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XMLHttpRequest cannot correctly send FormData that has an empty file element in Microsoft Edge

Warning

The retired, out-of-support Internet Explorer 11 desktop application has been permanently disabled through a Microsoft Edge update on certain versions of Windows 10. For more information, see Internet Explorer 11 desktop app retirement FAQ.

This article provides the workaround to solve the issue that FormData that contains an empty file element cannot be sent correctly by XMLHttpRequest in Microsoft Edge for Windows 10, version 1809.

Original product version:   Microsoft Edge, Windows 10
Original KB number:   4490157

Symptoms

When the XMLHttpRequest (jQuery.ajax()) method is sent, it cannot correctly send a FormData object that contains an empty file element in Microsoft Edge for Windows 10, version 1809.

For example, you set a file that contains one file element only and all the other file elements blank as in the following code example:

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
    <head>
        <script src="https://code.jquery.com/jquery-1.12.4.js"
            integrity="sha256-Qw82+bXyGq6MydymqBxNPYTaUXXq7c8v3CwiYwLLNXU="
            crossorigin="anonymous"></script>
    </head>
    <body>
        <form action="/AjaxUploadSample/Home/FileUpload" enctype="multipart/form-data" method="post">
            <input name="files" id="files" type="file" value=""><br>
            <input name="files" id="files" type="file" value=""><br>
            <input name="files" id="files" type="file" value=""><br>
            <button id="btn" type="button">Async Upload</button>
        </form>
        <hr>
        <p id="message" style="white-space:pre;"></p>
        <script>
            $(document).ready(function () {
                $("#btn").on("click", function () {
                    var _form = $(this).closest("form")[0];
                    $.ajax({
                        type: "post",
                        url: _form.action,
                        processData: false,
                        contentType: false,
                        data: new FormData(_form),
                        success: function (data, textStatus, jqXHR) {
                            $("#message").text(data.Message);
                        }
                    });
                });
            });
        </script>
    </body>
</html>

When you click Async Upload, the set file is not recognized correctly.

Cause

This issue occurs when the implementation of FormData is changed in Microsoft Edge for Windows 10, version 1809.

Workaround

To work around this issue, insert the following code before $.ajax() is called and explicitly skip empty entries.

// Workaround
var _data = new FormData(_form);
if (_data.entries)
{
    var data = new FormData();
    for (var p of _data)
    {
        if (p[1])
        {
            // p[1] is the value of form entry
            data.append(p[0], p[1]);
        }
    } _data = data;
}
$.ajax(
{
    type: 'post',
    url: _form.action,
    processData: false,
    contentType: false,
    data: _data,
    success: function (data, textStatus, jqXHR)
    {
        $('#message').text(data.Message);
    }
});