# Downloading a file using ruby **URL:** \ **Category:** ruby-talk\ **Created:** [7 April 2009 08:48 UTC](https://rubytalk.org/t/downloading-a-file-using-ruby/52716 "2009-04-07T08:48:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Idealone\_Ideally](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/3e96dc/32.png) [@Idealone\_Ideally](https://rubytalk.org/u/Idealone_Ideally)\ **Post date:** [7 April 2009 08:48 UTC](https://rubytalk.org/t/downloading-a-file-using-ruby/52716/1 "2009-04-07T08:48:36Z")
Hi All,        I want to download a file from my web application using/calling ruby code. Manually i can download reports by clicking on 'DOWNLOAD' button in my app, which in turn gets the file from servlet path(where the files are stored). My question is, how can i automate this download part in ruby, if its feasible.     During my googling, i found a set of ruby code to download pictures from a site. snippet of the code looks like this: \ require 'net/http' Net::HTTP.start("[static.test.com](http://static.test.com)") { |http|   resp = http.get("/92/2134322cedc5fef7\_o.jpg")   open("fun.jpg", "wb") { |file|     file.write(resp.body)    } } \        Please let me know if i could use similar technique to download a file(excel file). Thanks       I > **···** > > -- > Posted via [http://www.ruby-forum.com/](http://www.ruby-forum.com/). ---
**Author:** ![bwv549](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac8455/32.png) [@bwv549](https://rubytalk.org/u/bwv549)\ **Post date:** [7 April 2009 21:34 UTC](https://rubytalk.org/t/downloading-a-file-using-ruby/52716/2 "2009-04-07T21:34:08Z")
require 'open-uri'   open("[http://localhost/jtprince/TRASH.TRASH](http://localhost/jtprince/TRASH.TRASH)") do |io|     data = io.read   end Are you looking for something like that? This works on my own machine to grab files under the web server. --John ---
**Author:** ![bwv549](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac8455/32.png) [@bwv549](https://rubytalk.org/u/bwv549)\ **Post date:** [7 April 2009 21:34 UTC](https://rubytalk.org/t/downloading-a-file-using-ruby/52716/3 "2009-04-07T21:34:09Z")
yes, this should download any kind of file (including excel). I use it to read/write mp3 files from online: require 'open-uri' open("[http://someplace.com/somefile.mp3](http://someplace.com/somefile.mp3)") do |in\_io|   File.open("somefile.mp3", 'w') do |out\_io|     out\_io.print in\_io.read   end end ---
**Author:** ![Idealone\_Ideally](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/3e96dc/32.png) [@Idealone\_Ideally](https://rubytalk.org/u/Idealone_Ideally)\ **Post date:** [8 April 2009 13:14 UTC](https://rubytalk.org/t/downloading-a-file-using-ruby/52716/4 "2009-04-08T13:14:47Z")
bwv549 wrote: > **···** > > > yes, this should download any kind of file (including excel). I use > > it to read/write mp3 files from online: > > > > require 'open-uri' > > open("[someplace.com](http://someplace.com/somefile.mp3"%5C)) do |in\_io| > >   File.open("somefile.mp3", 'w') do |out\_io| > >     out\_io.print in\_io.read > >   end > > end > > ---------------------------------------------------------------- > > Thanks guys for the reply. >    Actually i had mistaken that the download picks the file from web > server, but after talking to my developers i realized that they are > internally getting the file using ftp. >    I wanted to know how can i "pull a file from ftp". Is there any ruby > library to pull or push files through "ftp" > > Cheers > -- > Posted via [http://www.ruby-forum.com/\](http://www.ruby-forum.com/%5C). ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_DeNatale1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bbce88/32.png) [@Rick\_DeNatale1](https://rubytalk.org/u/Rick_DeNatale1)\ **Post date:** [8 April 2009 13:25 UTC](https://rubytalk.org/t/downloading-a-file-using-ruby/52716/5 "2009-04-08T13:25:58Z")
Open-uri also works with ftp uri's [http://www.cs.tut.fi/~jkorpela/ftpurl.html](http://www.cs.tut.fi/~jkorpela/ftpurl.html) > **···** > > On Wed, Apr 8, 2009 at 9:14 AM, Idealone Ideally \ wrote: > > > bwv549 wrote: > > \> yes, this should download any kind of file (including excel). I use > > \> it to read/write mp3 files from online: > > \> > > \> require 'open-uri' > > \> open("[someplace.com](http://someplace.com/somefile.mp3"%5C)) do |in\_io| > > \> File.open("somefile.mp3", 'w') do |out\_io| > > \> out\_io.print in\_io.read > > \> end > > \> end > > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------- > > > > Thanks guys for the reply. > >   Actually i had mistaken that the download picks the file from web > > server, but after talking to my developers i realized that they are > > internally getting the file using ftp. > >   I wanted to know how can i "pull a file from ftp". Is there any ruby > > library to pull or push files through "ftp" > > -- > Rick DeNatale > > Blog: [http://talklikeaduck.denhaven2.com/](http://talklikeaduck.denhaven2.com/) > Twitter: [http://twitter.com/RickDeNatale](http://twitter.com/RickDeNatale) > WWR: [http://www.workingwithrails.com/person/9021-rick-denatale](http://www.workingwithrails.com/person/9021-rick-denatale) > LinkedIn: [http://www.linkedin.com/in/rickdenatale](http://www.linkedin.com/in/rickdenatale)