I am creating a HTML page where I need to display the names of the files present in the specific local folder, example - C:\Users\User1\Documents\folder1 . I tried to write the code in java script but have not succeeded yet. Most of the question threads mention about "ActiveXObject" to be used but that itself does not work for me.
Reference: JavaScript: Read files in folder
Can anyone help me in achieving this?
In general, you can't do that. Web pages do not have access to the local filesystem.
Chrome can access the contents of a directory that is selected using a file input field. However, other browsers, such as Internet Explorer and Firefox, have not implemented this feature at this time, nor is there currently any way to access a directory that was not selected by the user.
In theory, it is possible to read arbitrary files using a signed Java (not Javascript) applet. However, this requires the user to approve a series of extremely scary warning dialogs — and requires Java! — so it's really not a viable solution.
I'm afraid I may be the bearer of bad news for your design: The action you are requesting expressly violates the security model as specified in the File API spec. The client implementation of FileReader() must make sure that "all files that are being read by FileReader objects have first been selected by the user." (W3C File API , 13. Security Considerations: http://www.w3.org/TR/FileAPI/#security-discussion).
It would be a huge security risk of browser scripts could just arbitrarily open and read any file from a path without any user interaction. No browser manufacturer would allow unfettered access to the entire file system like that.
Thinking about it however, if it is all being run locally, you could use ajax to query a server side script that could return the directory you request.
Related
I'm trying to develop HTML base editor equipped with browsing local files function.
I know basically that is restricted by browser to open local files.
However I found out some method doing this activity.
using path begin from "localexplorer://" it works perfect for English path name.
But when I use Japanese folder name or file name it becomes error.
I tried to convert SJIS format that file names but this is not work.
Here is code.
[![error[![\]\[1\]][1]][1]][1]url = 'localexplorer:' + event.target.innerText;
array = str2array(url);
sjis_array = Encoding.convert(array, "SJIS", "UNICODE");
sjis= Encoding.codeToString(sjis_array);
window.open(url, '_blank');
According to browser security, javascript is only allowed to run in the sandbox, you cannot read or write arbitrary files:
JavaScript and the DOM provide the potential for malicious authors to
deliver scripts to run on a client computer via the Web. Browser
authors minimize this risk using two restrictions. First, scripts run
in a sandbox in which they can only perform Web-related actions, not
general-purpose programming tasks like creating files.
If the user selects a file via <input type="file">, you could try to read the content of the file through FileReader API, like this case: How to open a local disk file with JavaScript?
If you need to interact with files on the user's local device or a user-accessible network file system, you can try to use the File System Access API. And this must be done in a secure context, and must be called from within a user gesture. You can also read this article to learn more about it:The File System Access API: simplifying access to local files.
Thank you for your response, I solved this issue by Forefox plug in extensions, it seems like chrome did not support this functions even if there is plug in extensions.
I am creating a HTML page where I need to display the names of the files present in the specific local folder, example - C:\Users\User1\Documents\folder1 . I tried to write the code in java script but have not succeeded yet. Most of the question threads mention about "ActiveXObject" to be used but that itself does not work for me.
Reference: JavaScript: Read files in folder
Can anyone help me in achieving this?
In general, you can't do that. Web pages do not have access to the local filesystem.
Chrome can access the contents of a directory that is selected using a file input field. However, other browsers, such as Internet Explorer and Firefox, have not implemented this feature at this time, nor is there currently any way to access a directory that was not selected by the user.
In theory, it is possible to read arbitrary files using a signed Java (not Javascript) applet. However, this requires the user to approve a series of extremely scary warning dialogs — and requires Java! — so it's really not a viable solution.
I'm afraid I may be the bearer of bad news for your design: The action you are requesting expressly violates the security model as specified in the File API spec. The client implementation of FileReader() must make sure that "all files that are being read by FileReader objects have first been selected by the user." (W3C File API , 13. Security Considerations: http://www.w3.org/TR/FileAPI/#security-discussion).
It would be a huge security risk of browser scripts could just arbitrarily open and read any file from a path without any user interaction. No browser manufacturer would allow unfettered access to the entire file system like that.
Thinking about it however, if it is all being run locally, you could use ajax to query a server side script that could return the directory you request.
I am working on project for desktop application. I am using Qt controls with visual c++.
