How Can I Create and Download In-Memory Text Files Client-Side Without Server Interaction?

Creating In-Memory Files for Client-Side Downloads without Server Interaction

Creating text files on the client side and prompting users to download them without server involvement is a common requirement in web development. However, security concerns prevent direct writing to user machines. Fortunately, there's a solution that involves creating the file in-memory and prompting the user to save it.

Client-Side File Creation and Download

To achieve this, we can leverage the capabilities of HTML5-compatible browsers. The following JavaScript code snippet demonstrates how to create a text file in memory and initiate the download process:

function download(filename, text) {
  var element = document.createElement('a');
  element.setAttribute('href', 'data:text/plain;charset=utf-8,' + encodeURIComponent(text));
  element.setAttribute('download', filename);

  element.style.display = 'none';
  document.body.appendChild(element);

  element.click();

  document.body.removeChild(element);
}

Implementation

To use this code, you can create a form that accepts a filename and text content. Upon submission, the form calls the download function to create the in-memory file and prompt the user to download it. An example form in HTML:

<form onsubmit="download(this['name'].value, this['text'].value)">
  <input type="text" name="name" value="test.txt">
  <textarea name="text"></textarea>
  <input type="submit" value="Download">
</form>

Browser Compatibility

The above solution works well in modern browsers that support HTML5. However, it's important to consider browser compatibility if you need to support older browsers.

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