Load xml file using javascript

Question

Nothing gets printed on the web page when I try to open an HTML file having javascript. The script inside the html code loads the xml file and tries to print some element data. I have pasted the code below. Sadly no data of file gets printed. I have used browsers IE8 and Chrome. Please let me know what is the issue.

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
    <head>
        <script>
            function loadXMLDoc(dname)
            {
                if (window.XMLHttpRequest)
                {
                    xhttp=new XMLHttpRequest();
                }
                else
                {
                    xhttp=new ActiveXObject("Microsoft.XMLDOM");
                }

                xhttp.open("GET",dname,false);
                xhttp.send();
                return xhttp.responseXML;
            }
        </script>
    </head>
    <body>
        <script>
            xmlDoc=loadXMLDoc("file:///E:/Parser/book.xml");

            document.write(xmlDoc.getElementsByTagName("title")[0].childNodes[0].nodeValue + "   <br>");
            document.write(xmlDoc.getElementsByTagName("authors")[0].childNodes[0].nodeValue + "<br>");

        </script>
    </body>
</html>

You're definitely not going to get any joy with Chrome since you're using ActiveX. Any chance you can build a web service to surface that XML file? — Mister Epic
– Mister Epic, Commented Aug 17, 2013 at 20:24

Amith · Accepted Answer · 2013-08-17 19:32:16Z

4

You can't open a local file using ajax

xmlDoc=loadXMLDoc("file:///E:/Parser/book.xml");

this can't be performed because JavaScript running in a web browser does not have access to the local filesystem. That would a huge security risk.

answered Aug 17, 2013 at 19:32

Amith

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6 Comments

amphetamachine Over a year ago

It does have access to the local file system. The problem is that remote viewers don't have access to his file system.

user2281107 Over a year ago

Please suggest me the alternatives or a possible solution to this problem. I have got this code from W3C website. Thanks

Amith Over a year ago

these links can help you stackoverflow.com/questions/16417211/… , stackoverflow.com/questions/13390722/read-xml-file-with-jquery , forum.jquery.com/topic/using-jquery-to-load-an-xml-file

ramazan polat Over a year ago

@user2281107 you can point a web URL for an XML file. And to make it work, you can use an npm package named http-server.

Jose Rui Santos Over a year ago

The only way that javascript running on a web browser allows access to a file system, is through an <input type="file"> to let the user be aware of that specific action. When done programmatically, it can't access the file system.

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