Javascript – How to download a file with Node.js (without using third-party libraries)

downloadfsjavascriptnode.js

How do I download a file with Node.js without using third-party libraries?

I don't need anything special. I only want to download a file from a given URL, and then save it to a given directory.

Best Answer

You can create an HTTP GET request and pipe its response into a writable file stream:

const http = require('http'); // or 'https' for https:// URLs
const fs = require('fs');

const file = fs.createWriteStream("file.jpg");
const request = http.get("http://i3.ytimg.com/vi/J---aiyznGQ/mqdefault.jpg", function(response) {
  response.pipe(file);
});

If you want to support gathering information on the command line--like specifying a target file or directory, or URL--check out something like Commander.

Related Solutions

Java – How to download and save a file from the Internet using Java

Give Java NIO a try:

URL website = new URL("http://www.website.com/information.asp");
ReadableByteChannel rbc = Channels.newChannel(website.openStream());
FileOutputStream fos = new FileOutputStream("information.html");
fos.getChannel().transferFrom(rbc, 0, Long.MAX_VALUE);

Using transferFrom() is potentially much more efficient than a simple loop that reads from the source channel and writes to this channel. Many operating systems can transfer bytes directly from the source channel into the filesystem cache without actually copying them.

Check more about it here.

Note: The third parameter in transferFrom is the maximum number of bytes to transfer. Integer.MAX_VALUE will transfer at most 2^31 bytes, Long.MAX_VALUE will allow at most 2^63 bytes (larger than any file in existence).

Javascript – Get the values from the “GET” parameters (JavaScript)

JavaScript itself has nothing built in for handling query string parameters.

Code running in a (modern) browser you can use the URL object (which is part of the APIs provided by browsers to JS):

var url_string = "http://www.example.com/t.html?a=1&b=3&c=m2-m3-m4-m5"; //window.location.href
var url = new URL(url_string);
var c = url.searchParams.get("c");
console.log(c);

For older browsers (including Internet Explorer), you can use this polyfill or the code from the original version of this answer that predates URL:

You could access location.search, which would give you from the ? character on to the end of the URL or the start of the fragment identifier (#foo), whichever comes first.

Then you can parse it with this:

function parse_query_string(query) {
  var vars = query.split("&");
  var query_string = {};
  for (var i = 0; i < vars.length; i++) {
    var pair = vars[i].split("=");
    var key = decodeURIComponent(pair[0]);
    var value = decodeURIComponent(pair[1]);
    // If first entry with this name
    if (typeof query_string[key] === "undefined") {
      query_string[key] = decodeURIComponent(value);
      // If second entry with this name
    } else if (typeof query_string[key] === "string") {
      var arr = [query_string[key], decodeURIComponent(value)];
      query_string[key] = arr;
      // If third or later entry with this name
    } else {
      query_string[key].push(decodeURIComponent(value));
    }
  }
  return query_string;
}

var query_string = "a=1&b=3&c=m2-m3-m4-m5";
var parsed_qs = parse_query_string(query_string);
console.log(parsed_qs.c);

You can get the query string from the URL of the current page with:

var query = window.location.search.substring(1);
var qs = parse_query_string(query);

Best Answer

Related Solutions

Java – How to download and save a file from the Internet using Java

Javascript – Get the values from the “GET” parameters (JavaScript)

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