How to get absolute path of a file

Question

I'm trying to get the absolute path to use as a static reference

<input type="file" onClick="getFilePath">

function getFilePath(e)
{
  console.log( e.target.files[0] );
}

but I'm getting only the name of the file..

for example if I need to open an image locally I need to provide the url

new ImageLayer({
            source: new Static({
              url: 'https://foo.bar.com/lorem/image.png',//Local path goes here
              projection: projection,
              imageExtent: extent
            })
          })

Why do you need absolute path of an uploading file? I believe you just cannot do this due to obvious privacy concerns. — Yeldar Kurmangaliyev, Jan 04 '19 at 22:13
Can you provide more info? You cannot get the actual path to the file on disk for security reasons. — Felix Kling, Jan 04 '19 at 22:15
What exactly does that mean? Please provide a concrete example. — Felix Kling, Jan 04 '19 at 22:16
But you can't use that link to access the file anyway, for obvious security reasons — Asons, Jan 04 '19 at 22:16
Are you talking about an uploaded file to your server, and its local path server side ? — Asons, Jan 04 '19 at 22:22

score 1 · Accepted Answer · answered Jan 04 '19 at 22:13

1

You can't, you have to serve the file first.

Either you do it by creating a persistent reference string with a unique URL that temporarily references to the in-memory blob object that lives in the Blob URL Store by using URL.createObjectURL()

Or going to your local directory and serve it using http-serve then use the link as a path

localhost:8080/foo.txt

answered Jan 04 '19 at 22:13

Achraf

1,412
10
14

What does _"...,you have to serve the file first."_ mean? ... One can't, either before or after the file is selected. – Asons Jan 04 '19 at 22:20

score 0 · Answer 2 · edited Jan 04 '19 at 22:29

0

If it's the path of a file, it can be done easily with node.js like so...

const path = require('path')
   path.dirname('whatSoEver')

edited Jan 04 '19 at 22:29

Asons

84,923
12
110
165

answered Jan 04 '19 at 22:17

Fogang Rodriq

33
6

some browsers like mozilla has this **this.files[0].mozFullPath** – Fogang Rodriq Jan 04 '19 at 22:30
But anyways maybe you may want to check this help out [link]https://stackoverflow.com/questions/15201071/how-to-get-full-path-of-selected-file-on-change-of-input-type-file-using-jav – Fogang Rodriq Jan 04 '19 at 22:31
`require` doesn't exist in browsers. – Felix Kling Jan 04 '19 at 23:11

How to get absolute path of a file

2 Answers2