Rails temp zip response example

gistfile1.rb

#helper method to generate temp zip file
def generate_temp_zip_file(base_name, items)
  tmpfile = Tempfile.new([base_name, '.zip'], 'tmp')

  Zip::ZipOutputStream.open(tmpfile) {|zop|} #Necessary to create empty zip
  Zip::ZipFile.open(tmpfile.path, Zip::ZipFile::CREATE) do |zip_file|
    items.each do |entry|
      zip_file.add(entry[:name], entry[:src_path])
    end
  end

  begin
    yield tmpfile
  rescue Exception => e
    Rails.logger.error("TEMP ZIP FILE ERROR #{e.message}")
  ensure
    tmpfile.unlink
    tmpfile.close
  end
end

#Some notes.....
#The version of rubyzip used here (0.9.9 i think) is not the latest of rubyzip
#some minor changes may be needed to use the latest version
#but the overall process is the same

def some_action
	filename = "some_path_for_the_zip_file.zip"
	entries = [{name: "a", src_path: "path/to/file/in/hdd"}]

	generate_temp_zip_file(File.basename(filename, '.zip'), entries) do |tmpfile|
	  send_file(tmpfile.path, filename: File.basename(filename))
	end
end