--- title: HTTP Downloads pagination_next: demos/net/upload/index --- import current from '/version.js'; import CodeBlock from '@theme/CodeBlock'; [SheetJS](https://sheetjs.com) is a JavaScript library for reading and writing data from spreadsheets. A number of JavaScript APIs, including `XMLHttpRequest` and `fetch`, allow scripts to download spreadsheets for further processing. This demo uses various APIs and wrapper libraries to download workbooks and pass raw binary data to SheetJS libraries. - ["Browser Demos"](#browser-demos) run entirely within the web browser. A test workbook will be downloaded and parsed in the web browser. - ["NodeJS Demos"](#nodejs-demos) run in NodeJS and other server-side platforms. :::info pass This demo focuses on downloading files. Other demos cover other HTTP use cases: - ["HTTP Uploads"](/docs/demos/net/upload) covers uploading files - ["HTTP Server Processing"](/docs/demos/net/server) covers HTTP servers ::: :::caution Third-Party Hosts and Binary Data Third-party cloud platforms such as AWS may corrupt raw binary downloads by encoding requests and responses in UTF-8 strings. For AWS, in the "Binary Media Types" section of the API Gateway console, the `"application/vnd.ms-excel"` type should be added to ensure that AWS Lambda functions functions can send files to clients. ::: ## Binary Data Most interesting spreadsheet files are binary data that contain byte sequences that represent invalid UTF-8 characters. APIs generally provide options to control how downloaded data is interpreted. The `arraybuffer` response type usually forces the data to be presented as an `ArrayBuffer` object which can be parsed with the SheetJS `read` method[^1]. The following example shows the data flow using `fetch` to download files: ```mermaid flowchart LR server[(Remote\nFile)] response(Response\nobject) subgraph SheetJS operations ab(XLSX Data\nArrayBuffer) wb(((SheetJS\nWorkbook))) end server --> |`fetch`\nGET request| response response --> |`arrayBuffer`\n\n| ab ab --> |`read`\n\n| wb ``` ```js /* download data into an ArrayBuffer object */ const res = await fetch("https://docs.sheetjs.com/pres.numbers"); const ab = await res.arrayBuffer(); // recover data as ArrayBuffer /* parse file */ const wb = XLSX.read(ab); ``` ## Browser Demos When the page is accessed, https://docs.sheetjs.com/pres.numbers will be fetched and parsed. The old table will be replaced with a table whose contents match the first worksheet. The SheetJS `sheet_to_html` method[^2] creates the HTML table. :::note Tested Deployments Each browser demo was tested in the following environments: | Browser | Date | |:------------|:-----------| | Chrome 133 | 2025-03-30 | | Safari 18.3 | 2025-03-30 | ::: ### XMLHttpRequest For downloading data, the `arraybuffer` response type generates an `ArrayBuffer` that can be viewed as an `Uint8Array` and fed to the SheetJS `read` method. For legacy browsers, the option `type: "array"` should be specified: ```js /* set up an async GET request */ var req = new XMLHttpRequest(); req.open("GET", url, true); req.responseType = "arraybuffer"; req.onload = function(e) { /* parse the data when it is received */ var data = new Uint8Array(req.response); var workbook = XLSX.read(data, {type:"array"}); /* DO SOMETHING WITH workbook HERE */ }; req.send(); ```
Live Download demo (click to show) This demo uses `XMLHttpRequest` to fetch https://docs.sheetjs.com/pres.numbers and show the data in an HTML table. ```jsx live function SheetJSXHRDL() { const [__html, setHTML] = React.useState(""); /* Fetch and update HTML */ React.useEffect(() => { (async() => { /* Fetch file */ const req = new XMLHttpRequest(); req.open("GET", "https://docs.sheetjs.com/pres.numbers", true); req.responseType = "arraybuffer"; req.onload = e => { /* Parse file */ const wb = XLSX.read(new Uint8Array(req.response)); const ws = wb.Sheets[wb.SheetNames[0]]; /* Generate HTML */ setHTML(XLSX.utils.sheet_to_html(ws)); }; req.send(); })(); }, []); return (
