Is there an API in the browser (outside of websockets) which allows us to stream data from a file to the browser? something like this:
const reader = new FileReader();
reader.readAsText(file, "UTF-8");
reader.on('data', d => { // imaginary api
// new line of data d
});
what could happen is the user selects the local file, and some process on the local OS writes to it. If this doesn't work, then websockets is an option.
Browsers can consume streaming data using the Streams API, here how to use it, from those links:
The basic usage of Streams hinges around making responses available as streams. For example, the response body returned by a successful fetch request can be exposed as a ReadableStream, and you can then read it using a reader created with ReadableStream.getReader(), cancel it with ReadableStream.cancel()
// Fetch the original image
fetch('./tortoise.png')
// Retrieve its body as ReadableStream
.then((response) => {
const reader = response.body.getReader();
// …
});
A good post about the Streams API
Another option could be using server sent events implementing the "streaming" as a sequence of reactions to events (new lines from the file?), still from mdn links EventSource Interface:
Unlike WebSockets, server-sent events are unidirectional; that is, data messages are delivered in one direction, from the server to the client (such as a user's web browser). That makes them an excellent choice when there's no need to send data from the client to the server in message form.
Here a link to another question with a lot of cool info and links
These solutions involve some Server side work of course
