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D3.js plot not rendering [duplicate]

I try to import a local .json-file using d3.json().
The file filename.json is stored in the same folder as my html file.
Yet the (json)-parameter is null.
d3.json("filename.json", function(json) {
root = json;
root.x0 = h / 2;
root.y0 = 0;});
. . .
}
My code is basically the same as in this d3.js example

If you're running in a browser, you cannot load local files.
But it's fairly easy to run a dev server, on the commandline, simply cd into the directory with your files, then:
python -m SimpleHTTPServer
(or python -m http.server using python 3)
Now in your browser, go to localhost:3000 (or :8000 or whatever is shown on the commandline).
The following used to work in older versions of d3:
var json = {"my": "json"};
d3.json(json, function(json) {
root = json;
root.x0 = h / 2;
root.y0 = 0;
});

In version d3.v5, you should do it as
d3.json("file.json").then(function(data){ console.log(data)});
Similarly, with csv and other file formats.
You can find more details at https://github.com/d3/d3/blob/master/CHANGES.md

Adding to the previous answers it's simpler to use an HTTP server provided by most Linux/ Mac machines (just by having python installed).
Run the following command in the root of your project
python -m SimpleHTTPServer
Then instead of accessing file://.....index.html open your browser on http://localhost:8080 or the port provided by running the server. This way will make the browser fetch all the files in your project without being blocked.

http://bl.ocks.org/eyaler/10586116
Refer to this code, this is reading from a file and creating a graph.
I also had the same problem, but later I figured out that the problem was in the json file I was using(an extra comma). If you are getting null here try printing the error you are getting, like this may be.
d3.json("filename.json", function(error, graph) {
alert(error)
})
This is working in firefox, in chrome somehow its not printing the error.

Loading a local csv or json file with (d3)js is not safe to do. They prevent you from doing it. There are some solutions to get it working though. The following line basically does not work (csv or json) because it is a local import:
d3.csv("path_to_your_csv", function(data) {console.log(data) });
Solution 1:
Disable the security in your browser
Different browsers have different security setting that you can disable. This solution can work and you can load your files. Disabling is however not advisable. It will make you vulnerable for all kind of threads. On the other hand, who is going to use your software if you tell them to manually disable the security?
Disable the security in Chrome:
--disable-web-security
--allow-file-access-from-files
Solution 2:
Load your csv/json file from a website.
This may seem like a weird solution but it will work. It is an easy fix but can be unpractical though. See here for an example. Check out the page-source. This is the idea:
d3.csv("https://path_to_your_csv", function(data) {console.log(data) });
Solution 3:
Start you own browser, with e.g. Python.
Such a browser does not include all kind of security checks. This may be a solution when you experiment with your code on your own machine. In many cases, this may not be the solution when you have users. This example will serve HTTP on port 8888 unless it is already taken:
python -m http.server 8888
python -m SimpleHTTPServer 8888 &
Open the (Chrome) browser address bar and type the underneath. This will open the index.html. In case you have a different name, type the path to that local HTML page.
localhost:8888
Solution 4:
Use local-host and CORS
You may can use local-host and CORS but the approach is not user-friendly coz setting up this, may not be so straightforward.
Solution 5:
Embed your data in the HTML file
I like this solution the most. Instead of loading your csv, you can write a script that embeds your data directly in the html. This will allow users use their favorite browser, and there are no security issues. This solution may not be so elegant because your html file can grow very hard depending on your data but it will work though. See here for an example. Check out the page-source.
Remove this line:
d3.csv("path_to_your_csv", function(data) { })
Replace with this:
var data =
[
$DATA_COMES_HERE$
]

You can't readily read local files, at least not in Chrome, and possibly not in other browsers either.
The simplest workaround is to simply include your JSON data in your script file and then simply get rid of your d3.json call and keep the code in the callback you pass to it.
Your code would then look like this:
json = { ... };
root = json;
root.x0 = h / 2;
root.y0 = 0;
...

