HOW TO FORCE FILE DOWNLOD TO PC

First, make sure that you don't pass the filename directly to your controller, because it becomes part of the url.
The link in your view should be like this:

PHP Code:

echo anchor('download/download_file/' . urlencode($filename),$filename);
//the anchor function is in the url helper 


Now, in the controller method, I decode the given filename.

PHP Code:

public function download_file($name)
{
      //$name is the encoded filename, passed by the view
      $this->load->helper('download');
      $path = './uploads/docs/' . urldecode($name);
      if (file_exists($path)) {
         force_download($path,NULL);
      }
      else {
         show_error('File not found!');
         die();
      }
} 


Let me know if this helps.

I have tried the code but still its not working. Am using CI 2.2.6 When i click on the link it redirects to black page and the this "http://codeigniter/index.php/download/download_file/january2013.pdf" is what is the url, the file is not downloaded