); } ```
### fetch For downloading data, `Response#arrayBuffer` resolves to an `ArrayBuffer` that can be converted to `Uint8Array` and passed to the SheetJS `read` method: ```js fetch(url).then(function(res) { /* get the data as a Blob */ if(!res.ok) throw new Error("fetch failed"); return res.arrayBuffer(); }).then(function(ab) { /* parse the data when it is received */ var data = new Uint8Array(ab); var workbook = XLSX.read(data, {type:"array"}); /* DO SOMETHING WITH workbook HERE */ }); ```
Live Download demo (click to show) This demo uses `fetch` to download https://docs.sheetjs.com/pres.numbers and show the data in an HTML table. ```jsx live function SheetJSFetchDL() { const [__html, setHTML] = React.useState(""); /* Fetch and update HTML */ React.useEffect(() => { (async() => { /* Fetch file */ const res = await fetch("https://docs.sheetjs.com/pres.numbers"); const ab = await res.arrayBuffer(); /* Parse file */ const wb = XLSX.read(ab); const ws = wb.Sheets[wb.SheetNames[0]]; /* Generate HTML */ setHTML(XLSX.utils.sheet_to_html(ws)); })(); }, []); return (
); } ```
### jQuery [jQuery](https://jquery.com/) is a JavaScript library that includes helpers for performing "Ajax" network requests. `jQuery.ajax` (`$.ajax`) does not support binary data out of the box[^3]. A custom `ajaxTransport` can add support. SheetJS users have reported success with `jquery.binarytransport.js`[^4] in IE10. After including the main `jquery.js` and `jquery.binarytransport.js` scripts, `$.ajax` will support `dataType: "binary"` and `processData: false`. **[Live Download Demo](pathname:///jquery/index.html)** In a GET request, the default behavior is to return a `Blob` object. Passing `responseType: "arraybuffer"` returns a proper `ArrayBuffer` object in IE10: ```js $.ajax({ type: "GET", url: "https://docs.sheetjs.com/pres.numbers", /* suppress jQuery post-processing */ // highlight-next-line processData: false, /* use the binary transport */ // highlight-next-line dataType: "binary", /* pass an ArrayBuffer in the callback */ // highlight-next-line responseType: "arraybuffer", success: function (ab) { /* at this point, ab is an ArrayBuffer */ // highlight-next-line var wb = XLSX.read(ab); /* do something with workbook here */ var ws = wb.Sheets[wb.SheetNames[0]]; var html = XLSX.utils.sheet_to_html(ws); $("#out").html(html); } }); ``` ### Wrapper Libraries Before `fetch` shipped with browsers, there were various wrapper libraries to simplify `XMLHttpRequest`. Due to limitations with `fetch`, these libraries are still relevant. #### axios [`axios`](https://axios-http.com/) presents a Promise based interface. Setting `responseType` to `arraybuffer` ensures the return type is an ArrayBuffer. The `data` property of the result can be passed to the SheetJS `read` method: ```js async function workbook_dl_axios(url) { const res = await axios(url, {responseType:'arraybuffer'}); const workbook = XLSX.read(res.data); return workbook; } ```
Live Download demo (click to show) This demo uses `axios` to download https://docs.sheetjs.com/pres.numbers and show the data in an HTML table. :::caution pass If the live demo shows a message ``` ReferenceError: axios is not defined ``` please refresh the page. This is a known bug in the documentation generator. ::: ```jsx live function SheetJSAxiosDL() { const [__html, setHTML] = React.useState(""); /* Fetch and update HTML */ React.useEffect(() => { (async() => { if(typeof axios != "function") return setHTML("ReferenceError: axios is not defined"); /* Fetch file */ const res = await axios("https://docs.sheetjs.com/pres.numbers", {responseType: "arraybuffer"}); /* Parse file */ const wb = XLSX.read(res.data); const ws = wb.Sheets[wb.SheetNames[0]]; /* Generate HTML */ setHTML(XLSX.utils.sheet_to_html(ws)); })(); }, []); return (