I have used this
d3.json("graph.json", function(error, xyz) {
if (error) throw error;
// the rest of my d3 graph code here
}
so you can refer to your json file by using the variable xyz and graph is the name of my local json file

Use resource as local variable
var filename = {x0:0,y0:0};
//you can change different name for the function than json
d3.json = (x,cb)=>cb.call(null,x);
d3.json(filename, function(json) {
root = json;
root.x0 = h / 2;
root.y0 = 0;});
//...
}

Local javascript cannot open local file

Please tell me, why local javascript cannot open a local file?
I'm trying to create a simple javascript/html app that shall run on the local machine from local filesystem. This app is trying to read the configuration file (json) using different methods, but gets the following errors (Chrome):
In case of XMLHttpRequest, method open("GET", filename, true) throws an exception:
XMLHttpRequest cannot load file:///bla-bla-bla. Cross origin requests are only supported for protocol schemes: http, data, chrome, chrome-extension, https, chrome-extension-resource.
In case of document.createElement("iframe").src=filename I have another exception:
VM596:1 Uncaught DOMException: Failed to read the 'contentDocument' property from 'HTMLIFrameElement': Blocked a frame with origin "null" from accessing a cross-origin frame."
In case of var f=new File([], filename, { type: "text/plain" }); I've got the File object with the zero size and no errors at all. FileReader returns an empty result then.
So, my questions are:
Why is it "cross-origin"? These files are stored in the same directory!
And how could I open the local file from the same origin/directory I run the script?
Please help.
P.S.: Yes, I know about --allow-file-access-from-files but I need to run this by customers.

Why is it "cross-origin"? These files are stored in the same directory!
Because Chrome considers all file:// URLs to be cross-origin to each other.
And how could I open the local file from the same origin/directory I run the script?
From Chrome? You don't. Not unless you disable CORS entirely with a command-line option (which is a bad idea, as it's trivially easy to forget you've set that command-line option and go surf the web, leaving yourself wide open to exploits cashing in on the fact you've disabled web security).
Other browsers may treat origin null differently.
Instead, run a local web server and make the files available via the local web server. Then you can access them because it'll be a same-origin http URL, not a file URL. Or use any of the dozen or so frameworks that let you write apps in JavaScript (rather than using the browser). Or a simple NodeJS script serving the files (it's about 10 lines long). Etc.

What you can do to read your .json file, is to declare it a .js.
data.js
var data = `{"value1": 10, "value2": "hello"}`
index.html
<script src="data.js"></script>
<script>
console.log(JSON.parse(data))
</script>
This will print
Object {value1: 10, value2: "hello"}
Both of them have to be in the same directory, otherwise you've to change the import of data.js.

A little late for this party, but I had the same issue and this was how I got around the problem
Create a js template such as this:
template.js
(function(global, factory) {
"use strict";
factory(global);
})(typeof window !== "undefined" ? window : this, function(window) {
"use strict";
var myObjectJson = '<JSONREPLACE>';
var myObject = JSON.parse(myObjectJson);
window.myObject = myObject;
});
Then, have your json replace the tag either by your program that could generate the exported js itself, or create a batch script file that does that for you. I'm using C# so I just build the template directly from there. If the language you're working on is half-decent, you should be able to generate and export your file.
Make sure you use a minified json string.
Then you use your generated file just like you'd use jQuery
<script src="generated.js"></script>
and access your object with
window.myObject;
It's slightly more complicated to set-up, but once you do, you completely remove the cross-origin issue.

Access Language JSON file with JS on Chrome without a webserver

tl/dr: How can I
internationalize strings in a html5/javascript application
while using a json file or something similar with key/value pairs (easy to translate)
without using javascript vars for every language string (ugly)
and if possible, without complex frameworks or packages
on Chrome (or something with same-origin-policy)
without a (local) webserver
without internet connection
Details:
I am developing a html5 touch game for older useres on an embedded IE system that will be changed to an embedded chrome system soon. Using a webserver is currently no option and I can't assume I have an internet connection all the time. Since the application should be in different languages, I currently have a json file that is accessed like this (irrelevant stuff left out):
//...
var language = "en"; //the language we want, same as the json file name
var key = "key"; //the key to the value we like to obtain
var languageMap;
var langFile = $.getJSON(language + ".json", function(data){
languageMap = data;
});
var langFileStatus = $.when(langFile);
langFileStatus.done(function () {
var value = languageMap[key];
//use the value of "key" here for awsome stuff
});
//...
the language file (e.g. "en.json") looks like this:
{
"key":"value",
"otherKey":"otherValue",
}
which works pretty well for IE and FF, but not on Chrome, because of the same-origin-policy. I read about an awsome trick to bypass that here, but I couldn't make it work in this case. I have never used JSON before in connection with JS, so maybe its an easy question. Different solutions for the whole problem are also very welcome (thats why I posted the complete problem). Thanks in advance!

Download Web Server for Chrome App from here. This is not exactly a server, but a handy simulation of the same that allows you to run your files locally as if they are running on a server.
It works without any Internet connection. More importantly, it has configuration options for CORS request thanks to recent updates Install it, select the folder in which your files are present, and you are ready! It's a really good way to test your code locally on Chrome.