I am loading an html file in the QWebView as,
m_pWebView->load(QUrl("../../../demo/index_Splash_Screen.html"));
Now, what i want is, say, I have some .zip files in my location "c:\demo", I want list (or array of file names) of the files present in that directory.
How can i do this through javascript ?
PS: I went through this link, but it didnt match my requirement. I have not worked with of html, javascript and jquery. Please help me.
I'm afraid you cannot access local files or directories using javascript due to security issues.
Edit: I hadn't thought about the file api so thought for a moment this might not be true, but without some user input to give permission, this still cannot be done.
This question has a good response from PhilNicholas:
I'm afraid I may be the bearer of bad news for your design: The action
you are requesting expressly violates the security model as specified
in the File API spec. The client implementation of FileReader() must
make sure that "all files that are being read by FileReader objects
have first been selected by the user." (W3C File API , 13. Security
Considerations: http://www.w3.org/TR/FileAPI/#security-discussion).
It would be a huge security risk of browser scripts could just
arbitrarily open and read any file from a path without any user
interaction. No browser manufacturer would allow unfettered access to
the entire file system like that.
Thinking about it however, if it is all being run locally, you could use ajax to query a server side script that could return the directory you request.
If it is a Windows application then you could access the local filesystem by using ActiveX objects. You might have a look at this link Reading a txt file from Javascript
Note that activeX usage is possible only when using IE as browser/engine; I used to need it a while ago for developing an HTML application (.hta files).
I am working on an web site which will be packed in an .exe file. So the site will only be used offline. Now i need to parse an local xml document. How can i get the file handle to a local file using html5 file api?
EDIT: I dont want to use <input...> or dragging file into browser.
I'm afraid I may be the bearer of bad news for your design: The action you are requesting expressly violates the security model as specified in the File API spec. The client implementation of FileReader() must make sure that "all files that are being read by FileReader objects have first been selected by the user." (W3C File API , 13. Security Considerations: http://www.w3.org/TR/FileAPI/#security-discussion).
It would be a huge security risk of browser scripts could just arbitrarily open and read any file from a path without any user interaction. No browser manufacturer would allow unfettered access to the entire file system like that.
If your script really needs that XML file, you are going to have to instruct users on how to grant the browser access to it, as every browser will prevent your code from opening it directly without user action.
Well, technically there is indeed a way, but you're going to (hopefully) need to bypass the browser's security settings, and it is inherently unsafe, but no more so than anything else requiring specific file locations.
That said...
<html>
<head>
<script>
function foo(){
//insert desired filereading script here.
}
document.getElementById("fileFoo").click();
</script>
</head>
<body>
<input type="file" id="fileFoo" display="hidden" value="filepath.extension" onclick="foo"/>
</body>
</html>
Naturally, I've kept this vague (and slightly unorthodox) for my reasons, but provided you have the necessary control over the environment, it's completely possible.
I am experiencing the same problem these days. I need the website to display some data each time I launch the webpage. The data need to be adaptive to each launch, automatically, so I don't think #Augusto 's link could solve your question.
After trying out different ways (including writing a temporary local XLM or JSON file), I finally persuade myself that maybe "replacing" the "data" in the html file could be the most straightforward way.
I have a html template, within which there is a string like [data]. Each time when launch the webpage, [data] will be replaced by real data like [1,2,3]. So actually it is the new file that is launched.
You can go to enter link description here to see how the "replace" is done. Good luck.
I understand that javascript running in the browser would not be allowed to access a local file system directly, it make sense and I am not looking for a way to violate that.
However are there any safe and kosher ways to grab files from the local system for the browser to use? Would these methods be platform specific? Would I be limited it what kinds of files and would access have to be granted on a per file basis?
What I am thinking about is when you upload photos, it will open a system level dialog and then eventually present that file to the browser for the browser to send to a remote server via http. Would it then be possible to pass a file in to the browers local memory/ give the browser permission to read it as it were to be upload but instead of uploading it somehow pass over to java script and allow it to manipulate it client side much in the way you can manipulate files with server side javascript?
The reason I am asking is because I have recently become interested in browser-based file manipulation programs, their feasibility and what could be done with them in a Chrome OS type environment. Just out of curiosity then any idea of it being practical any time soon.
edit: attempted to clarify and make my question more direct.
Use the File API (MDN has a tutorial) but be aware that it is a new specification and has limited browser support.
It allows files selected in an <input type="file"> to be accessed with client side JS.