actually starts. I found this helpful if the link runs a server side script that takes a little bit to compose the file before sending it. so you can alert them that it's processing, and then when it does finally send the file remove that processing notification. which is why I wanted to try to load the file via ajax to begin with so that I could have an event happen when the file is requested and another when it actually starts downloading.

the js on the front page

function expdone()
{
    document.getElementById('exportdiv').style.display='none';
}
function expgo()
{
   document.getElementById('exportdiv').style.display='block';
   document.getElementById('exportif').src='test2.php?arguments=data';
}

the iframe

<div id="exportdiv" style="display:none;">
<img src="loader.gif"><br><h1>Generating Report</h1>
<iframe id="exportif" src="" style="width: 1px;height: 1px; border:0px;"></iframe>
</div>

then the other file:

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<script>
function expdone()
{
    window.parent.expdone();
}
</script>
</head>
<body>
<iframe id="exportif" src="<?php echo "http://10.192.37.211/npdtracker/exportthismonth.php?arguments=".$_GET["arguments"]; ?>"></iframe>
<script>document.getElementById('exportif').onload= expdone;</script>
</body></html>

I think there's a way to read get data using js so then no php would be needed. but I don't know it off hand and the server I'm using supports php so this works for me. thought I'd share it in case it helps anyone.

It is certain that you can not do it through Ajax call.

However, there is a workaround.

Steps :

If you are using form.submit() for downloading the file, what you can do is :

1. Create an ajax call from client to server and store the file stream inside the session.
2. Upon "success" being returned from server, call your form.submit() to just stream the file stream stored in the session.

This is helpful in case when you want to decide whether or not file needs to be downloaded after making form.submit(), eg: there can be a case where on form.submit(), an exception occurs on the server side and instead of crashing, you might need to show a custom message on the client side, in such case this implementation might help.

I struggled with this issue for a long time. Finally an elegant external library suggested here helped me out.

If you want to use jQuery File Download , please note this for IE. You need to reset the response or it will not download

    //The IE will only work if you reset response
    getServletResponse().reset();
    //The jquery.fileDownload needs a cookie be set
    getServletResponse().setHeader("Set-Cookie", "fileDownload=true; path=/");
    //Do the reset of your action create InputStream and return

Your action can implement ServletResponseAware to access getServletResponse()

there is another solution to download a web page in ajax. But I am referring to a page that must first be processed and then downloaded.

First you need to separate the page processing from the results download.

1) Only the page calculations are made in the ajax call.

$.post("CalculusPage.php", { calculusFunction: true, ID: 29, data1: "a", data2: "b" },

       function(data, status) 
       {
            if (status == "success") 
            {
                /* 2) In the answer the page that uses the previous calculations is downloaded. For example, this can be a page that prints the results of a table calculated in the ajax call. */
                window.location.href = DownloadPage.php+"?ID="+29;
            }               
       }
);

// For example: in the CalculusPage.php

    if ( !empty($_POST["calculusFunction"]) ) 
    {
        $ID = $_POST["ID"];

        $query = "INSERT INTO ExamplePage (data1, data2) VALUES ('".$_POST["data1"]."', '".$_POST["data2"]."') WHERE id = ".$ID;
        ...
    }

// For example: in the DownloadPage.php

    $ID = $_GET["ID"];

    $sede = "SELECT * FROM ExamplePage WHERE id = ".$ID;
    ...

    $filename="Export_Data.xls";
    header("Content-Type: application/vnd.ms-excel");
    header("Content-Disposition: inline; filename=$filename");

    ...

I hope this solution can be useful for many, as it was for me.

I have created little function as workaround solution (inspired by @JohnCulviner plugin):

// creates iframe and form in it with hidden field,
// then submit form with provided data
// url - form url
// data - data to form field
// input_name - form hidden input name

function ajax_download(url, data, input_name) {
    var $iframe,
        iframe_doc,
        iframe_html;

    if (($iframe = $('#download_iframe')).length === 0) {
        $iframe = $("<iframe id='download_iframe'" +
                    " style='display: none' src='about:blank'></iframe>"
                   ).appendTo("body");
    }

    iframe_doc = $iframe[0].contentWindow || $iframe[0].contentDocument;
    if (iframe_doc.document) {
        iframe_doc = iframe_doc.document;
    }

    iframe_html = "<html><head></head><body><form method='POST' action='" +
                  url +"'>" +
                  "<input type=hidden name='" + input_name + "' value='" +
                  JSON.stringify(data) +"'/></form>" +
                  "</body></html>";

    iframe_doc.open();
    iframe_doc.write(iframe_html);
    $(iframe_doc).find('form').submit();
}

