# Encoding issue in web resources loaded from /ui
**URL:** https://discourse.nodered.org/t/encoding-issue-in-web-resources-loaded-from-ui/79762
**Category:** General
**Created:** [12 July 2023 13:06 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/encoding-issue-in-web-resources-loaded-from-ui/79762 "2023-07-12T13:06:06Z")
**Posts on this page:** 9
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@omrid](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/omrid)
#### Post date: [12 July 2023 13:06 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/encoding-issue-in-web-resources-loaded-from-ui/79762/1 "2023-07-12T13:06:06Z")
I'm leveraging Node-red's dashboard web site ( **.../ui** , which maps to
**\/node\_modules/node-red-dashboard/dist** ), to store & load web resources, such as HTML pages, images etc.
When I try to load an HTML file (created from an Excel sheet via 'save as HTML'), it comes up perfectly when I call it as a file ( **file:///C:/ProgramData/Node-red/...** ), but when I call it as a web resource (**[http://localhost:1880/ui/](http://localhost:1880/ui/)...**) it loads with data encoding issues as follows:
Does anyone have a clue what could be the root cause of this?
---
### Author:  [@Colin](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/Colin)
#### Post date: [12 July 2023 15:42 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/encoding-issue-in-web-resources-loaded-from-ui/79762/2 "2023-07-12T15:42:27Z")
What does the html of the page generated by Excel look like, for the section that is failing?
---
### Author:  [@omrid](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/omrid)
#### Post date: [19 July 2023 10:15 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/encoding-issue-in-web-resources-loaded-from-ui/79762/3 "2023-07-19T10:15:20Z")
Sorry for not responding earlier (I was away).
The generated HTML is composed of a main file plus a linked subdirectory with resource files. It is quite complex (over 300 lines just for the main file). Below a few extracts:
Main file:
```auto
BIG Data Calc
```
The part that gets corrupted looks like this
```auto
Reconciliations per week
3,000,000,000
```
---
### Author:  [@Steve-Mcl](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/Steve-Mcl)
#### Post date: [19 July 2023 11:14 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/encoding-issue-in-web-resources-loaded-from-ui/79762/4 "2023-07-19T11:14:37Z")
> [@omrid](#):
>
> but when I call it as a web resource (**[http://localhost:1880/ui/](http://localhost:1880/ui/)...**) it loads with data encoding issues as follows
What does that mean?
Are you loading the file via a `file in` node & sending it to an endpoint?
Are you loading the file via a `file in` node & sending it through a template node?
Are you pasting the entire content into a ui-template or template node?
Are you serving the spreadsheet files via a static path?
If you open the browsers developer tools and watch the "Network" tab, do you see any failed `GET` requests? (i.e. missing resources)
Do you see any errors in the browsers console?
In short, show us what you are doing?
---
### Author:  [@omrid](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/omrid)
#### Post date: [19 July 2023 11:51 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/encoding-issue-in-web-resources-loaded-from-ui/79762/5 "2023-07-19T11:51:27Z")
Let me explain.
I'm trying to piggyback the Node-red dashboard and leverage it as a general-purpose web server for showing reports & images.
Here I'm not referring at all to uploading files via Node-red nodes, but rather to loading resources directly from a web browser.
In my system, the Node-red dashboard root is
**C:/ProgramData/Node-red/node\_modules/node-red-dashboard/dist**
Now suppose I have an HTML report (converted from Excel) called **my\_report.htm** in the above root folder. In the browser, if I specify the URL
**file:///C:/ProgramData/Node-red/node\_modules/node-red-dashboard/dist/my\_report.htm** the page comes up perfectly. However, if I call it as **[http://localhost:1880/ui/my\_report.htm](http://localhost:1880/ui/my_report.htm)** it comes up with the encoding errors (but no errors showing in the browser "inspect" console).
---
### Author:  [@Steve-Mcl](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/Steve-Mcl)
#### Post date: [19 July 2023 12:04 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/encoding-issue-in-web-resources-loaded-from-ui/79762/6 "2023-07-19T12:04:18Z")
ok, so this is the wrong way to achieve it.
Also, you did not report what you seen in the browsers network tab or console - but I suspect errors due to the hacks.
#### Better
- Setup a static directory e.g. `c:\users\YOURNAME\.node-red\static`
- DOCS: [Configuration : Node-RED](https://nodered.org/docs/user-guide/runtime/configuration#runtime-configuration)
- Copy your files there
- Edit your settings.js file and setup the entry `httpStatic`
- Uncomment it (remove the 2 `//` slashes`)
- set it to the path of your static folder e.g. `c:/users/YOURNAME/.node-red/static`
- save settings file
- restart node-red
Now you can access `http://localhost:1880/my_report.htm` without any hacks.
#### Better still
Give your static path a base like `/ui` so you can use `http://localhost:1880/ui/static/my_report.htm` - keeping everything relative (i.e. relative dashboard links of `static/my_report.htm` will work
This is done by setting `httpStatic` like this
```auto
httpStatic: [{ path: "c:/users/YOURNAME/.node-red/static" root: "ui/static" }]
```
* * *
Assumptions:
- `c:/users/YOURNAME/.node-red` : check and adjust to where your node-red user dir actually is.
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### Author:  [@omrid](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/omrid)
#### Post date: [19 July 2023 12:15 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/encoding-issue-in-web-resources-loaded-from-ui/79762/7 "2023-07-19T12:15:25Z")
Thanks, Steve!! Let me try this.
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### Author:  [@omrid](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/omrid)
#### Post date: [23 July 2023 09:51 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/encoding-issue-in-web-resources-loaded-from-ui/79762/8 "2023-07-23T09:51:32Z")
> [@Steve-Mcl](#):
>
> #### Better still
>
> Give your static path a base like `/ui` so you can use `http://localhost:1880/ui/static/my_report.htm` - keeping everything relative (i.e. relative dashboard links of `static/my_report.htm` will work
>
> This is done by setting `httpStatic` like this
>
> ```auto
> httpStatic: [{ path: "c:/users/YOURNAME/.node-red/static" root: "ui/static" }]
>
> ```
Thanks. The HTTP root mapping works perfectly. However, the encoding issue remains as before, while both browser console & network are clear of errors.
Any ideas?
---
### Author:  [@system](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/system)
#### Post date: [21 September 2023 09:51 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/encoding-issue-in-web-resources-loaded-from-ui/79762/9 "2023-09-21T09:51:36Z")
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