How to return binary data instead of base64 encoded byte[] in spring mvc rest controller
<p>I want to return a generated pdf file via spring-mvc-rest controller. This is a shortened version of the code I'm currently using:</p>

<pre><code>@RestController
@RequestMapping("/x")
public class XController {
    @RequestMapping(value = "/", method = RequestMethod.GET)
    public ResponseEntity&lt;byte[]&gt; find() throws IOException {
        byte[] pdf = createPdf();

        HttpHeaders headers = new HttpHeaders();
        headers.setContentType(new MediaType("application", "pdf"));
        headers.setContentDispositionFormData("attachment", "x.pdf");
        headers.setContentLength(pdf.length);
        return new ResponseEntity&lt;byte[]&gt;(pdf, headers, HttpStatus.OK);
    }
}
</code></pre>

<p>This works almost fine, it just to return the actual byte array as base64 encoded :(</p>

<pre><code>curl -i 'http://127.0.0.1:8080/app/x'

Server: Apache-Coyote/1.1
Content-Disposition: form-data; name="attachment"; filename=x.pdf"
Content-Type: application/pdf
Content-Length: 138654
Date: Fri, 08 Jan 2016 11:25:38 GMT

"JVBERi0xLjYNJeLjz9MNCjMyNCAwIG9iag [...]
</code></pre>

<p>(btw. the response doesn't even contain a closing <code>"</code> :)</p>

<p>Any hints appreciated!</p>