Add a download link to menu

Question

I am trying to add a link to a managed pdf file to the footer menu. Right now I am using a controller which uses a specific route in order to download the file:

// src/Controller/DownloadController.php
class DownloadController extends ControllerBase {
  public function downloadPdf() {
    $config = \Drupal::config('example.settings');
    $pdf = $config->get('pdf');
    if ($pdf) {
      $file = File::load($pdf[0]);
      $filename = $file->getFileName();
      header("Content-Type: application/pdf");
      header("Content-Disposition: attachment;filename=$filename");
      print file_get_contents($file->getFileUri());
    }
  }
}

// example.routing.yml
example.download:
  path: 'example/download'
  defaults:
    _controller: '\Drupal\example\Controller\DownloadController::downloadPdf'
    _title: 'Download PDF'
  requirements:
    _permission: 'access content'

After I have activated the module I added a new link named Download PDF to the footer menu. This link points to example/download, this seems to work, but I was wondering if there is a better approach. If possible, I would like to add the path to the file to new menu item instead.

Answer 1

For menu items, you can quickly configure the contributed menu_link_attributes module to include a download link attribute.

It's a 'low code' option if there ever was one; the module even has a user interface right on your site for customizing your configuration:

1. add the module: composer require drupal/menu_link_attributes
2. enable the module: drush en menu_link_attributes
3. visit the 'manage attributes' configuration page at /admin/config/menu_link_attributes/config
4. add the following lines to the end of the edit textarea (note the indentation; it should have 2 spaces in front of the first line and 4 in front of the second line):

     download:
       filename: ''
   

5. add a menu item in the menu of your choice (example using the main menu: /admin/structure/menu/manage/main/add)
6. in the 'attributes' section of the 'Add menu link' page, enter a filename in the 'download' textfield and save the new link with the other desired values
7. export your configuration to code: drush cex

Your new configuration should look something like the following:

attributes:
  class:
    label: ''
    description: ''
  download:
    description: 'Enter a name to assign to the file. Leave this field blank to exclude the download attribute.'
    filename: ''
  target:
    label: ''
    description: ''
    options:
      _blank: 'New window (_blank)'
      _self: 'Same window (_self)'
    default_value: ''

I've added a merge request to include the download attribute out of the box, tho I've also indicated it is a minor request. The MR implements the download attributed as described in MDN documentation.