Getting text from external (local) file with jQuery

Question

So I aim to get some text from "clownJokes.txt" which is an external .txt and put that text into a variable inside my .js file.

Currently I know that $.get() from JQUERY calls Ajax and retrieves the file you want from the server. But I am searching for a way to do that locally, is there any way to do that?

$(document).ready(function(){
    $.get('clownJokes.txt', function(data){
        doSomethingWithData(data);
    }, 'text')
})

This is how it would look if I was to retrieve it from the server.

Thanks in advance!

locally? unclear what you mean.... like a file on your desktop? — epascarello, Nov 02 '18 at 14:03
If you by locally mean your own computer then the short answer is no as it would be a huge security risk. However, you could have a look here - you might find some ideas that would be acceptable to you: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/371875/local-file-access-with-javascript — faerin, Nov 02 '18 at 14:05
Could upload the file and process via JS but not automatically no, major security risk — clearshot66, Nov 02 '18 at 14:18

score 0 · Answer 1 · answered Nov 02 '18 at 15:09

Try this link How do I load the contents of a text file into a javascript variable?

First answer is without jQuery, second answer is with jQuery.. your way might not be working because of the path.. press f12 and check console/network to see if you are actually able to fetch the file. if it is giving 404 then your problem is with the path to the file you want to extract

Hope this helps

score 0 · Accepted Answer · answered Nov 02 '18 at 18:18

0

Loading locally is a huge security risk, making it not possible. I believe there's no way to do that in jQuery because of that risk. Generally, what you have above is a feasible way to do it if the TXT file was hosted on a web server somewhere.

HTML

<div class="result">
</div>

jQuery

$.get("PATH OF TXT FILE", function(data){
    $(".result").html(data);
  alert("Load was performed.");
});

answered Nov 02 '18 at 18:18

ermalsh

191
1
16

Okay great, ty :) – David Bros Nov 05 '18 at 11:43

Getting text from external (local) file with jQuery

2 Answers2