HTML 5 File API

Monday, April 23, 2012

I hear that Firefox 3.6 adds support for the HTML local file API ( Announcement here ).

Does this mean that I can access local files from javascript?

Can anyone point me to examples for reading / writing local files?

I would love to be able to read / write simple text files.

Many thanks

UserApril 23, 2012 at 8:03 PM
The only files you can access are files dropped from the desktop or files that has been selected from an <input/> tag. See the demo I've written here: http://hacks.mozilla.org/2009/12/uploading-files-with-xmlhttprequest/
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UserApril 23, 2012 at 8:03 PM
It doesn't allow accessing arbitrary local files. It's more of a file upload improvement. For instance, you can have some Javascript accept a drag-and-drop file initiated by the user of the browser.

You can find the W3C spec on it here.
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UserApril 23, 2012 at 8:03 PM
Take a look at the demo at hacks.mozilla.org.
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UserApril 23, 2012 at 8:03 PM
You can find a (mozilla-specific explanation of the API on the Mozilla Development Center.
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UserApril 23, 2012 at 8:03 PM
It's possible to write to local file system, but the user must complete a 'save as...' action. For now, no direct access to client file system. Take a look here
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