Develop Reference

Access JSON property value before loading the contents of the file

I have an angularjs project which retrieves JSON files from a server and uses the contents to display the data in the screen.
I'm using a service to load the data, and this service calls the server for a new JSON file every 2 seconds (I removed that from the code below for simplicity).
var data = $resource(:file.json', {}, {
query: {method: 'GET', params: {file: '#file'}}
});
this.load = function(file, myFunction) {
data.query({file:file}, function(data) {
myFunction(data);
}
}
Now, these files can be really big and sometimes there's no need to process the file because there are no changes from the previous one received. I have a property in the JSON file with the version number, and I should not process the file unless that version number is higher than the one in the previous file.
I can do that by calling the query service, which loads the file contents into a js object and then check the version, if the file is really big it might take a while to load it. Is there a way to access that property value (version) ONLY and then, depending on it, load the file into a js object?
EDIT: The thing that I'm guessing is that loading a 1MB JSON file to check a version number inside it might take a while (or maybe no and that $resource action is really fast, anyone knows?), but I'm not really sure that it can be done any other way, as I'm checking a specific property inside the file.
Many thanks in advance.

HTML5 and Javascript now provides a File API which can be used to read the file line by line. You can find information regarding this feature here:
http://www.html5rocks.com/en/tutorials/file/dndfiles/
This will slice the full file into string and take just the first line(asuming the version is in there)
data.substr(0, data.indexOf("\n"));
--
Bonus:
Also in this answer you will find out how to read the first line of a file:
https://stackoverflow.com/a/12227851/2552259
var XHR = new XMLHttpRequest();
XHR.open("GET", "http://hunpony.hu/today/changelog-en.txt", true);
XHR.send();
XHR.onload = function (){
console.log( XHR.responseText.slice(0, XHR.responseText.indexOf("\n")) );
};
Another question with the same topic:
https://stackoverflow.com/a/6861246/2552259
var txtFile = new XMLHttpRequest();
txtFile.open("GET", "http://website.com/file.txt", true);
txtFile.onreadystatechange = function()
{
if (txtFile.readyState === 4) { // document is ready to parse.
if (txtFile.status === 200) { // file is found
allText = txtFile.responseText;
lines = txtFile.responseText.split("\n");
}
}
}
txtFile.send(null);

Do you have access to the json files?
I'm not sure how you generate your json files but you could try adding the version number in the filename and check if a newer filename exists. I have not tested this but maybe it's worth a try.

How to load a PDF into a blob so it can be uploaded?

I'm working on a testing framework that needs to pass files to the drop listener of a PLUpload instance. I need to create blob objects to pass inside a Data Transfer Object of the sort generated on a Drag / Drop event. I have it working fine for text files and image files. I would like to add support for PDF's, but it seems that I can't get the encoding right after retrieving the response. The response is coming back as text because I'm using Sahi to retrieve it in order to avoid Cross-Domain issues.
In short: the string I'm receiving is UTF-8 encoded and therefore the content looks like you opened a PDF with a text editor. I am wondering how to convert this back into the necessary format to create a blob, so that after the document gets uploaded everything looks okay.
What steps do I need to go through to convert the UTF-8 string into the proper blob object? (Yes, I am aware I could submit an XHR request and change the responseType property and (maybe) get closer, however due to complications with the way Sahi operates I'm not going to explain here why I would prefer not to go this route).
Also, I'm not familiar enough but I have a hunch maybe I lose data by retrieving it as a string? If that's the case I'll find another approach.
The existing code and the most recent approach I have tried is here:
var data = '%PDF-1.7%����115 0 obj<</Linearized 1/L ...'
var arr = [];
var utf8 = unescape(encodeURIComponent(data));
for (var i = 0; i < utf8.length; i++) {
arr.push(utf8.charCodeAt(i));
}
var file = new Blob(arr, {type: 'application/pdf'});

It looks like you were close. I just did this for a site which needed to read a PDF from another website and drop it into a fileuploader plugin. Here is what worked for me:
var url = "http://some-websites.com/Pdf/";
//You may not need this part if you have the PDF data locally already
var xhr = new XMLHttpRequest();
xhr.onreadystatechange = function () {
if (this.readyState == 4 && this.status == 200) {
//console.log(this.response, typeof this.response);
//now convert your Blob from the response into a File and give it a name
var fileOfBlob = new File([this.response], 'your_file.pdf');
// Now do something with the File
// for filuploader (blueimp), just use the add method
$('#fileupload').fileupload('add', {
files: [ fileOfBlob ],
fileInput: $(this)
});
}
}
xhr.open('GET', url);
xhr.responseType = 'blob';
xhr.send();
I found help on the XHR as blob here. Then this SO answer helped me with naming the File. You might be able to use the Blob by itself, but you won't be able to give it a name unless its passed into a File.

