Saving a Uint8Array to a binary file

Question

I am working on a web app that opens binary files and allows them to be edited.

This process is basically ondrop -> dataTransfer.files[0] -> FileReader -> Uint8Array

Essentially, I want to be able to save the modified file back as a binary file. Ideally as a file download with a specified file name.

There doesn't seem to be any standard method of doing this, and that sucks, because everything up to that point is well supported.

I am currently converting the array to a string using String.fromCharCode(), base64 encoding that, and using a data uri in a hyperlink like data:application/octet-stream;base64,.., along with the download attribute to specify filename.

It seems to work, but it's quite hacky and I think converting the raw bytes to a string might introduce encoding issues depending on the byte values. I don't want the data to become corrupt or break the string.

Barring that, is there a better/proper method for getting an array of bytes as a binary file to the user?

Answer 1

These are utilities that I use to download files cross-browser. The nifty thing about this is that you can actually set the download property of a link to the name you want your filename to be.

FYI the mimeType for binary is application/octet-stream

var downloadBlob, downloadURL;

downloadBlob = function(data, fileName, mimeType) {
  var blob, url;
  blob = new Blob([data], {
    type: mimeType
  });
  url = window.URL.createObjectURL(blob);
  downloadURL(url, fileName);
  setTimeout(function() {
    return window.URL.revokeObjectURL(url);
  }, 1000);
};

downloadURL = function(data, fileName) {
  var a;
  a = document.createElement('a');
  a.href = data;
  a.download = fileName;
  document.body.appendChild(a);
  a.style = 'display: none';
  a.click();
  a.remove();
};

Usage:

downloadBlob(myBinaryBlob, 'some-file.bin', 'application/octet-stream');

Answer 2

(shorter) ES6 version of the top answer:

const downloadURL = (data, fileName) => {
  const a = document.createElement('a')
  a.href = data
  a.download = fileName
  document.body.appendChild(a)
  a.style.display = 'none'
  a.click()
  a.remove()
}

const downloadBlob = (data, fileName, mimeType) => {

  const blob = new Blob([data], {
    type: mimeType
  })

  const url = window.URL.createObjectURL(blob)

  downloadURL(url, fileName)

  setTimeout(() => window.URL.revokeObjectURL(url), 1000)
}