How to search inside excel file using HTML/JavaScript form

Question

I have an excel file that contains around 3000 unique ids. I am creating a HTML form where the user will select a code from one of these ids. Similar to something where they click on the code field, which takes them to a new web page where they can either search a specific code or just select to show all and then manually select one code.

I am assuming that I need to use JavaScript or something similar over here to connect the excel file to the form, but I cannot find a specific answer to the question. I have seen a lot of websites like job application websites where they have you search for the university do something similar. But I am not sure where to begin. It would be great if someone pushed me into the right direction.

Answer 1

Javascript on the frontend (in a web browser) does not have access to the filesystem. You should use NodeJS (Javascript Runtime) which does run on the server side, and therefore has access to the filesystem.

Your specific issues can be solved with a simple HTTP GET or POST request to a small NodeJS server which will take the code as a query parameter and proceed according to the requirements you have.

I hope this helps.