HTML5 FileReader how to return result?

Asked 6/8, 2012 at 13:44 Answered 27/4, 2018 at 21:58

I use JS FileReader. I want to get result after file reading operation and work with this data. FileReader is asynchronous and I don't know when result is ready. How to get it done right?

$(document).ready(function(){
    $('#file_input').on('change', function(e){
        var res = readFile(this.files[0]);

        //my some manipulate with res

        $('#output_field').text(res);
    });
});

function readFile(file){
    var reader = new FileReader(),
        result = 'empty';

    reader.onload = function(e)
    {
        result = e.target.result;
    };

    reader.readAsText(file);

    //waiting until result is empty?

    return result;
}

http://jsfiddle.net/ub22m/4/

It's show "empty".

How to wait until "result" is empty? Another way?

Ecclesiasticism answered 6/8, 2012 at 13:44 Comment(0)

Reading happens asynchronously. You need to provide a custom onload callback that defines what should happen when the read completes:

$(document).ready(function(){
    $('#file_input').on('change', function(e){
        readFile(this.files[0], function(e) {
            // use result in callback...
            $('#output_field').text(e.target.result);
        });
    });
});

function readFile(file, onLoadCallback){
    var reader = new FileReader();
    reader.onload = onLoadCallback;
    reader.readAsText(file);
}

(See the Fiddle.)

Note that readFile does not return a value. Instead, it accepts a callback function, which will fire whenever the read is done. The $('#output_field').text operation is moved into the callback function. This ensures that that operation will not run until the reader's onload callback fires, when e.target.result will be filled.

Programming with callbacks is a bit difficult to get right at first, but it is absolutely necessary for implementing advanced functionality.

Secession answered 6/8, 2012 at 14:18 Comment(2)

Is there a difference between the two es? – Unthankful 21/5, 2015 at 21:53

@ChrisChudzicki Yes, they are different. The first e is jQuery event object. The second e is load event object. – Ecclesiasticism 19/10, 2016 at 8:6

Use a Promise to wrap FileReader and then use await to get the results:

https://blog.shovonhasan.com/using-promises-with-filereader/

Godthaab answered 27/4, 2018 at 21:58 Comment(0)

Here's the javascript:

$(document).ready(function() {
    $('#file_input').on('change', function(e) {

        function updateProgress(evt) {
            if (evt.lengthComputable) {
                // evt.loaded and evt.total are ProgressEvent properties
                var loaded = (evt.loaded / evt.total);
                if (loaded < 1) {
                    // Increase the prog bar length
                    style.width = (loaded * 200) + "px";
                }
            }
        }

        function loaded(evt) {
            // Obtain the read file data    
            var fileString = evt.target.result;
            // Handle UTF-16 file dump
            $('#output_field').text(fileString);
        }
        var res = readFile(this.files[0]);

        var reader = new FileReader();

        reader.readAsText(this.files[0], "UTF-8");

        reader.onprogress = updateProgress;
        reader.onload = loaded;


    });
});

function readFile(file) {
    var reader = new FileReader(),
        result = 'empty';

    reader.onload = function(e) {
        result = e.target.result;
    };

    reader.readAsText(file);

    return result;
}

And of course, the HTML portion:

<input type="file" id="file_input" class="foo" />
<div id="progBar" style="background-color:black;width:1px;"> </div>
<div id="output_field" class="foo"></div>

Seems to work for *.txt files.

See this fiddle.

Autoionization answered 6/8, 2012 at 14:12 Comment(2)

strange, fiddle reverted back to the old version. Fixed now. – Autoionization 6/8, 2012 at 14:45

return is a keyword that I believe was being mentioned here. The readFile function will always return 'empty' – Freefloating 16/5, 2016 at 23:53

use case FileReader

<html>
    <head>
        <link rel="stylesheet" href="http://code.jquery.com/ui/1.11.3/themes/smoothness/jquery-ui.css">
        <script src="http://code.jquery.com/jquery-1.10.2.js"></script>
        <script src="http://code.jquery.com/ui/1.11.3/jquery-ui.js"></script>
    </head>
    <body>
        <script>
            function PreviewImage() {
            var oFReader = new FileReader();
            oFReader.readAsDataURL(document.getElementById("uploadImage").files[0]);
            oFReader.onload = function (oFREvent) {
                var sizef = document.getElementById('uploadImage').files[0].size;
                document.getElementById("uploadPreview").src = oFREvent.target.result;
                document.getElementById("uploadImageValue").value = oFREvent.target.result; 
            };
        };
        jQuery(document).ready(function(){
            $('#viewSource').click(function ()
            {
                var imgUrl = $('#uploadImageValue').val();
                alert(imgUrl);
            });
        });
        </script>
        <div>
            <input type="hidden" id="uploadImageValue" name="uploadImageValue" value="" />
            <img id="uploadPreview" style="width: 150px; height: 150px;" /><br />
            <input id="uploadImage" style="width:120px" type="file" size="10" accept="image/jpeg,image/gif, image/png" name="myPhoto" onchange="PreviewImage();" />
        </div>
        <a href="#" id="viewSource">Source file</a>
    </body>
</html>

Mainsail answered 19/2, 2015 at 10:30 Comment(0)

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