Closing the users browser connection whilst keeping your php script running has been an issue since 4.1, when the behaviour of register_shutdown_function() was modified so that it would not automatically close the users connection.
sts at mail dot xubion dot hu
Posted the original solution:
<?php
header("Connection: close");
ob_start();
phpinfo();
$size=ob_get_length();
header("Content-Length: $size");
ob_end_flush();
flush();
sleep(13);
error_log("do something in the background");
?>
Which works fine until you substitute phpinfo() for
echo ('text I want user to see'); in which case the headers are never sent!
The solution is to explicitly turn off output buffering and clear the buffer prior to sending your header information.
example:
<?php
ob_end_clean();
header("Connection: close");
ignore_user_abort(); ob_start();
echo ('Text the user will see');
$size = ob_get_length();
header("Content-Length: $size");
ob_end_flush(); flush(); sleep(30);
echo('Text user will never see');
?>
Just spent 3 hours trying to figure this one out, hope it helps someone :)
Tested in:
IE 7.5730.11
Mozilla Firefox 1.81
