Search Support

Avoid support scams. We will never ask you to call or text a phone number or share personal information. Please report suspicious activity using the “Report Abuse” option.

Learn More

Download "save as" dialog doesn't appear until first bytes of the response body are received

  • 2 cavab
  • 0 have this problem
  • 2 views
  • Last reply by Kalith

more options

Hello! I am developing a web server, from which users can download large files. These files take a few seconds to generate, and cannot be generated ahead-of-time; only when a user requests them. The server therefore responds to such requests by first sending the HTTP response headers (without "Content-Length"), which can be written immediately, then generating the file, and sending the generated file as the response body.

In Chromium, this leads to the "Save As..." dialog appearing instantly, so the file can be generated & downloaded in the background while the user picks a location.

In Firefox (v132, linux x64), the "Save As..." dialog waits for the file to be generated before appearing, which is not user-friendly. During deeper testing, I discovered that Firefox appears to wait for my server to send at least 1 byte of data from the file (in the response body, after sending the HTTP response headers), before the "Save As..." dialog appears.

I have searched the Firefox settings and documentation but did not find anything that would explain this behavior. Is this a bug?

Hello! I am developing a web server, from which users can download large files. These files take a few seconds to generate, and cannot be generated ahead-of-time; only when a user requests them. The server therefore responds to such requests by first sending the HTTP response headers (without "Content-Length"), which can be written immediately, then generating the file, and sending the generated file as the response body. In Chromium, this leads to the "Save As..." dialog appearing instantly, so the file can be generated & downloaded in the background while the user picks a location. In Firefox (v132, linux x64), the "Save As..." dialog waits for the file to be generated before appearing, which is not user-friendly. During deeper testing, I discovered that Firefox appears to wait for my server to send at least 1 byte of data from the file (in the response body, after sending the HTTP response headers), before the "Save As..." dialog appears. I have searched the Firefox settings and documentation but did not find anything that would explain this behavior. Is this a bug?

All Replies (2)

more options

Unfortunately this is just a user help forum not a developer posting forum. If there is a issue then you need to do a firefox Bugzilla and send the issue to the developer to look at.

Helpful?

more options

Thank you, will do. It would be good if the Mozilla support pages had a link to these, to guide fellow developers to the right support area.

Edit: I have opened a bugzilla ticket: https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1943972

Modified by Kalith

Helpful?

Sual ver

You must log in to your account to reply to posts. Please start a new question, if you do not have an account yet.