NDEFReader: write() method

Secure contextLimited availability

The write() method of the NDEFReader interface attempts to write an NDEF message to a tag and returns a Promise that either resolves when a message has been written to the tag or rejects if a hardware or permission error is encountered. This method triggers a permission prompt if the “nfc” permission has not been previously granted.

Syntax

write(message)
write(message, options)

Parameters

• message

  • : The message to be written, either a string, an ArrayBuffer, a TypedArray, a DataView, or an array of records. A record has the following members:
    • data Optional
      • : Contains the data to be transmitted, a string, an ArrayBuffer, a TypedArray, a DataView, or an array of nested records
    • encoding Optional
      • : A string specifying the record’s encoding.
    • id Optional
      • : A developer-defined identifier for the record.
    • lang Optional
      • : A valid BCP 47 language tag.
    • mediaType Optional
      • : A valid MIME type.
    • recordType
      • : A string indicating the type of data stored in data. It must be one of the following values:
        • "absolute-url"
          • : An absolute URL to the data.
        • "empty"
          • : An empty NDEFRecord.
        • "mime"
          • : A valid MIME type.
        • "smart-poster"
          • : A smart poster as defined by the NDEF-SMARTPOSTER specification.
        • "text"
          • : Text as defined by the NDEF-TEXT specification.
        • "unknown"
          • : The record type is not known.
        • "URL"
          • : A URL as defined by the NDEF-URI specification.

• options Optional

  • : An object with the following properties:
    • overwrite
      • : A boolean value specifying whether or not existing records should be overwritten, if such exists.
    • signal Optional
      • : An AbortSignal that allows the current write operation to be canceled.

Return value

A Promise that either resolves when a message has been written to the tag or rejects if a hardware or permission error is encountered.

Exceptions

This method doesn’t throw exceptions; instead, it rejects the returned promise, passing a DOMException whose name is one of the following:

• AbortError
  • : The scan operation was aborted with the AbortSignal passed in the options argument.
• NotAllowedError
  • : The permission for this operation was rejected or overwrite is false and there are already records on the tag.
• NotSupportedError
  • : There is no NFC adapter compatible with Web NFC, or the available NFC adapter does not support pushing messages, or connection can not be established.
• NotReadableError
  • : The UA is not allowed to access underlying NFC adapter (e.g., due to user preference).
• NetworkError
  • : Transfer failed after it already started (e.g., the tag was removed from the reader).

Examples

Write a text string

The following example shows how to write a string to an NFC tag and process any errors that occur.

const ndef = new NDEFReader();
ndef
  .write("Hello World")
  .then(() => {
    console.log("Message written.");
  })
  .catch((error) => {
    console.log(`Write failed :-( try again: ${error}.`);
  });

Write a URL

The following example shows how to write a record object (described above) to an NFC tag and process any errors that occur.

const ndef = new NDEFReader();
try {
  await ndef.write({
    records: [{ recordType: "url", data: "http://example.com/" }],
  });
} catch {
  console.log("Write failed :-( try again.");
}

Scheduling a write with a timeout

It’s sometimes useful to set a time limit on a write operation. For example, you ask the user to touch a tag, but no tag is found within a certain amount of time, then you time out.

const ndef = new NDEFReader();
ndef.onreading = (event) => console.log("We read a tag!");

function write(data, { timeout } = {}) {
  return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
    const controller = new AbortController();
    controller.signal.onabort = () =>
      reject(new Error("Time is up, bailing out!"));
    setTimeout(() => controller.abort(), timeout);

    ndef.addEventListener(
      "reading",
      (event) => {
        ndef.write(data, { signal: controller.signal }).then(resolve, reject);
      },
      { once: true },
    );
  });
}

await ndef.scan();
try {
  // Let's wait for 5 seconds only.
  await write("Hello World", { timeout: 5_000 });
} catch (err) {
  console.error("Something went wrong", err);
} finally {
  console.log("We wrote to a tag!");
}

Specifications

Browser compatibility