Is there any way to list the files of a directory in a static webpage with the link to view the file?
I would like to upload some PDF files to a certain directory of my static website (it uses HTML and JS), and want to show the list of the files in a page with the link to view the pdf files. That way, if I upload new files, I don't have to modify the HTML page every time. Is there any way to do that?
If you are using Apache as a web-server and have configured mod-autoindex for the directory you upload pdf files then you should probalby see somethink like this when navigation to that url:
This auto-generated page can be easily parsed by js using jquery:
var pdfFilesDirectory = '/uploads/pdf/';
// get auto-generated page
$.ajax({url: pdfFilesDirectory}).then(function(html) {
// create temporary DOM element
var document = $(html);
// find all links ending with .pdf
document.find('a[href$=.pdf]').each(function() {
var pdfName = $(this).text();
var pdfUrl = $(this).attr('href');
// do what you want here
})
});
You need to have a server-side implementation, you could do this by using PHP for example. You cannot do this with JavaScript, because it is run on the client-side, and cannot access the files on the server.
I made a node module to automate the task of getting all files and folders: mddir
node mddir "../relative/path/"
To install: npm install mddir -g
To generate markdown for current directory: mddir
To generate for any absolute path: mddir /absolute/path
To generate for a relative path: mddir ~/Documents/whatever.
The md file gets generated in your working directory.
Currently ignores node_modules, and .git folders.
If you receive the error 'node\r: No such file or directory', the issue is that your operating system uses different line endings and mddir can't parse them without you explicitly setting the line ending style to Unix. This usually affects Windows, but also some versions of Linux. Setting line endings to Unix style has to be performed within the mddir npm global bin folder.
Get npm bin folder path with:
npm config get prefix
Cd into that folder
brew install dos2unix
dos2unix lib/node_modules/mddir/src/mddir.js
This converts line endings to Unix instead of Dos
Then run as normal with: node mddir "../relative/path/".
I made another node module call agd, to generate a tree view based on the other module: https://github.com/JohnByrneRepo/agd.
Functionality so far:
Generates a tree folder structure in node, that is rendered as a treegrid in the browser. Click on a file (non-root level) to populate main view.
Coming soon:
Generates a documentation guide including function names and parameters, function dependencies, and more. Initially compatible with jQuery and plain JavaScript function namespacing, soon to be compatible with React, Redux, Angular 1, Angular 2 and other frameworks on request.
Usage
node agd relativePath
e.g. node agd '../../'
Generated code.json.
Run 'node http-server' then open the browser to view the file structure rendered in the sidebar. Larger projects can take up to a minute or two to render.
See code.json for example generated data.
To-do: Add code content for top level files. Move tree html generation into node.
Contact html5css3@outlook.com
MIT License
Example generated tree structure
response will be the html of the listing pageExample:
// This is in angular, but you can use whatever
$http.get('folder_to_list/').success(function(response) {
console.log(response);
});
You need a combination of javascript and PHP. You could call the PHP file through Javascript, by using an AJAX call. try this PHP file which should return an Json object:
$directory = "/directory/path";
$pdffiles = glob($directory . "*.pdf");
$files = array();
foreach($pdffiles as $pdffile)
{
$files[] = "<a href=$pdffile>".basename($pdffile)."</a>";
}
echo json_encode($files);
Now you just need to loop through the Json object to list the Url's.
Something like:
$.getJSON( "file.php", function( data ) {
var items = [];
$.each( data, function(val ) {
items.push(val);
});
$( "body" ).append( items );
});
Did not test it, but something like this should work.
Instead of JavaScript, which runs only on the client side, you should consider using PHP or other server language, to crawl your directory of files and list them inside an HTML file/template. PHP for example has scandir function, which can list files in a dicrectory
Be simple. Put all your files in a directory and don't make a homepage of that directory. Then, in the page you want, add an Iframe that shows that directory. Then you will see the list of files you uploaded, all in hyperlinks. When you click on the links, the Iframe will show the PDF files.
I have the same problem.
I used to use an apache webserver with its 'fancy directory listings' and had everything setup that way, complete with headers, footers, color schemes, etc.
Then I migrated to gitlab webservers which is pure static pages only. NO Directory listings. Arrggghh...
My solution...
I continue to have the pages served in a local apache server (not world accessable), then I download the "index.html" file it generates, before uploading the index page to gitlab.
Example page generated from apache fancy directory listing... https://antofthy.gitlab.io/info/www/
I do the same for a set of pages that used Server-Side Includes (shtml), having apache expand the page to static HTML.
Example apache SSI generated page... https://antofthy.gitlab.io/graphics/polyhedra/
Of course this does not work with pages that rely on executable output, or CGI scripts, but for directory listings it is just fine.
Of course I would prefer to find a SSG that knows apache fancy directory listing, SSI, or even basic directory listings, that isn't over kill. BUt that is an on going search.