); } ```
#### superagent [`superagent`](https://ladjs.github.io/superagent/) is a network request library with a "Fluent Interface". Calling the `responseType` method with `"arraybuffer"` will ensure the final response object is an `ArrayBuffer`: ```js /* set up an async GET request with superagent */ superagent .get(url) .responseType('arraybuffer') .end(function(err, res) { /* parse the data when it is received */ var data = new Uint8Array(res.body); var workbook = XLSX.read(data, {type:"array"}); /* DO SOMETHING WITH workbook HERE */ }); ```
Live Download demo (click to show) This demo uses `superagent` to download https://docs.sheetjs.com/pres.numbers and show the data in an HTML table. :::caution pass If the live demo shows a message ``` ReferenceError: superagent is not defined ``` please refresh the page. This is a known bug in the documentation generator. ::: ```jsx live function SheetJSSuperAgentDL() { const [__html, setHTML] = React.useState(""); /* Fetch and update HTML */ React.useEffect(() => { (async() => { if(typeof superagent == "undefined" || typeof superagent.get != "function") return setHTML("ReferenceError: superagent is not defined"); /* Fetch file */ superagent .get("https://docs.sheetjs.com/pres.numbers") .responseType("arraybuffer") .end((err, res) => { /* Parse file */ const wb = XLSX.read(res.body); const ws = wb.Sheets[wb.SheetNames[0]]; /* Generate HTML */ setHTML(XLSX.utils.sheet_to_html(ws)); }); })(); }, []); return (
); } ```
## NodeJS Demos These examples show how to download data in NodeJS. ### HTTPS GET The `https` module provides a low-level `get` method for HTTPS GET requests: ```js title="SheetJSHTTPSGet.js" var https = require("https"), XLSX = require("xlsx"); https.get('https://docs.sheetjs.com/pres.xlsx', function(res) { var bufs = []; res.on('data', function(chunk) { bufs.push(chunk); }); res.on('end', function() { var buf = Buffer.concat(bufs); var wb = XLSX.read(buf); /* print the first worksheet to console */ var ws = wb.Sheets[wb.SheetNames[0]]; console.log(XLSX.utils.sheet_to_csv(ws)); }); }); ``` :::note Tested Deployments This demo was tested in the following environments: | NodeJS | Date | Workarounds | |:-----------|:-----------|:-------------------------------| | `0.10.48` | 2025-03-31 | `NODE_TLS_REJECT_UNAUTHORIZED` | | `0.12.18` | 2025-03-31 | `NODE_TLS_REJECT_UNAUTHORIZED` | | `4.9.1` | 2025-03-31 | `NODE_TLS_REJECT_UNAUTHORIZED` | | `6.17.1` | 2025-03-31 | `NODE_TLS_REJECT_UNAUTHORIZED` | | `8.17.0` | 2025-03-31 | `NODE_TLS_REJECT_UNAUTHORIZED` | | `10.24.1` | 2025-03-31 | | | `12.22.12` | 2025-03-31 | | | `14.21.3` | 2025-03-31 | | | `16.20.2` | 2025-03-31 | | | `18.20.8` | 2025-03-31 | | | `20.19.0` | 2025-03-31 | | | `22.14.0` | 2025-03-31 | | The `NODE_TLS_REJECT_UNAUTHORIZED` workaround sets the value to `'0'`: ```js title="Legacy NodeJS Certificate has Expired Bypass (prepend to script)" process.env.NODE_TLS_REJECT_UNAUTHORIZED = '0'; ``` :::
Complete Example (click to show) 1) Install the [NodeJS module](/docs/getting-started/installation/nodejs) {`\ npm i --save https://cdn.sheetjs.com/xlsx-${current}/xlsx-${current}.tgz`} 2) Copy the `SheetJSHTTPSGet.js` code snippet to a file `SheetJSHTTPSGet.js` 3) Run the script: ```bash node SheetJSHTTPSGet.js ``` If successful, the script will print CSV contents of the test file. :::caution pass For older versions of NodeJS, the script may fail due to a certificate error. The error can be suppressed by prepending the following line to the script: ```js title="SheetJSHTTPSGet.js (add to top)" process.env.NODE_TLS_REJECT_UNAUTHORIZED = '0'; ``` **It is strongly encouraged to upgrade to a newer NodeJS version!** :::
