Javascript : Check local file's existence using javascript

Question

var req = new XMLHttpRequest();  
req.open('GET', '20121209.xml', false);   
req.send(null);  
if(req.status == 0)
{ 
//file exist
}

I want to check whether file is existed or not in local machine using javascript. So I wrote the code like above. I can check when file is existed, but I cannot check when the file is not existed.

Finally I want to do something when file is not existed. Can I do this???

use the else {} after if(req.status == 0){}? because if this statement fails then it may not exist. but you can not do this in some browsers like chrome because of the security settings (accessing local files on file://...) of the browsers and how do you know if it is the right path you are looking currently? hat do you want to achieve with this? — user753676
– user753676, Commented Dec 9, 2012 at 11:16
If you want to do this from a normal web page, then no, it's not possible. — David Pärsson
– David Pärsson, Commented Dec 9, 2012 at 11:17
if (req.status == 404) { //doesn't exist } Also, it works only if you are executing the JS from a file:// url. If running it on HTTP you can't access the local file-system. — Anirudh Ramanathan
– Anirudh Ramanathan, Commented Dec 9, 2012 at 11:17

Anirudh Ramanathan · Accepted Answer · 2012-12-09 11:38:23Z

4

Javascript is sandboxed in the browser that is executing it, it can not access the client's local file system if the JS is served from a non-local location. Doing what you listed will make a request to

http://website.js.is.on.com/20121209.xml

edited Dec 9, 2012 at 11:38

Anirudh Ramanathan

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answered Dec 9, 2012 at 11:16

shannonman

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