Web/API/FileSystemEntry

From Get docs

Non-standard This feature is non-standard and is not on a standards track. Do not use it on production sites facing the Web: it will not work for every user. There may also be large incompatibilities between implementations and the behavior may change in the future.


The FileSystemEntry interface of the File and Directory Entries API represents a single entry in a file system. The entry can be a file or a directory (directories are represented by the DirectoryEntry interface). It includes methods for working with files—including copying, moving, removing, and reading files—as well as information about a file it points to—including the file name and its path from the root to the entry.

Because this is a non-standard API, whose specification is not currently on a standards track, it's important to keep in mind that not all browsers implement it, and those that do may implement only small portions of it. Check the Browser compatibility section for details.


Basic concepts

You don't create FileSystemEntry objects directly. Instead, you will receive an object based on this interface through other APIs. This interface serves as a base class for the FileSystemFileEntry and FileSystemDirectoryEntry interfaces, which provide features specific to file system entries representing files and directories, respectively.

The FileSystemEntry interface includes methods that you would expect for manipulating files and directories, but it also includes a convenient method for obtaining the URL of the entry: toURL(). It also introduces a new URL scheme: filesystem:.

You can use the filesystem: scheme on Google Chrome to see all the files and folders that are stored in the origin of your app. Just use filesystem: scheme for the root directory of the origin of the app. For example, if your app is in http://www.html5rocks.com, open filesystem:http://www.html5rocks.com/temporary/ in a tab. Chrome shows a read-only list of all the files and folders stored the origin of your app.

Example

To see an example of how toURL() works, see the method description. The snippet below shows you how you can remove a file by name.

// Taking care of the browser-specific prefixes.
window.requestFileSystem  = window.requestFileSystem || window.webkitRequestFileSystem; 

...

// Opening a file system with temporary storage
window.requestFileSystem(TEMPORARY, 1024*1024 /*1MB*/, function(fs) {
  fs.root.getFile('log.txt', {}, function(fileEntry) {
    
    fileEntry.remove(function() {
      console.log('File removed.');
    }, onError);
  
  }, onError);
}, onError);

Properties

This interface provides the following properties.

filesystem Read only
A FileSystem object representing the file system in which the entry is located.
fullPath Read only
A USVString object which provides the full, absolute path from the file system's root to the entry; it can also be thought of as a path which is relative to the root directory, prepended with a "/" character.
isDirectory Read only
A Boolean which is true if the entry represents a directory; otherwise, it's false.
isFile Read only
A Boolean which is true if the entry represents a file. If it's not a file, this value is false.
name Read only
A USVString containing the name of the entry (the final part of the path, after the last "/" character).

Methods

This interface defines the following methods.

copyTo()
Copies the file or directory to a new location on the file system.
getMetadata()
Obtains metadata about the file, such as its modification date and size.
getParent()
Returns a FileSystemDirectoryEntry representing the entry's parent directory.
moveTo()
Moves the file or directory to a new location on the file system, or renames the file or directory.
remove()
Removes the specified file or directory. You can only remove directories which are empty.
toURL()
Creates and returns a URL which identifies the entry. This URL uses the URL scheme "filesystem:".

Specifications

Specification Status Comment
File and Directory Entries API Draft Draft of proposed API

This API has no official W3C or WHATWG specification.

Browser compatibility

Update compatibility data on GitHub

Desktop Mobile
Chrome Edge Firefox Internet Explorer Opera Safari Android webview Chrome for Android Firefox for Android Opera for Android Safari on iOS Samsung Internet

FileSystemEntry

Experimental'

Chrome Full support 8

Alternate Name'

Full support 8

Alternate Name'

Alternate Name' Uses the non-standard name: Entry

Edge Full support 79

Prefixed'

Full support 79

Prefixed'

Prefixed' Implemented with the vendor prefix: webkit

Firefox

Full support 50

IE

No support No

Opera

No support No

Safari

Full support 11.1

WebView Android Full support ≤37

Alternate Name'

Full support ≤37

Alternate Name'

Alternate Name' Uses the non-standard name: Entry

Chrome Android Full support 18

Alternate Name'

Full support 18

Alternate Name'

Alternate Name' Uses the non-standard name: Entry

Firefox Android

Full support 50

Opera Android

No support No

Safari iOS

Full support 11.3

Samsung Internet Android Full support 1.0

Alternate Name'

Full support 1.0

Alternate Name'

Alternate Name' Uses the non-standard name: Entry

copyTo

Experimental'Deprecated'Non-standard'

