Web/API/FileSystemFileEntry

This is an experimental technologyCheck the Browser compatibility table carefully before using this in production.

The FileSystemFileEntry interface of the File System API represents a file in a file system. It offers properties describing the file's attributes, as well as the file() method, which creates a File object that can be used to read the file.

Properties

Inherits the properties of its parent interface, FileSystemEntry, but has no properties unique to this interface.

Methods

file(): Creates a new File object which can be used to read the file.

Obsolete methods

createWriter() ': Creates a new FileWriter object which allows writing to the file represented by the file system entry.

Basic concepts

To write content to file, create a FileWriter object by calling createWriter(). To read a file, obtain a File object representing its contents by calling file().

Example

The following code creates an empty file called "log.txt" (if it doesn't exist) and fills it with the text "Meow". Inside the success callback, event handlers are set up to handle the error error and writeend events. The text data is written to the file by creating a blob, appending text to it, and passing the blob to FileWriter.write().

function onInitFs(fs) {
  fs.root.getFile('log.txt', {create: true}, function(fileEntry) {

    // Create a FileWriter object for our FileSystemFileEntry (log.txt).
    fileEntry.createWriter(function(fileWriter) {
      fileWriter.onwriteend = function(e) {
        console.log('Write completed.');
      };

      fileWriter.onerror = function(e) {
        console.log('Write failed: ' + e.toString());
      };

      // Create a new Blob and write it to log.txt.
      var bb = new BlobBuilder();
      bb.append('Meow');
      
      fileWriter.write(bb.getBlob('text/plain'));
    }, errorHandler);

  }, errorHandler);

}

window.requestFileSystem(window.TEMPORARY, 1024*1024, onInitFs, errorHandler);

Specifications

Specification	Status	Comment
File and Directory Entries APIThe definition of 'FileSystemFileEntry' in that specification.	Draft	Draft of proposed API

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
`FileSystemFileEntry`	Chrome Full support 8 Alternate Name' Full support 8 Alternate Name' Alternate Name' Uses the non-standard name: `FileEntry`	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: `FileEntry`	Chrome Android Full support 18 Alternate Name' Full support 18 Alternate Name' Alternate Name' Uses the non-standard name: `FileEntry`	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: `FileEntry`
`createWriter` Deprecated'Non-standard'	Chrome Full support 8	Edge Full support 79	Firefox No support 50 — 52 Notes' No support 50 — 52 Notes' Notes' While the `createWriter()` method existed, it immediately called `errorCallback` with the `NS_ERROR_DOM_SECURITY_ERR` error.	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 50 — 52 Notes' No support 50 — 52 Notes' Notes' While the `createWriter()` method existed, it immediately called `errorCallback` with the `NS_ERROR_DOM_SECURITY_ERR` error.	Opera Android No support No	Safari iOS No support No	Samsung Internet Android Full support 1.0
`file`	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

Legend

Full support: Full support
No support: No support
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.
See implementation notes.': See implementation notes.
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.