Remote FileSystemObjects

[Malcolm]

I am a near total novice, trying to write some Javascript code that will
display certain elements in a comma separated value file (gifts.csv) in
tabular form when a page is loaded. I have come up with the following which
works fine when I view the page in my coding tool (AceHTML 5 Pro). Basically
it sets up an array, opens the csv file, reads each line from the file,
decides whether the line needs processing and if so loads each value into an
element of the array and writes some of them out. There are some table tags
thrown into appropriate places.

<script>

information = new Array(10);
y = new ActiveXObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject");
gift = y.opentextfile("gifts.csv",1);
x = document.write("<table>");

do {
x = document.write("<tr>");
giftinfo = gift.readline();

if (giftinfo.charAt(0)=="0") {
information = giftinfo.split(",");
x = document.write("<td>",information[4],"</td>");
x = document.write("<td>",information[5],"</td>");
x = document.write("<td>",information[9],"</td>");
x = document.write("</tr>");
}
}
while (!gift.AtEndOfStream);

x = document.write("</table>");

</script>

However it doesn't work from a server using IE. From what I've read I
believe it is because the filesystemobject works with the local filesystem
whereas the csv file is on the server.

Is there any way of redoing this so that the file on the server is opened
and read, or can I download the csv file onto the client machine so that it
works as written, or do I need to be doing something with asp (is that
right?) so the the scripting runs on the server not the client?

Or am I asking the wrong questions?

[Grant Wagner]

Malcolm wrote:

However it doesn't work from a server using IE. From what I've read I
believe it is because the filesystemobject works with the local filesystem
whereas the csv file is on the server.
Correct.
Is there any way of redoing this so that the file on the server is opened
and read,
Not really.
or can I download the csv file onto the client machine so that it
works as written,
Nope.
or do I need to be doing something with asp (is that
right?)
Well, it can solve your problem, but not the way you are trying to solve it now.
so the the scripting runs on the server not the client?
No.
Or am I asking the wrong questions?

Basically. You can't "open and read" an http resource. What you *can* do is load
it into a hidden <iframe>, then parse the results using client-side JavaScript.
You could also use the XML HTTP Request object <url:
http://jibbering.com/2002/4/httprequest.html /> to request and parse the .csv
file.

However, the easiest thing to do is have ASP generate client side JavaScript
that sets things up the way you want:

<%
// read the file
// Response.write something that outputs the code shown below:
// <script type="text/javascript">
// var theCSVFile = [
// [ row1value1, row1value2, row1value3 ],
// [ row2value1, row2value2, row2value3 ],
// // etc
// ];
// </script>
%>

--
Grant Wagner <gw*****@agricoreunited.com>
comp.lang.javascript FAQ - http://jibbering.com/faq