URL path changes between dev and published version

I just got Scott Hanselman's chat app with SignalR working with ASP.NET MVC 4. After hours of configuration, trial and error, and getting different versions of Windows to talk to each other on my home network, it's all working except that I'm left with one issue that I'm not sure how to handle.
This line of javascript has to change, depending on if I'm running the app through Visual Studio or the published (IIS) version:
Works when running within VS:
var connection = $.connection('echo');
Works with published version:
var connection = $.connection('ChatWithSignalR/echo');
When I run within VS, the URL is:
http://localhost:9145/
And the published version is:
http://localhost/ChatWithSignalR
If I don't change that line of code, and try to run the app within VS, using the javascript that has ChatWithSignalR in it, I get an error like this:
Failed to load resource: the server responded with a status of 404 (Not Found)
http://localhost:9145/ChatWithSignalR/echo/negotiate?_=1347809290826
What can I do so that I can use the same javascript code and have it work in both scenarios?
var connection = $.connection('??????');
Note, this is in my Global.asax.cs:
RouteTable.Routes.MapConnection<MyConnection>("echo", "echo/{*operation}");

This is something you need to take care of because the SignalR library has no idea where the app is deployed to and what its root address is. Something I always do in web applications is have a global Javascript variable called site_root and set it equal to the absolute URL for the root of the site. Now, to do this, you need server tags to evaluate and print that, something like "<%= RootUrl %>" or whatever the syntax is for your server language. Then, when referencing URLs in Javascript, you should always use site_root + "/echo" (with or without the beginning "/" depending on what's printed by the server variable/method). So you'd have something like:
<script type="text/javascript">
var site_root = "<%= RootUrl %>";
// Later, wherever in your code:
function doSomething() {
var echo_url = site_root + "/echo";
// Now you have an absolute URL for the echo page
}
</script>
Now, I put this in the master layout page that always is included - like a Master Page, or depending on what server language you use. Also, instead of a variable like RootUrl, you might use some method to resolve URLs, and just pass it an empty string or "/" to get the root URL for the application.

Take a screenshot of a webpage with JavaScript?

Is it possible to to take a screenshot of a webpage with JavaScript and then submit that back to the server?
I'm not so concerned with browser security issues. etc. as the implementation would be for HTA. But is it possible?

Google is doing this in Google+ and a talented developer reverse engineered it and produced http://html2canvas.hertzen.com/ . To work in IE you'll need a canvas support library such as http://excanvas.sourceforge.net/

I have done this for an HTA by using an ActiveX control. It was pretty easy to build the control in VB6 to take the screenshot. I had to use the keybd_event API call because SendKeys can't do PrintScreen. Here's the code for that:
Declare Sub keybd_event Lib "user32" _
(ByVal bVk As Byte, ByVal bScan As Byte, ByVal dwFlags As Long, ByVal dwExtraInfo As Long)
Public Const CaptWindow = 2
Public Sub ScreenGrab()
keybd_event &H12, 0, 0, 0
keybd_event &H2C, CaptWindow, 0, 0
keybd_event &H2C, CaptWindow, &H2, 0
keybd_event &H12, 0, &H2, 0
End Sub
That only gets you as far as getting the window to the clipboard.
Another option, if the window you want a screenshot of is an HTA would be to just use an XMLHTTPRequest to send the DOM nodes to the server, then create the screenshots server-side.

Another possible solution that I've discovered is http://www.phantomjs.org/ which allows one to very easily take screenshots of pages and a whole lot more. Whilst my original requirements for this question aren't valid any more (different job), I will likely integrate PhantomJS into future projects.

Pounder's if this is possible to do by setting the whole body elements into a canvase then using canvas2image ?
http://www.nihilogic.dk/labs/canvas2image/

A possible way to do this, if running on windows and have .NET installed you can do:
public Bitmap GenerateScreenshot(string url)
{
// This method gets a screenshot of the webpage
// rendered at its full size (height and width)
return GenerateScreenshot(url, -1, -1);
}
public Bitmap GenerateScreenshot(string url, int width, int height)
{
// Load the webpage into a WebBrowser control
WebBrowser wb = new WebBrowser();
wb.ScrollBarsEnabled = false;
wb.ScriptErrorsSuppressed = true;
wb.Navigate(url);
while (wb.ReadyState != WebBrowserReadyState.Complete) { Application.DoEvents(); }
// Set the size of the WebBrowser control
wb.Width = width;
wb.Height = height;
if (width == -1)
{
// Take Screenshot of the web pages full width
wb.Width = wb.Document.Body.ScrollRectangle.Width;
}
if (height == -1)
{
// Take Screenshot of the web pages full height
wb.Height = wb.Document.Body.ScrollRectangle.Height;
}
// Get a Bitmap representation of the webpage as it's rendered in the WebBrowser control
Bitmap bitmap = new Bitmap(wb.Width, wb.Height);
wb.DrawToBitmap(bitmap, new Rectangle(0, 0, wb.Width, wb.Height));
wb.Dispose();
return bitmap;
}
And then via PHP you can do:
exec("CreateScreenShot.exe -url http://.... -save C:/shots domain_page.png");
Then you have the screenshot in the server side.

