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There was a File System API but shown as deprecated now:
https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/Window/requestFileSystem

There is now another, File System Access API:
https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/File_System_Access_API

What happened to the old API and why was it discontinued? Should the new File System Access API be stable in all common browsers?

Dee
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1 Answers1

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It turned out that File System Access API is not deprecated, it's just not standardised (May 2021); the deprecated one is the function window.requestFileSystem; the same function on Chromium-based browsers is window.webkitRequestFileSystem.

File System API is for creating a virtual drive (temporary or persistent) for each website when using browser-based db (IndexedDB) is not necessary especially for the purpose of storing files.
https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/FileSystem

File System Access API is different, it is for accessing the real file system of the OS. This API is now standardised and available on Chromium-based browsers (May 2021). Firefox has not yet adapted this API.
https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/File_System_Access_API

Status of these APIs: https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API

Dee
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    See also: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/23560090/is-the-fileapi-in-html5-dead Note that it's possible that the new File System Access API will never be standardized, as happened the last time Google tried this. :-) – T.J. Crowder May 04 '21 at 14:12
  • i guess mozilla is implementing, it's in mozilla documentation – Dee May 05 '21 at 07:40
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    MDN documenting it doesn't mean anything. MDN's remit is about much more than what Firefox supports. Rather than guessing, listen to [what they actually say about it](https://mozilla.github.io/standards-positions/#native-file-system), which is currently that they're waiting to see if it seems like a good idea. They did implement the earlier one that was abandoned in Firefox, but it's been a long time and management has changed... – T.J. Crowder May 05 '21 at 07:53