### fetch :::info pass Experimental support for `fetch` was introduced in NodeJS `16.15.0`. It will be considered stable in NodeJS LTS version `22`. ::: The `fetch` implementation has the same return types as the browser version: ```js async function parse_from_url(url) { const res = await fetch(url); if(!res.ok) throw new Error("fetch failed"); const ab = await res.arrayBuffer(); const workbook = XLSX.read(ab); return workbook; } ``` :::note Tested Deployments This demo was tested in the following environments: | NodeJS | Date | |:-----------|:-----------| | `18.20.8` | 2025-03-30 | | `20.18.0` | 2025-03-30 | | `22.14.0` | 2025-03-30 | :::
Complete Example (click to show) 1) Install the [NodeJS module](/docs/getting-started/installation/nodejs) {`\ npm i --save https://cdn.sheetjs.com/xlsx-${current}/xlsx-${current}.tgz`} 2) Save the following to `SheetJSFetch.js`: ```js title="SheetJSFetch.js" var XLSX = require("xlsx"); async function parse_from_url(url) { const res = await fetch(url); if(!res.ok) throw new Error("fetch failed"); const ab = await res.arrayBuffer(); const workbook = XLSX.read(ab); return workbook; } (async() => { const wb = await parse_from_url('https://docs.sheetjs.com/pres.numbers'); /* print the first worksheet to console */ var ws = wb.Sheets[wb.SheetNames[0]]; console.log(XLSX.utils.sheet_to_csv(ws)); })(); ``` 3) Run the script: ```bash node SheetJSFetch.js ``` If successful, the script will print CSV contents of the test file.
### Wrapper Libraries The latest releases of NodeJS support `fetch` natively. Before `fetch` support was added to the platform, third party modules wrapped the native APIs. #### request :::danger pass `request` has been deprecated and should only be used in legacy deployments. ::: Setting the option `encoding: null` passes raw buffers: ```js title="SheetJSRequest.js" var XLSX = require('xlsx'), request = require('request'); var url = 'https://docs.sheetjs.com/pres.xlsx'; /* call `request` with the option `encoding: null` */ // highlight-next-line request(url, {encoding: null}, function(err, res, data) { if(err || res.statusCode !== 200) return; /* if the request was successful, parse the data */ // highlight-next-line var wb = XLSX.read(data); /* print the first worksheet to console */ var ws = wb.Sheets[wb.SheetNames[0]]; console.log(XLSX.utils.sheet_to_csv(ws)); }); ``` :::note Tested Deployments This demo was tested in the following environments: | NodeJS | `request` | Date | Workarounds | |:-----------|:----------|:-----------|:-------------------------------| | `0.10.48` | `2.22.0` | 2025-03-31 | `NODE_TLS_REJECT_UNAUTHORIZED` | | `0.12.18` | `2.22.0` | 2025-03-31 | `NODE_TLS_REJECT_UNAUTHORIZED` | | `4.9.1` | `2.22.0` | 2025-03-31 | `NODE_TLS_REJECT_UNAUTHORIZED` | | `6.17.1` | `2.88.2` | 2025-03-31 | `NODE_TLS_REJECT_UNAUTHORIZED` | | `8.17.0` | `2.88.2` | 2025-03-31 | `NODE_TLS_REJECT_UNAUTHORIZED` | | `10.24.1` | `2.88.2` | 2025-03-31 | | | `12.22.12` | `2.88.2` | 2025-03-31 | | | `14.21.3` | `2.88.2` | 2025-03-31 | | | `16.20.2` | `2.88.2` | 2025-03-31 | | | `18.20.8` | `2.88.2` | 2025-03-31 | | | `20.19.0` | `2.88.2` | 2025-03-31 | | | `22.14.0` | `2.88.2` | 2025-03-31 | | The `NODE_TLS_REJECT_UNAUTHORIZED` workaround sets the value to `'0'`: ```js title="Legacy NodeJS Certificate has Expired Bypass (prepend to script)" process.env.NODE_TLS_REJECT_UNAUTHORIZED = '0'; ``` :::
Complete Example (click to show) 1) Install the [NodeJS module](/docs/getting-started/installation/nodejs) {`\ npm i --save https://cdn.sheetjs.com/xlsx-${current}/xlsx-${current}.tgz request@2.88.2`} 2) Copy the `SheetJSRequest.js` code snippet to a file `SheetJSRequest.js` 3) Run the script: ```bash node SheetJSRequest.js ``` If successful, the script will print CSV contents of the test file. :::caution pass For older versions of NodeJS, the script may fail due to a certificate error. The error can be suppressed by prepending the following line to the script: ```js title="SheetJSRequest.js (add to top)" process.env.NODE_TLS_REJECT_UNAUTHORIZED = '0'; ``` **It is strongly encouraged to upgrade to a newer NodeJS version!** :::
