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There was a File System API but shown as deprecated now:
https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/Window/requestFileSystem

There is now another, File System Access API:
https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/File_System_Access_API

What happened to the old API and why was it discontinued? Should the new File System Access API be stable in all common browsers?

Dee
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1 Answers1

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It turned out that File System Access API is not deprecated, it's just not standardised (May 2021); the deprecated one is the function window.requestFileSystem; the same function on Chromium-based browsers is window.webkitRequestFileSystem.

File System API is for creating a virtual drive (temporary or persistent) for each website when using browser-based db (IndexedDB) is not necessary especially for the purpose of storing files.

File System Access API is different, it is for accessing the real file system of the OS. This API is now standardised and available on Chromium-based browsers (May 2021). Firefox has not yet adapted this API.

Status of these APIs: https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API

T.J. Crowder
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Dee
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    See also: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/23560090/is-the-fileapi-in-html5-dead Note that it's possible that the new File System Access API will never be standardized, as happened the last time Google tried this. :-) – T.J. Crowder May 04 '21 at 14:12
  • i guess mozilla is implementing, it's in mozilla documentation – Dee May 05 '21 at 07:40
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    MDN documenting it doesn't mean anything. MDN's remit is about much more than what Firefox supports. Rather than guessing, listen to [what they actually say about it](https://mozilla.github.io/standards-positions/#native-file-system), which is currently that they're waiting to see if it seems like a good idea. They did implement the earlier one that was abandoned in Firefox, but it's been a long time and management has changed... – T.J. Crowder May 05 '21 at 07:53