Overview
X_ITE uses the fetch function to load files and there’s no way around it. However, this means that files loaded using the file:// scheme protocol are subject to the same origin policy and are treated as cross-origin requests (CORS), and cross-origin requests are only supported for protocol schemes: https, http and data. This means that X_ITE cannot access these files.
To work around this problem, you will need to set up a localhost server, then you will be able to access your local files at the web address http://localhost/…
Using a Browser Extension
You can use this browser extension for Chrome and Edge to create a web server and serve your local files via HTTP. Very easy to use.
Using an Application
There are several applications on the Internet that can create a localhost server. I would like to recommend two of them:
MacOS users can use Personal Web Server, which can serve files through a web server, and is very easy to use.
Another application is XAMPP, which runs on several operating systems and is very popular.
Using Python
If you have Python installed, then it is quite easy to start a localhost server.
Just open a Terminal and go to the directory you want to make available.
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# Let's make the Desktop directory available.
$ cd Desktop
Type in the following command to start the server.
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$ python3 -m http.server
By default, this will run the contents of the directory on a local web server, on port 8000. You can go to this server by going to the URL http://localhost:8000 in your web browser. Here you’ll see the contents of the directory listed — click the HTML file you want to run.
Tip: If you already have something running on port 8000, you can choose another port by running the server command followed by an alternative port number, e.g. python3 -m http.server 7800. You can then access your content at http://localhost:7800.