Javascript to load file

Question

I want user upon clicking a button it will load the a txt file from a e.g Desktop and display the contents.

Can this be done?

I found a lot of examples for loading a file but not displaying it.

score 2 · Answer 1 · edited May 23 '17 at 12:16

JavaScript in the browser can't access the user's file system - it would be a security issue.

Consider other client side options like Java Applets or Flash.
In the worst-case, you could upload the file to the server and send it back to the client - but there's probably no usecase that calls for such an expensive hack.

Additionally, check out this SO question - the File API will allow this.

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Apr 01 '11 at 03:51

1

answered Apr 01 '11 at 03:51

3

Did you read the OP's question? And posting links to remote sites with no explanation isn't an answer IMO... – Blender Apr 01 '11 at 03:51
That's doesn't seem like it's what the OP wants - that's about loading an HTML page into a div. – no.good.at.coding Apr 01 '11 at 03:52

score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Aug 08 '12 at 10:40

0

There's an excellent tutorial on html5rocks.com, 'Reading Files in JavaScript using the File APIs', that shows how to use the FileReader interface:

answered Aug 08 '12 at 10:40

Richard C

3 Answers3