Downloading a docx file from binary code file data on browser from ui page button action

[YashwanthKK]

Hello community ,

I created a Ui page and that Ui page has download button. In the Ui page client script I used glide Ajax and called a function from script include , that script include has a Api call and it returns the binary encoded text data. 

I bought this binary encoded data(Ex: W�e(�2�3@Q�w�Z2��) to the Ui page , and now I used blob to convert this binary encoded data to docx , The file is getting downloaded in browser but the content is not displaying , saying could not recognize content. I tried converting the binary code text into base64 value and pass it , but still the data is not appearing in docx file.

So , how to convert a binary encoded data to a docx file without losing the formatting and download it on browser , with a click on UI page. 

[Maik Skoddow]

Hi @YashwanthKK 

To send a ServiceNow attachment to the browser for downloading, you should use the Attachment API, specifically the endpoint that serves the attachment file as a binary stream. This API provides a direct download link for attachments stored in ServiceNow.

The Attachment API endpoint for downloading a file is:

GET /api/now/attachment/{sys_id}/file

Replace {sys_id} with the Sys ID of the attachment you wish to download. When you access this endpoint (either via REST client, browser, or programmatically), it returns the file as a binary stream with appropriate HTTP headers, prompting the browser to download the file.

Example

If your instance is dev12345.service-now.com and the attachment Sys ID is 02c7308f40a97200964f0edb17b6d9d0, the URL would be: https://dev12345.service-now.com/api/now/attachment/02c7308f40a97200964f0edb17b6d9d0/file

Navigating to this URL in a browser (with proper authentication) will initiate the download of the attachment.

Additional Notes:

• The API returns the file in its original format (e.g., PDF, DOCX, BIN), and the browser handles the download automatically based on the response headers.

• You can programmatically retrieve the download link using the Attachment API, then present it to users in your UI for direct download.

• For bulk operations or scripting, you can use tools like curl to automate downloads using these URLs

Maik

[Ankur Bawiskar]

@YashwanthKK 

what's your actual business requirement?

what are you trying to achieve?

If my response helped please mark it correct and close the thread so that it benefits future readers.