Chrome

Full support 8

Edge

Full support 79

Firefox

No support No

IE

No support No

Opera

No support No

Safari

No support No

WebView Android

Full support ≤37

Chrome Android

Full support 18

Firefox Android

No support No

Opera Android

No support No

Safari iOS

No support No

Samsung Internet Android

Full support 1.0

filesystem

Experimental'

Chrome

Full support 8

Edge

Full support 79

Firefox

Full support 50

IE

No support No

Opera

No support No

Safari

Full support 11.1

WebView Android

Full support ≤37

Chrome Android

Full support 18

Firefox Android

Full support 50

Opera Android

No support No

Safari iOS

Full support 11.3

Samsung Internet Android

Full support 1.0

fullPath

Experimental'

Chrome

Full support 8

Edge

Full support 79

Firefox

Full support 50

IE

No support No

Opera

No support No

Safari

Full support 11.1

WebView Android

Full support ≤37

Chrome Android

Full support 18

Firefox Android

Full support 50

Opera Android

No support No

Safari iOS

Full support 11.3

Samsung Internet Android

Full support 1.0

getMetadata

Experimental'Deprecated'Non-standard'

Chrome

Full support 8

Edge

Full support 79

Firefox

No support No

IE

No support No

Opera

No support No

Safari

No support No

WebView Android

Full support ≤37

Chrome Android

Full support 18

Firefox Android

No support No

Opera Android

No support No

Safari iOS

No support No

Samsung Internet Android

Full support 1.0

getParent

Experimental'

Chrome

Full support 8

Edge

Full support 79

Firefox

No support No

IE

No support No

Opera

No support No

Safari

Full support 11.1

WebView Android

Full support ≤37

Chrome Android

Full support 18

Firefox Android

No support No

Opera Android

No support No

Safari iOS

Full support 11.3

Samsung Internet Android

Full support 1.0

isDirectory

Experimental'

Chrome

Full support 8

Edge

Full support 79

Firefox

Full support 50

IE

No support No

Opera

No support No

Safari

Full support 11.1

WebView Android

Full support ≤37

Chrome Android

Full support 18

Firefox Android

Full support 50

Opera Android

No support No

Safari iOS

Full support 11.3

Samsung Internet Android

Full support 1.0

isFile

Experimental'

Chrome

Full support 8

Edge

Full support 79

Firefox

Full support 50

IE

No support No

Opera

No support No

Safari

Full support 11.1

WebView Android

Full support ≤37

Chrome Android

Full support 18

Firefox Android

Full support 50

Opera Android

No support No

Safari iOS

Full support 11.3

Samsung Internet Android

Full support 1.0

moveTo

Experimental'Deprecated'Non-standard'

Chrome

Full support 8

Edge

Full support 79

Firefox

No support No

IE

No support No

Opera

No support No

Safari

No support No

WebView Android

Full support ≤37

Chrome Android

Full support 18

Firefox Android

No support No

Opera Android

No support No

Safari iOS

No support No

Samsung Internet Android

Full support 1.0

name

Experimental'

Chrome

Full support 8

Edge

Full support 79

Firefox

Full support 50

IE

No support No

Opera

No support No

Safari

Full support 11.1

WebView Android

Full support ≤37

Chrome Android

Full support 18

Firefox Android

Full support 50

Opera Android

No support No

Safari iOS

Full support 11.3

Samsung Internet Android

Full support 1.0

remove

Experimental'Deprecated'Non-standard'

Chrome

Full support 8

Edge

Full support 79

Firefox

No support No

IE

No support No

Opera

No support No

Safari

No support No

WebView Android

Full support ≤37

Chrome Android

Full support 18

Firefox Android

No support No

Opera Android

No support No

Safari iOS

No support No

Samsung Internet Android

Full support 1.0

toURL

Experimental'Deprecated'Non-standard'

Chrome

Full support 8

Edge

Full support 79

Firefox

No support No

IE

No support No

Opera

No support No

Safari

No support No

WebView Android

Full support ≤37

Chrome Android

Full support 18

Firefox Android

No support No

Opera Android

No support No

Safari iOS

No support No

Samsung Internet Android

Full support 1.0

Legend

Full support  
Full support
No support  
No support
Experimental. Expect behavior to change in the future.'
Experimental. Expect behavior to change in the future.
Non-standard. Expect poor cross-browser support.'
Non-standard. Expect poor cross-browser support.
Deprecated. Not for use in new websites.'
Deprecated. Not for use in new websites.
Uses a non-standard name.'
Uses a non-standard name.
Requires a vendor prefix or different name for use.'
Requires a vendor prefix or different name for use.


See also