Uploading files using AJAX

Posted by Akhil Bansal
November 20, 2006

There is no way to upload files using AJAX. How Gmail does it then? Well, the answer is using <iframe>. Here is a post that describe this technique in detail. Infact we are using this technique from months, obviously inspired by Gmail.

update: Technically speaking, itâ€™s not Ajax. Just an iframe hack. You are absolutly right Pratik.

Information and Links

Join the fray by commenting, tracking what others have to say, or linking to it from your blog.

Information: November 20th, 2006; 6 Responses

Feeds and Links: Comment Feed; From This Author; Del.icio.us; Digg; Technorati

Categories: ROR; Rails; Rubyonrails; ajax; uploading

Other Posts: Ajax based drag drop and sortable tree for Rails; Cheat Sheet

If my code or post helps you then please recommend me at workingwithrails.com by clicking on button below:

Reader Comments

Comment Number:: 1
Written by:: Pratik
Posted on:: November 21, 2006 at 5:40 am

Technically speaking, it’s not Ajax. Just an iframe hack.

So there is no way to upload files using Ajax.

Comment Number:: 2
Written by:: Vineet Jain
Posted on:: November 21, 2006 at 6:04 am

Some of my AJAX based work -

http://padmanijain.googlepages.com/myexperiments.html

I have used iframes here.

Comment Number:: 3
Written by:: Akhil Bansal
Posted on:: November 21, 2006 at 11:09 am

Hi Pratik,
Obviously this is not AJAX. Infact I have mentioned in my very first line that there is no way to upload files using AJAX.

Comment Number:: 4
Written by:: Pratik
Posted on:: November 23, 2006 at 7:35 am

“How Gmail does it then?”

Does what ?

Comment Number:: 5
Written by:: Pratik
Posted on:: November 23, 2006 at 7:35 am

I love how box.net people do it though. Pretty slick UI.

Comment Number:: 6
Written by:: Andy
Posted on:: December 20, 2007 at 2:27 am

Oh, and did not know about it. Thanks for the information …

WebOnRails