Getting BLOB data from XHR request

Question

var xhr = new XMLHttpRequest();
xhr.open('GET', 'http://static.reddit.com/reddit.com.header.png', true);

xhr.responseType = 'arraybuffer';

xhr.onload = function(e) {
  if (this.status == 200) {
    var uInt8Array = new Uint8Array(this.response);
    var byte3 = uInt8Array[4]; 

    var bb = new WebKitBlobBuilder();
    bb.append(xhr.response);
    var blob = bb.getBlob('image/png'); 
    var base64 = window.btoa(blob);
    alert(base64);

  }
};

xhr.send();

Basically, what I am trying to do here is retrieve an image, and convert it to base64.

From reading in the comments here, it states:

"Sure. After fetching a resource as an ArrayBuffer, create a blob from it. Once you have that, you could base64 encode the file/blob directly window.btoa() or FileReader.readAsDataURL()."

However, blob is just [object blob], while I need to get the binary from the image so I can convert it to base64 and display it in a img tag using data.

Anyone know how to achieve this?

Thank you in advance!

Answer 1

Don't use BlobBuilder in Chrome (tested in OSX Chrome, Firefox 12, Safari 6, iOS Chrome, iOS Safari):

ex1 : http://jsfiddle.net/malraux/xGUsu/ (principle)

ex2: http://jsfiddle.net/xGUsu/78/ (working with full example)

var xhr = new XMLHttpRequest();
xhr.open('GET', 'doodle.png', true);

xhr.responseType = 'arraybuffer';

// Process the response when the request is ready.
xhr.onload = function(e) {
  if (this.status == 200) {
    // Create a binary string from the returned data, then encode it as a data URL.
    var uInt8Array = new Uint8Array(this.response);
    var i = uInt8Array.length;
    var binaryString = new Array(i);
    while (i--)
    {
      binaryString[i] = String.fromCharCode(uInt8Array[i]);
    }
    var data = binaryString.join('');

    var base64 = window.btoa(data);

    document.getElementById("myImage").src="data:image/png;base64," + base64;
  }
};

xhr.send();

Note: This code is over 7 years old at this point. While it should still function in most browsers, here's an updated version based on a suggestion by @TypeError that will only work in more modern browsers with the possible exception of iOS Safari (which may or may not support responseType = 'blob' - make sure to test!):

var xhr = new XMLHttpRequest();
xhr.open('get', 'doodle.png', true);

// Load the data directly as a Blob.
xhr.responseType = 'blob';

xhr.onload = () => {
  document.querySelector('#myimage').src = URL.createObjectURL(this.response);
};

xhr.send(); 

Answer 2

You can fetch a Blob and use window.URL.createObjectURL. This prevents building giant strings and copying everything a couple of times.

var xhr = new XMLHttpRequest();
xhr.open('GET', 'https://i.imgur.com/sBJOoTm.png', true);

xhr.responseType = 'blob';

xhr.onload = function(e) {
  if (this.status == 200) {
    var blob = this.response;
    document.getElementById("myImage").src = window.URL.createObjectURL(blob);
  }
};

xhr.onerror = function(e) {
  alert("Error " + e.target.status + " occurred while receiving the document.");
};

xhr.send();

<img id="myImage">

Example (same code): http://jsfiddle.net/ysangkok/sJxXk/86/ . Works in Firefox and Chrome 25+. And all other browsers except Opera Mini: http://caniuse.com/#search=Blob

Answer 3

XMLHttpRequest

var xmlhttp = new XMLHttpRequest();
xmlhttp.open('GET', 'http://RestServiceURL-Returns Image', true);
xmlhttp.setRequestHeader('Content-type','application/x-www-form-urlencoded');
xmlhttp.responseType = 'arraybuffer/blob';
xmlhttp.send();

creating blob image in 3-ways.

• window.URL.createObjectURL
• FileReader (caniuse)

• Base64String

  xmlhttp.onload = function() {
      var blob = new Blob([this.response], {type: 'image/png'}); 
      console.log(blob, blob.type, this.response, typeof this.response);  
  
      var image = document.getElementById('my-image');
  
      1)image.src = window.URL.createObjectURL(blob);
  
      2)var fileReader = new window.FileReader();
      fileReader.readAsDataURL(blob);
      fileReader.onloadend = function() { 
      image.src = fileReader.result;
      }
  
      3)var base64String = btoa(String.fromCharCode.apply(null, new Uint8Array(this.response)));
      image.src = 'data:image/png;base64,'+base64String;
  };
  

Converting ArrayBuffer to Blob to ArrayBuffer

1)var dataView = new DataView(arrayBuffer);
var blob = new Blob([dataView], { type: mimeString });


2)fileReader.readAsArrayBuffer(blob);
var arrayBuffer;
fileReader.onload = function() {
    arrayBuffer = this.result;
};

Answer 4

Same solution as suggested by Janus Troelsen with promise added...

Note! when using createObjectURL - don't forget to call revokeObjectURL

//  Load blob (promise)
function loadBlob( url ){
    return new Promise( (resolve, reject) => {
        const xhr = new XMLHttpRequest();
        xhr.open('GET', url, true);
        xhr.responseType = 'blob';        
        xhr.onload  = () => resolve(xhr.response);
        xhr.onerror = () => reject(xhr.statusText);        
        xhr.send();
    });
}

//  Create image from blob (createObjectURL)
function imageFromBlob( blob ){ 
    const img = new Image();
    img.onload = () => URL.revokeObjectURL(img.src);
    img.src = URL.createObjectURL(blob);    
    return img;
}


//  Create image from blob if loaded successfully
loadBlob('https://unsplash.it/960/540?random')
    .then( blob => {
        document.body.appendChild( imageFromBlob(blob) );      
    })
    .catch( error => {
        console.log('Could not load image');
    })
    


//  Alternate version adding promise to xhr
//  if you like to trigger xhr.send() yourself
function xhrBlob(url){
    const xhr = new XMLHttpRequest();
    xhr.open('GET', url, true);
    xhr.responseType = 'blob';        
    xhr.promise = new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
        xhr.onload  = () => resolve(xhr.response);
        xhr.onerror = () => reject(xhr.statusText);  
    });
    xhr.load = ( onsuccess = () => {}, onerror = () => {} ) => { 
        xhr.promise.then(onsuccess).catch(onerror);
        xhr.send();
        return xhr;
    }
    return xhr;
}


//  Using load callbacks
xhrBlob('https://unsplash.it/960/540?random')
    .load( 
        //  on sussess
        blob => {
            document.body.appendChild( imageFromBlob(blob) );      
        },
        //  on error
        error => {
            console.log('Could not load image');
        }
    );
    
 //  Using promise (delayed)
const image = xhrBlob('https://unsplash.it/960/540?random');

    //  Promise handlers
    image.promise
    .then( blob => {
        document.body.appendChild( imageFromBlob(blob) );      
    })
    .catch( error => {
        console.log('Could not load image');
    });
 
 //  Load image (will trigger promise handlers)
 setTimeout(image.load, 3000);

img {
  width: 100%;
}