Using the HTML5 Filesystem API: A True Filesystem for the Browser

by Eric Bidelman

Overview

Several client-side storage options are available to web applications, but one area that's been lacking until now is file I/O—the ability to organize binary data into a true hierarchy of folders. That has changed with the advent of HTML5. With this book, you'll learn how to provide your applications with a file system that enables them to create, read, and write files and folders in a sandboxed section of the user's local filesystem.

Author Eric Bidelman, a Senior Developer Programs Engineer on the Google Chrome team, provides several techniques and complete code examples for working with the HTML5 Filesystem API.

• Learn common operations for working with files and directories
• Become familiar with HTML5's storage use cases and security considerations
• Understand the storage options available, including temporary, persistent, and unlimited
• Write text or append data to an existing user file
• Import files into your application by accessing a user's hard drive
• Get techniques for using a file with filesystem, blob, or data URLs
• Use the synchronous version of the HTML5 Filesystem API within a Web Worker context

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781449309459
Publisher:	O'Reilly Media, Incorporated
Publication date:	08/02/2011
Pages:	72
Product dimensions:	6.90(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.30(d)

About the Author

Eric is a Senior Developer Programs Engineer on the Google Chrome team, and one of the core contributors to html5rocks.com. His mission is to spread HTML5 goodness by educating developers, worldwide. Eric previously worked on the Google Docs, Sites, Health, and OAuth APIs. Prior to Google, Eric worked as a software engineer at the University of Michigan where he designed rich web applications and APIs for the university's 19 libraries. Eric holds a B.S.E in Computer Engineering and a B.S.E in Electrical Engineering from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. He can be found on Twitter at @ebidel.

Table of Contents

Preface; Conventions Used in This Book; Using Code Examples; Safari® Books Online; How to Contact Us; Chapter 1: Introduction; 1.1 Use Cases; 1.2 Security Considerations; 1.3 Browser Support; Chapter 2: Storage and Quota; Storage Types; Temporary Storage; Persistent Storage; Unlimited Storage; Quota Management API; Requesting More Storage; Checking Current Usage; Chapter 3: Getting Started; Opening a Filesystem; Handling Errors; Chapter 4: Working with Files; The FileEntry; Creating a File; Reading a File by Name; Writing to a File; Appending Data to a File; Importing Files; Using ; Using HTML5 Drag and Drop; Using XMLHttpRequest; Using Copy and Paste; Removing Files; Chapter 5: Working with Directories; The DirectoryEntry; Creating Directories; Subdirectories; Reading the Contents of a Directory; Removing Directories; Recursively Removing a Directory; Chapter 6: Copying, Renaming, and Moving Entries; Copying a File or Directory; Moving a File or Directory; Renaming a File or Directory; Chapter 7: Using Files; Filesystem URLs; Summary; Blob URLs; Summary; Data URLs; Summary; Chapter 8: The Synchronous API; Introduction; Opening a Filesystem; Working with Files and Directories; Handling Errors; Examples; Fetching All Entries in the Filesystem; Downloading Files Using XHR2; Colophon;