Demo with click event:

$('#someid').on('click', function() {
    ajax_download('/download.action', {'para1': 1, 'para2': 2}, 'dataname');
});

1. Framework agnostic: Servlet downloading file as attachment

<!-- with JS -->
<a href="javascript:window.location='downloadServlet?param1=value1'">
    download
</a>

<!-- without JS -->
<a href="downloadServlet?param1=value1" >download</a>

2. Struts2 Framework: Action downloading file as attachment

<!-- with JS -->
<a href="javascript:window.location='downloadAction.action?param1=value1'">
    download
</a>

<!-- without JS -->
<a href="downloadAction.action?param1=value1" >download</a>

It would be better to use <s:a> tag pointing with OGNL to an URL created with <s:url> tag:

<!-- without JS, with Struts tags: THE RIGHT WAY -->    
<s:url action="downloadAction.action" var="url">
    <s:param name="param1">value1</s:param>
</s:ulr>
<s:a href="%{url}" >download</s:a>

In the above cases, you need to write the Content-Disposition header to the response, specifying that the file needs to be downloaded (attachment) and not opened by the browser (inline). You need to specify the Content Type too, and you may want to add the file name and length (to help the browser drawing a realistic progressbar).

For example, when downloading a ZIP:

response.setContentType("application/zip");
response.addHeader("Content-Disposition", 
                   "attachment; filename=\"name of my file.zip\"");
response.setHeader("Content-Length", myFile.length()); // or myByte[].length...

With Struts2 (unless you are using the Action as a Servlet, an hack for direct streaming, for example), you don't need to directly write anything to the response; simply using the Stream result type and configuring it in struts.xml will work: EXAMPLE

<result name="success" type="stream">
   <param name="contentType">application/zip</param>
   <param name="contentDisposition">attachment;filename="${fileName}"</param>
   <param name="contentLength">${fileLength}</param>
</result>

3. Framework agnostic (/ Struts2 framework): Servlet(/Action) opening file inside the browser

If you want to open the file inside the browser, instead of downloading it, the Content-disposition must be set to inline, but the target can't be the current window location; you must target a new window created by javascript, an <iframe> in the page, or a new window created on-the-fly with the "discussed" target="_blank":

<!-- From a parent page into an IFrame without javascript -->   
<a href="downloadServlet?param1=value1" target="iFrameName">
    download
</a>

<!-- In a new window without javascript --> 
<a href="downloadServlet?param1=value1" target="_blank">
    download
</a>

<!-- In a new window with javascript -->    
<a href="javascript:window.open('downloadServlet?param1=value1');" >
    download
</a>

Ok, based on ndpu's code heres an improved (I think) version of ajax_download;-

function ajax_download(url, data) {
    var $iframe,
        iframe_doc,
        iframe_html;

    if (($iframe = $('#download_iframe')).length === 0) {
        $iframe = $("<iframe id='download_iframe'" +
                    " style='display: none' src='about:blank'></iframe>"
                   ).appendTo("body");
    }

    iframe_doc = $iframe[0].contentWindow || $iframe[0].contentDocument;
    if (iframe_doc.document) {
        iframe_doc = iframe_doc.document;
    }

    iframe_html = "<html><head></head><body><form method='POST' action='" +
                  url +"'>" 

    Object.keys(data).forEach(function(key){
        iframe_html += "<input type='hidden' name='"+key+"' value='"+data[key]+"'>";

    });

        iframe_html +="</form></body></html>";

    iframe_doc.open();
    iframe_doc.write(iframe_html);
    $(iframe_doc).find('form').submit();
}

Use this like this;-

$('#someid').on('click', function() {
    ajax_download('/download.action', {'para1': 1, 'para2': 2});
});

The params are sent as proper post params as if coming from an input rather than as a json encoded string as per the previous example.

CAVEAT: Be wary about the potential for variable injection on those forms. There might be a safer way to encode those variables. Alternatively contemplate escaping them.