Saving text in a local file in Internet Explorer 10

Question

I need to be able to save a string into a local file. Based on the code in here I got the following going:

function saveTextAsFile(fileNameToSaveAs, textToWrite) {
var textFileAsBlob = new Blob([textToWrite], {
    type: 'text/plain'
});

var downloadLink = document.createElement("a");
downloadLink.download = fileNameToSaveAs;
downloadLink.innerHTML = "Download File";

if (true) { //window.webkitURL !== null) {
    // Chrome allows the link to be clicked
    // without actually adding it to the DOM.
    downloadLink.href = window.URL.createObjectURL(textFileAsBlob);
} else {
    // Firefox requires the link to be added to the DOM
    // before it can be clicked.
    downloadLink.href = window.URL.createObjectURL(textFileAsBlob);
    downloadLink.onclick = destroyClickedElement;
    downloadLink.style.display = "none";
    document.body.appendChild(downloadLink);
}

downloadLink.click();
}

This works fine for Chrome and Firefox, but not for Internet Explorer 10 as

downloadLink.click();

gives:

SCRIPT5: Access is denied.

Is there any explanation/solution to this ?

thanks!

Answer 1

IE 10 and 11 use a distinct syntax for downloading or saving blobs to the client machine. Once you've created a blob, use:

window.navigator.msSaveBlob(blob, 'file.txt'); 

or

window.navigator.msSaveOrOpenBlob(blob, 'file.txt');

to trigger the file save or file save/open dialog.

For more info, see http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ie/hh673542(v=vs.85).aspx

Answer 2

Thx to mstubna, here is a solution for Chrome, FF, and IE>9:

function saveTextAsFile(fileNameToSaveAs, textToWrite) {
  /* Saves a text string as a blob file*/  
  var ie = navigator.userAgent.match(/MSIE\s([\d.]+)/),
      ie11 = navigator.userAgent.match(/Trident\/7.0/) && navigator.userAgent.match(/rv:11/),
      ieEDGE = navigator.userAgent.match(/Edge/g),
      ieVer=(ie ? ie[1] : (ie11 ? 11 : (ieEDGE ? 12 : -1)));

  if (ie && ieVer<10) {
    console.log("No blobs on IE ver<10");
    return;
  }

  var textFileAsBlob = new Blob([textToWrite], {
    type: 'text/plain'
  });

  if (ieVer>-1) {
    window.navigator.msSaveBlob(textFileAsBlob, fileNameToSaveAs);

  } else {
    var downloadLink = document.createElement("a");
    downloadLink.download = fileNameToSaveAs;
    downloadLink.href = window.URL.createObjectURL(textFileAsBlob);
    downloadLink.onclick = function(e) { document.body.removeChild(e.target); };
    downloadLink.style.display = "none";
    document.body.appendChild(downloadLink);
    downloadLink.click();
  }
}

Answer 3

For modern browsers solution goes like this, tested: IE11, FF & Chrome

 var csvData = new Blob([arg.data], {type: 'text/csv;charset=utf-8;'}); //IE11 & Edge if (navigator.msSaveBlob) { navigator.msSaveBlob(csvData, exportFilename); } else { //In FF link must be added to DOM to be clicked var link = document.createElement('a'); link.href = window.URL.createObjectURL(csvData); link.setAttribute('download', exportFilename); document.body.appendChild(link); link.click(); document.body.removeChild(link); } 

Answer 4

plus for ie EDGE:

var ieEDGE = navigator.userAgent.match(/Edge/g);
if (ie || ie11 || ieEDGE) {
    if (ieVer>9 || ieEDGE) {
        var textFileAsBlob = new Blob([textToWrite], {
            type: 'text/plain'
        });
        window.navigator.msSaveBlob(textFileAsBlob, fileName);
    } else {
        console.log("No supported on IE ver<10");
    }
} else { ... }

Answer 5

You can use FileSaver library to achieve that. Easy to use, takes care of browser types and versions. There is an AngularJS version available as well.