Importing XML to HTML Without a Server

Question

I've been trying to import an XML document into HTML without using a server. I'm working with standalone computers so I can't upload it to any server, which means I can't use XMLHttpRequest. I found a thread here saying I could use jQuery AJAX, but as it turns out, I can't use that either. Does anybody know a way I could do it without copying the entire XML into the JS code?

To requests, here's what I need to do with it: Basically the XML contains questions from which I want to create a test. Now, the test doesn't include all the questions, so I'm using JS to pick random questions and place them in the HTML document. I don't want to copy the entire XML to the script file because it looks really unprofessional and I want to keep it as simple as possible.

At this point I'm really willing to try anything, including JSON, if that makes it easier. I just need the ability to use JS on the data and the ability to write it in the HTML document.

Answer 1

One option would be to include the question file as JavaScript content (still in a separate file) instead.

If the content is really simple (eg just a list) then your file could just be a simple array.

var questions = [
  "What time is it?",
  "Is the sky blue?",
  "What do you call a fish with no legs?"
];

You just include this file in your page with a script tag:

<script src="questions.js"></script>

If your question structure is more complicated you can include it in a JSON format that allows for complex nesting etc.

var questions = [
  {
    "id":1,
    "question":"What time is it?",
    "datatype":"text"
  },
  {
    "id":2,
    "question":"Is the sky blue?",
    "datatype":"boolean"
  },
  {
    "id":3,
    "question":"What do you call a fish with no legs?",
    "datatype":"text"
  }
];

Either way once the question data is loaded into memory you can randomize the questions and decide which ones to render.