#### axios When the `responseType` is `"arraybuffer"`, `axios` actually captures the data in a NodeJS Buffer. The SheetJS `read` method handles NodeJS Buffer objects: ```js title="SheetJSAxios.js" const XLSX = require("xlsx"), axios = require("axios"); async function workbook_dl_axios(url) { const res = await axios(url, {responseType:'arraybuffer'}); /* at this point, res.data is a Buffer */ const workbook = XLSX.read(res.data); return workbook; } ``` :::note Tested Deployments This demo was tested in the following environments: | NodeJS | Axios | Date | |:-----------|:-------|:-----------| | `4.9.1` | 0.22.0 | 2025-03-31 | | `6.17.1` | 0.22.0 | 2025-03-31 | | `8.17.0` | 0.28.1 | 2025-03-31 | | `10.24.1` | 0.28.1 | 2025-03-31 | | `12.22.12` | 1.8.4 | 2025-03-31 | | `14.21.3` | 1.8.4 | 2025-03-31 | | `16.20.2` | 1.8.4 | 2025-03-31 | | `18.20.8` | 1.8.4 | 2025-03-31 | | `20.19.0` | 1.8.4 | 2025-03-31 | | `22.14.0` | 1.8.4 | 2025-03-31 | :::
Complete Example (click to show) 1) Install the [NodeJS module](/docs/getting-started/installation/nodejs) {`\ npm i --save https://cdn.sheetjs.com/xlsx-${current}/xlsx-${current}.tgz axios@1.8.4`} 2) Save the following to `SheetJSAxios.js`: ```js title="SheetJSAxios.js" const XLSX = require("xlsx"), axios = require("axios"); async function workbook_dl_axios(url) { const res = await axios(url, {responseType:'arraybuffer'}); /* at this point, res.data is a Buffer */ const workbook = XLSX.read(res.data); return workbook; } (async() => { const wb = await workbook_dl_axios('https://docs.sheetjs.com/pres.numbers'); /* print the first worksheet to console */ var ws = wb.Sheets[wb.SheetNames[0]]; console.log(XLSX.utils.sheet_to_csv(ws)); })(); ``` 3) Run the script: ```bash node SheetJSAxios.js ``` If successful, the script will print CSV contents of the test file. :::caution pass Legacy NodeJS versions do not support `async` functions. The `async` function must be manually translated to a `then` chain: ```js title="SheetJSAxios.js (ES5)" const XLSX = require("xlsx"), axios = require("axios"); var url = 'https://docs.sheetjs.com/pres.numbers'; axios(url, {responseType:'arraybuffer'}).then(function(res) { /* at this point, res.data is a Buffer */ var wb = XLSX.read(res.data, {type: "buffer"}); /* print the first worksheet to console */ var ws = wb.Sheets[wb.SheetNames[0]]; console.log(XLSX.utils.sheet_to_csv(ws)); }); ``` :::
## Other Platforms Other demos show network operations in special platforms: - [React Native "Fetching Remote Data"](/docs/demos/mobile/reactnative#fetching-remote-data) - [NativeScript "Fetching Remote Files"](/docs/demos/mobile/nativescript#fetching-remote-files) - [AngularJS "Remote Files"](/docs/demos/frontend/angularjs#remote-files) - [Dojo Toolkit "Parsing Remote Files"](/docs/demos/frontend/dojo#parsing-remote-files) [^1]: See [`read` in "Reading Files"](/docs/api/parse-options) [^2]: See [`sheet_to_html` in "Utilities"](/docs/api/utilities/html#html-table-output) [^3]: See [`dataType` in `jQuery.ajax`](https://api.jquery.com/jQuery.ajax/) in the official jQuery documentation. [^4]: See [the official `jquery.binarytransport.js` repo](https://github.com/henrya/js-jquery/tree/master/BinaryTransport) for more details.