This might not be the ideal solution for you, but it might still be worth mentioning.
Snapsie is an open source, ActiveX object that enables Internet Explorer screenshots to be captured and saved. Once the DLL file is registered on the client, you should be able to capture the screenshot and upload the file to the server withing JavaScript. Drawbacks: it needs to register the DLL file at the client and works only with Internet Explorer.

We had a similar requirement for reporting bugs. Since it was for an intranet scenario, we were able to use browser addons (like Fireshot for Firefox and IE Screenshot for Internet Explorer).

This question is old but maybe there's still someone interested in a state-of-the-art answer:
You can use getDisplayMedia:
https://github.com/ondras/browsershot

The SnapEngage uses a Java applet (1.5+) to make a browser screenshot. AFAIK, java.awt.Robot should do the job - the user has just to permit the applet to do it (once).
And I have just found a post about it:
Stack Overflow question JavaScript code to take a screenshot of a website without using ActiveX
Blog post How SnapABug works – and what they should do

I found that dom-to-image did a good job (much better than html2canvas). See the following question & answer: https://stackoverflow.com/a/32776834/207981
This question asks about submitting this back to the server, which should be possible, but if you're looking to download the image(s) you'll want to combine it with FileSaver.js, and if you want to download a zip with multiple image files all generated client-side take a look at jszip.

You can achieve that using HTA and VBScript. Just call an external tool to do the screenshotting. I forgot what the name is, but on Windows Vista there is a tool to do screenshots. You don't even need an extra install for it.
As for as automatic - it totally depends on the tool you use. If it has an API, I am sure you can trigger the screenshot and saving process through a couple of Visual Basic calls without the user knowing that you did what you did.
Since you mentioned HTA, I am assuming you are on Windows and (probably) know your environment (e.g. OS and version) very well.

If you are willing to do it on the server side, there are options like PhantomJS, which is now deprecated. The best way to go would be Headless Chrome with something like Puppeteer on Node.JS. Capturing a web page using Puppeteer would be as simple as follows:
const puppeteer = require('puppeteer');
(async () => {
const browser = await puppeteer.launch();
const page = await browser.newPage();
await page.goto('https://example.com');
await page.screenshot({path: 'example.png'});
await browser.close();
})();
However it requires headless chrome to be able to run on your servers, which has some dependencies and might not be suitable on restricted environments. (Also, if you are not using Node.JS, you might need to handle installation / launching of browsers yourself.)
If you are willing to use a SaaS service, there are many options such as
Restpack
UrlBox
Screenshot Layer

A great solution for screenshot taking in Javascript is the one by https://grabz.it.
They have a flexible and simple-to-use screenshot API which can be used by any type of JS application.
If you want to try it, at first you should get the authorization app key + secret and the free SDK
Then, in your app, the implementation steps would be:
// include the grabzit.min.js library in the web page you want the capture to appear
<script src="grabzit.min.js"></script>
//use the key and the secret to login, capture the url
<script>
GrabzIt("KEY", "SECRET").ConvertURL("http://www.google.com").Create();
</script>
Screenshot could be customized with different parameters. For example:
GrabzIt("KEY", "SECRET").ConvertURL("http://www.google.com",
{"width": 400, "height": 400, "format": "png", "delay", 10000}).Create();
</script>
That's all.
Then simply wait a short while and the image will automatically appear at the bottom of the page, without you needing to reload the page.
There are other functionalities to the screenshot mechanism which you can explore here.
It's also possible to save the screenshot locally. For that you will need to utilize GrabzIt server side API. For more info check the detailed guide here.

As of today Apr 2020 GitHub library html2Canvas
https://github.com/niklasvh/html2canvas
GitHub 20K stars | Azure pipeles : Succeeded | Downloads 1.3M/mo |
quote : " JavaScript HTML renderer The script allows you to take "screenshots" of webpages or parts of it, directly on the users browser. The screenshot is based on the DOM and as such may not be 100% accurate to the real representation as it does not make an actual screenshot, but builds the screenshot based on the information available on the page.

I made a simple function that uses rasterizeHTML to build a svg and/or an image with page contents.
Check it out :
https://github.com/orisha/tdg-screen-shooter-pure-js