$this->_response->setHeader('Content-Type',mime_content_type($file_path));    
$this->_response->setBody(file_get_contents($file_path));
$this->_response->sendResponse(); 
// where $file_path is your file path...

To make some streaming-like it's a bit harder the response must look something like that :

        $this->_response->setHeader('Content-Type',mime_content_type($file_path));
    $this->_response->setHeader('Connection','Keep-Alive');
    $this->_response->setHttpResponseCode(206);
    $this->_response->setHeader('Keep_Alive','timeout=15, max=98');
    $this->_response->setHeader('Content-Length',filesize($file_path));
    $this->_response->setBody(file_get_contents($file_path));
    $this->_response->sendResponse();

To make real streaming you have to use the stream_context_create() option of file_get_contents and to accept header request to grab the offset of the file and passing it to the context.

Note that in php 5.3 you have better method based on PECL to check mime-type and other info for your file. And lastely having a function that check if the file exists and if it is readable is always a good idea.

That's it for my little contribution, hope it could be usefull for someone.

Nice idea protecting files with plugins, but there is only one thing that bothers me. Is it fast? What if I would like to check 100 or even 1000 files in one action?

in production code, you would set the Content-Type in the header.

something like header('Content-Type: image/jpg'); in the AssetGrabber plugin.

if we were building generic component, then it would probably involved detecting the mimetype of the file we were grabbing and setting the headers appropriately.

It is very good to hear that you are getting back into a weekly posting. Your new tutorial was really amazing. Unfortunately, the code you attached with your video seems not working properly on my computer.

After I got authenticated, http://localhost/assets/image.jpg gives me long long strings of something like:

============
ÿØÿàJFIF



ÿâXICC_PROFILE

HLinomntrRGB XYZ Π   1acspMSFTIEC sRGB
öÖ
Ó-HP cprt
P3desc
„lwtpt
ðbkptrXYZgXYZ,bXYZ@dmndTpdmddĈvuedL†viewÔ$lumiømeas$tech0rTRC<gTRC<bTRC<textCopyright (c) 1998 Hewlett-Packard CompanydescsRGB IEC61966-2.1sRGB IEC61966-2.1XYZ óQ

ÌXYZ XYZ o¢8õXYZ b™·…
============

Also, without authentication, the AssestGrabber Plugin doesn't redirect me to the index.

I'm on Windows, WampServer 2.0h (not supports PHP5.3) with its installation default plus Apache mod_rewrite enabled.

Should I check if some special PHP or Apache extensions are enabled? If so, please advice me what to check. :-D

Thank you Jon.

This video is an introduction in how to effectively use Zend Controller Plugins. The Zend Documentation refers to Zend Controller plugins being part of the Action Stack which is a simple data structure that can be filled with a bunch of plugins which will run in succession.

We'll create a simple asset protection script using the Zend Framework's built in Zend Controller Plugin architecture.

Grab a copy of the project or browse the repository.

zend_controller, plugin, zend_controller_plugin, zend_session,action stack