Is it possible to create a file on the client side using JavaScript/AJAX?

Question

Is it possible to generate a file on client side using Javascript/AJAX and the server side response (a string, for example) and then open this file download window? A simple .txt, for example.

And if it is possible, is there any solution which generates .xlsx files?

no, JS can't access the filsystem, but depending on the filetype you want to create and what you want to do with it, you may be able to generate a dataURI for a file.. — I wrestled a bear once., May 17 '16 at 20:14
And sure: Ajax is not for this ^^ it was just for curiosity. — victorf, May 17 '16 at 20:27

score 2 · Answer 1 · answered May 17 '16 at 20:16

This will create a CSV that you can open in excel based on an array of objects (window.EXPORTDATA):

        var csvContent = [];

        for(var i=0; i<window.EXPORTDATA.length; i++){
          var rowContent = [];
          var row = window.EXPORTDATA[i];
          if(csvContent.length === 0){
            for(var p in row)
              if(row.hasOwnProperty(p))
                rowContent.push('"'+ (""+p).replace('"','').replace(',','') +'"');
            csvContent.push("data:text/csv;charset=utf-8,"+rowContent.join(","));
            rowContent = [];
          }
          for(var p in row){
            if(row.hasOwnProperty(p))
              rowContent.push('"'+ (""+row[p]).replace('"','').replace(',','') +'"');
          }
          csvContent.push(rowContent.join(","));
        }

        var dat = csvContent.join("\n");
        var encodedUri = encodeURI(dat);
        window.open(encodedUri);

Here's a fiddle.. when you run it it will ask you to open the file in Excel or whatever you use..

Is it possible to create a file on the client side using JavaScript/AJAX?

1 Answers1