Creating download prompt using purely javascript

I have some text data (say var a = 'Hello World From Javascript';)in javascript variable in current window. I want to do the following
through javascript-
1. open a new window and write the text data to the window.
2. set the content type to text/plain.
3. set the content-disposition to attachment, so that download prompt comes.
4. user downloads the text data as a text file and saves it to his local disk.
is this all possible through javascript?
I know we can make ajax calls to server or redirect but in this case instead of following above steps. But in this case, these workarounds are not adaptable.

you can do that using JS & HTML5 features. Please find below a sample code.
var fileParts = ['Hello World From Javascript'];
// Create a blob object.
var bb = new Blob(fileParts,{type : 'text/plain'});
// Create a blob url for this.
var dnlnk = window.URL.createObjectURL(bb);
var currentLnk = $('#blobFl').attr('href');
// blobFl is the id of the anchor tag through which the download will be triggered.
$('#blobFl').attr('href',dnlnk);
$('#blobFl').attr('download','helloworld.txt');
// For some reason trigger from jquery dint work for me.
document.getElementById('blobFl').click();

Triggering a file download without any server request
Unfortunately this is not something you can do with normal browser capabilities. Something like flash or a browser-specific plugin will get you what you need, but security limitations within javascript will not let you download arbitrary data created within the browser.
Also the 'data' url is not supported across all browser/version combinations. I am not sure if your users are constrained on what browser they are using or not but that may limit what you can do with that solution.
Source: Triggering a file download without any server request

If you already have the file on the server (I make an ajax call to generate and save a PDF on the server) - you can do this
window.location.replace(fileUrl);

No, Content-Disposition is a response header, it has to come from the server. I think you could do it with Flash but I wouldn't recommend it.

Here's a clean, pure js version of #Rajagopalan Srinivasan's answer:
var fileParts = ["Hello World From Javascript"];
// The anchor tag to use.
const blobLink = document.getElementById("blobLink");
// Create a blob object.
var blob = new Blob(fileParts, { type: "text/plain" });
// Create a blob url for this.
var blobUrl = window.URL.createObjectURL(blob);
blobLink.setAttribute("href", blobUrl);
blobLink.setAttribute("download", "helloworld.txt");
blobLink.click();
<a id="blobLink">Download</a>

Base64 encode/decode and download content generated in URL

I am generating a string through JavaScript and I need to download it to a text file with a predefined dynamic filename. This way there will be no room for error by employees.
This is obviously not possible in JavaScript due to security issues. However, from what I have read it should be possible with base64 encoding.
I managed to encode the string and open a url with the decoded data. The string has been decoded successfully in this URL. The format is as follows:
var data = 'data:text/plain;base64,'+L_EncodedData;
document.location = data;
I need to open a file dialog with the decoded data so the employees can download the content generated in this URL.
Any help?
Many thanks in advance

If you're still looking for an answer to this, check out my answer here. This is how I would adapt it for your needs.
// Convert the Base64 string back to text.
var txt = atob(data.reportBase64Bytes);
// Blob for saving.
var blob = new Blob([byteString], { type: "text/plain" });
// Tell the browser to save as report.txt.
saveAs(blob, "report.txt");
If you use this, make sure you grab the polyfills that I mention in the other post.

This block is fixed.
window.OpenWindowForBase64 = function(url, callback) {
var image = new Image();
image.src = url;
var w = window.open("");
w.document.write(image.outerHTML);
if (callback) {
callback(url);
}
}

How to give a Blob uploaded as FormData a file name?

I am currently uploading images pasted from the clipboard with the following code:
// Turns out getAsFile will return a blob, not a file
var blob = event.clipboardData.items[0].getAsFile(),
form = new FormData(),
request = new XMLHttpRequest();
form.append("blob",blob);
request.open(
"POST",
"/upload",
true
);
request.send(form);
Turns out the uploaded form field with receive a name similar to this: Blob157fce71535b4f93ba92ac6053d81e3a
Is there any way to set this or receive this file name client side, without doing any server side communication?

For Chrome, Safari and Firefox, just use this:
form.append("blob", blob, filename);
(see MDN documentation)

Adding this here as it doesn't seem to be here.
Aside from the excellent solution of form.append("blob",blob, filename); you can also turn the blob into a File instance:
var blob = new Blob([JSON.stringify([0,1,2])], {type : 'application/json'});
var fileOfBlob = new File([blob], 'aFileName.json');
form.append("upload", fileOfBlob);

Since you're getting the data pasted to clipboard, there is no reliable way of knowing the origin of the file and its properties (including name).
Your best bet is to come up with a file naming scheme of your own and send along with the blob.
form.append("filename",getFileName());
form.append("blob",blob);
function getFileName() {
// logic to generate file names
}

That name looks derived from an object URL GUID. Do the following to get the object URL that the name was derived from.
var URL = self.URL || self.webkitURL || self;
var object_url = URL.createObjectURL(blob);
URL.revokeObjectURL(object_url);
object_url will be formatted as blob:{origin}{GUID} in Google Chrome and moz-filedata:{GUID} in Firefox. An origin is the protocol+host+non-standard port for the protocol. For example, blob:http://stackoverflow.com/e7bc644d-d174-4d5e-b85d-beeb89c17743 or blob:http://[::1]:123/15111656-e46c-411d-a697-a09d23ec9a99. You probably want to extract the GUID and strip any dashes.

Haven't tested it, but that should alert the blobs data url:
var blob = event.clipboardData.items[0].getAsFile(),
form = new FormData(),
request = new XMLHttpRequest();
var reader = new FileReader();
reader.onload = function(event) {
alert(event.target.result); // <-- data url
};
reader.readAsDataURL(blob);

It really depends on how the server on the other side is configured and with what modules for how it handles a blob post. You can try putting the desired name in the path for your post.
request.open(
"POST",
"/upload/myname.bmp",
true
);

Are you using Google App Engine?
You could use cookies (made with JavaScript) to maintain a relationship between filenames and the name received from the server.

When you are using Google Chrome you can use/abuse the Google Filesystem API for this. Here you can create a file with a specified name and write the content of a blob to it. Then you can return the result to the user.
I have not found a good way for Firefox yet; probably a small piece of Flash like downloadify is required to name a blob.
IE10 has a msSaveBlob() function in the BlobBuilder.
Maybe this is more for downloading a blob, but it is related.