read from text files 1

[joelmac]

Hi there,

Is there a way to read data from text files using javaScript? If I want to display products and prices for example. Can I have a comma separated text file something like this:

cats, $3.00
oxen, $7.00
yaks, $5.00

then open the file and loop through it and display the information in a table or something.

Thanks

________________________
JoelMac

 

[vbkris]

NOPE, u cannot touch any files on the client's machine, this is for security purpose...

Known is handfull, Unknown is worldfull

 

[joelmac]

What about files on the server? stored in the same directory as the page that's reading it?



________________________
JoelMac

 

[vbkris]

Still NO...

This is because javascript cannot touch files on the server (if it can no one will bother with ASP/PHP....)

Known is handfull, Unknown is worldfull

 

[CliveC]

Since JavaScript can already be in a separate file, why not just create a Javascript file with the items already placed in an array ready for processing.

Clive

http://tubularity.com

 

[onpnt]

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[grtfercho]

Shouldn't XML and XSLT be the answer to your problem?
<store>
<product>
<name>product1</name>
<price>4.00</price>
</product>

<product>
<name>product2</name>
<price>124.00</price>
</product>

<product>
<name>product3</name>
<price>500.00</price>
</product>
</store>

grtfercho çB^]\..
&quot;Imagination is more important than Knowledge&quot; A. Einstein

 

[grtfercho]

Shouldn't XML and XSLT be the answer to your problem?
<store>
<product>
<name>product1</name>
<price>4.00</price>
</product>

<product>
<name>product2</name>
<price>124.00</price>
</product>

<product>
<name>product3</name>
<price>500.00</price>
</product>
</store>

grtfercho çB^]\..
&quot;Imagination is more important than Knowledge&quot; A. Einstein

 

[joelmac]

yes that would work, and I was think of that, but the price list that I get comes in a text file.

I think that the file is exported from excel. Does anyone know if Excel can export data in an xml format?

________________________
JoelMac

 

[grtfercho]

you could load that list in Excel and from there save it as XML using the &quot;Save As&quot; option.
however the code you'll get is not going to be pretty.



grtfercho çB^]\..
&quot;Imagination is more important than Knowledge&quot; A. Einstein

 

[CliveC]

Perhaps you could provide a sample of the price list format that you get now. I think I could show you a lot neater way of converting it into a web usable form.

Clive

http://tubularity.com

 

[adam0101]

Wait a second... you can load plain text files in a window, right? So you should be able to read the contents of it just like you would do with a web page. I don't have a web server where I'm sitting today, but I tested this on my local machine and it worked. Maybe you can use it.

<iframe name=&quot;ifrm&quot; src=&quot;text.txt&quot;
onload=&quot;alert(frames.ifrm.document.body.innerText);&quot;></iframe>

 

[Marklar]

Excel can export as XML but I use a tool called trans2xml. I think I got it from Cnet.

I think the best way to go would be to load the data as an external .js file with:
mydata = &quot;thisisallmydata&quot;;

You can then put the script which deals with the mydata variable wherever you want.

A common programming error:
if (!IknowHow) {answer=&quot;can't be done&quot;}

 

[TXWizard]

Excel can save as CSV directly. Then, <b>server side</b> script can read that and format it into a table.

The XML that you get from Excel has so much extra goop in it that it's virtually useless. :-(