Saving a string to a file

Packermann · Jun 24, 2003

I need to save a string value to a file. The File Save dialog must first come up so that the user can select where he wants to save it. This needs to be written in Javascript or HTML. Could someone please help me?

Paul
packermann@niku.com

EdwardMartinIII · Jun 25, 2003

Paul,

To a certain way of thinking, what you're asking is simply not possible using the parameters you describe. JavaScript has no capability of writing a file, much less HTML.

However, from a different point of view, this is do-able.

Consider a browser. It allows you to open files, read files, save files. A browser can open a text file, allow you to change it and save it back to your drive. When viewed in a certain light, a browser can be a basic file-handling object, much like I (and a lot of others) used to use WordPerfect's file handling features to manipulate files before Windows was terribly useful (attention Microsoft: on occasion, someone makes a better interface than you and on occasion, they're in Orem, Utah).

With that in mind, it's a no-brainer to realize that an HTML file is a text file and the browser is your manipulative tool. Well, JavaScript can certainly open an HTML file, as well as a plain-text file.

Behold:

Copy this and save it as "Sample.html":

Code:

<!DOCTYPE html 
     PUBLIC &quot;-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN&quot;
     &quot;[URL unfurl="true"]http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd&quot;>[/URL]

<html xmlns=&quot;[URL unfurl="true"]http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml&quot;[/URL] xml:lang=&quot;en&quot; lang=&quot;en&quot;>
  <head>
    <meta http-equiv=&quot;Content-Type&quot; content=&quot;text/html; charset=iso-8859-1&quot;></meta>
    <title>JavaScript Sample</title>
    <link href=&quot;style.css&quot; type=&quot;text/css&quot; rel=&quot;stylesheet&quot;></link>
    <script src=&quot;FileOps.js&quot; type=&quot;text/javascript&quot;></script>
  </head>
  <body>
    <form name=&quot;MainForm&quot;>
      <p><input type=&quot;button&quot; value=&quot;Make My HTML File!&quot; onclick=&quot;HTMLFileCreate();return true;&quot;></input></p>
      <p><input type=&quot;button&quot; value=&quot;Make My Text File!&quot; onclick=&quot;TextFileCreate();return true;&quot;></input></p>
    </form>
  </body>
</html>

and copy this and save it as FileOps.js:

Code:

function HTMLFileCreate()
  {
    var w = window.open();
    var d = w.document;
    d.writeln('<!DOCTYPE html ');
    d.writeln('     PUBLIC &quot;-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN&quot;');
    d.writeln('     &quot;[URL unfurl="true"]http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd&quot;>');[/URL]
    d.writeln('');
    d.writeln('  <html xmlns=&quot;[URL unfurl="true"]http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml&quot;[/URL] xml:lang=&quot;en&quot; lang=&quot;en&quot;>');
    d.writeln('  <head>');
    d.writeln('    <meta http-equiv=&quot;Content-Type&quot; content=&quot;text/html; charset=iso-8859-1&quot;></meta>');
    d.writeln('    <title>My Document</title>');
    d.writeln('  </head>');
    d.writeln('  <body>');
    d.writeln('    <h2>Title</h2>');
    d.writeln('    <p>The body of the document.</p>');
    d.writeln('  </body>');
    d.writeln('</html>');
    d.close();
  }

function TextFileCreate()
  {
    var w = window.open();
    var d = w.document;
    d.writeln('Just a text file');
    d.close();
  }

As you can see, it's totally possible -- once you accept using the browser as your file object.

Cheers,

[monkey]

Edward

"Cut a hole in the door. Hang a flap. Criminy, why didn't I think of this earlier?!" -- inventor of the cat door

adam0101 · Jun 26, 2003

This should do it:

<script>
function saveString(myString){
var str=window.open()
str.document.write(myString)
str.document.execCommand("saveas&quot

str.close()
}
saveString("test&quot

</script>

Adam
while(woman.width>woman.height && wallet.value>0){beer++;vision.blur()};

EdwardMartinIII · Jun 26, 2003

Adam,

What is "execCommand"?

Cheers,

[monkey]

Edward

"Cut a hole in the door. Hang a flap. Criminy, why didn't I think of this earlier?!" -- inventor of the cat door

adam0101 · Jun 26, 2003

http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/d...uthor/dhtml/reference/methods/execcommand.asp

Adam
while(woman.width>woman.height && wallet.value>0){beer++;vision.blur()};

EdwardMartinIII · Jun 26, 2003

Ooooh, a Microsoft-only thing.

Paul, do you care if your solution doesn't work in a non-IE environment? If so, this looks like it might work for you.

[monkey]

Edward

"Cut a hole in the door. Hang a flap. Criminy, why didn't I think of this earlier?!" -- inventor of the cat door

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Saving a string to a file

Packermann

Programmer

EdwardMartinIII

Technical User

adam0101

Programmer

EdwardMartinIII

Technical User

adam0101

Programmer

EdwardMartinIII

Technical User

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