In my application I want to open some files with the correct default programmes, like .doc file should be open with WORD and .psd files should be opened with Photoshop if it is installed, and this should be done under html or java script.
Please tell me how to do it.
JavaScript cannot run programs, but if you have a file on your server you can simply link to it:
<a href='image.psd'>Download File</a>
Users will be promped to download the file or open it using the default program (for most files). Again - as others have said - this is determined by the browser. IE can open doc files on the browsers, and PDF documents can be opened that way too.
There is no way for you to choose which application will be used to open your files with javascript...It just doesn't have that power.
I don't think this is possible in JavaScript without using any activeX or something like that. Js has no access to locally installed applications.
Browsers typically don't have access to the computer's filesystem for security reasons. If you know the exact path to a file you can point the browser at it using a file: URI, e.g.
file:///C:/path/to/file.ext
You may also be able to do this with a plugin, eg ActiveX, however I am unsure as to what security measures that would have.
Invoke the system command 'open'. Works on Windows and Unix based clients.
Depending on where your script runs, you might not be able to invoke system commands though, for instance in a browser sandbox.
If you provide a link to a file on the local file system (eg: <a href="file:///C:/mydoc.doc">) then the browser will open it - however this is not a great way to do it since the browser will first show a dialog ("Do you wish to Save or Open") and then it will "download" it into temporary files as it would if the file were remote. In this case, if you edit and save the file, it'll be the version now in your temp folder. This might not be a problem if your files are read-only, but generally it's not a great user experience.
The only other method is to use ActiveX, which is actually rather easy (though I don't have the exact code on me now - write a comment if you're interested in a snippet and I'll update). Of course this comes with the giant flashing caveats of:
It only works in Internet Explorer.
You need the user to fiddle with their security settings for the ActiveX scripts to run.
Related
Is there any way to open a file or a folder located on the network? I understand reasons Browsers dont allow that. And I know that I need to add extensions to Chrome and FireFox to get a network folder shown. When I meet these requirements and I have an href that looks like:
file://network volume/directory
then by clicking on it I get a folder open. Now I need to open it by clicking on a button. Is that even possible?
Thanks
Assuming you jumped all the hoops and completely unsecured your browser (which I did not, which makes this answer a guess rather then a solid answer), I suppose that javascript actions on window.location might work. e.g.
window.location.href = 'file://foo/bar/';
or the window.open API http://www.w3schools.com/jsref/met_win_open.asp
A side note, do check the HTML5's file APIs. They explicitely require that user picks the files explicitely and do not seem to allow what you require, but they are the endorsed file approach and if, by any chance, your requirements can be met by using them you'll save yourself from a world of pain and going against the flow... See http://www.html5rocks.com/en/tutorials/file/dndfiles/ for a good starter.
If I understand you correctly. You want to access a file on the local server.The following would work for you.
window.open("http://www.example.com");//opens a url
window.open("file://server/serverfolder/index.asp");// server side
I have developed a script for myself to read and process local text and csv files on my computer using recent Chrome or Firefox browsers with the filereader api. The script will work on the computer, even though it is not connected to the internet or a local webserver.
The reasoning behind this is to have a standalone text file interrogator, which will work on almost any computer, requiring only a browser to execute and display reasonably formatted output. similar to an awk type application.
I use the filereader api and it works well.
I do not properly understand the workings of the browser, so my question may be very stupid.
Is it possible that my script can somehow pass the filename to the script filereader api, without having to choose a file from input type=file field.
eg I have a file called addresses.csv and it resides in the same directory as my html/js file with the filereader api code.
I want to simulate the choosing of a file, without accessing my local directory and without using a webserver, but a dropdown box of predefined filenames would be even better.
No, for security reasons its not possible, because otherwise people could open arbitrary files on the computers of their visitors which is definitely not intended.
This specification also assumes that the primary user interaction is with the element of HTML forms [HTML], and that all files that are being read by FileReader objects have first been selected by the user.
See http://www.w3.org/TR/FileAPI/#security-discussion
No you cannot. Javascript cannot read your local filesystem without the use of a file input or drag and drop files (html5) as it would be vulnerable to malicious use.
There was a start of a filesystem api which Chrome has included. But you cannot read/write to just any place you want on the filesystem, you can only do so to a sandboxed area on the filesystem. Wither or not they will continue to have this in future versions of Chrome though I do not know.
It also appears the W3C itself has discontinued the file system api
Please hear me out before you start crying security issues.
This is for an intranet application, hence I have full range to install any plugins or change any security permissions to suit.
What I want is for them to go to a webpage and click a link to download a file, such as a Word Document. This gets transferred to local storage of some kind (sandboxed if need be) and then is opened in word as a regular file.
When they click save, JavaScript or something will pickup the file is saved or the program is no longer accessing it and can be actioned upon, such as uploading back up to the server.
Is there any way to do this. I have looked at IndexedDb, WebStorage, HTML5 FileSystem API but I am new to all and don't see a way to do this.
I am open to coding any needed plugins as long as you don't mention Flash. The main issue I am coming across is opening a file downloaded into some form of local browser and then opening it via a desktop application, e.g. Word.
Any help, greatly appreciated.
After much research the only way to do it is with a plugin. IndexedDB, FileSystem API or WebStorage can not access the local file system. Which is good.
Silverlight is a good option for intranet and .NET, which is what I have chosen to go with.
Silverlight 5 in full permissions with a file watcher. The file watcher can be accomplished with this method: Is there an alternative to accomplishing what the FileSystemWatcher does in Silverlight?
i have some HTML files that i want to run in user local machine ( offline).
is there any method to find out in which hard drive the program files folder is located?
Note: do you know any methods that don't raise security problems.
I think this question is very confused. Not every computer has a "Program Files" directory or even the concept of drives because not every computer is Windows.
On top of that, HTML5 Offline Mode just requires a manifest file to be hosted by your web server. The browser will put the cached data in the right place for it.
If you're talking about some internal deployment of a non-hosted page and want to spawn IE directly, I think it's a bad idea, but use the %ProgramFiles% environment variable.
There is a file system api in HTML5 - have a look at the draft documentation
If you're calling requestFileSystem() for the first time, new storage is created for your app. It's important to remember that this file system is sandboxed, meaning one web app cannot access another app's files. This also means you cannot read/write files to an arbitrary folder on the user's hard drive (for example My Pictures, My Documents, etc.).
So if you're thinking about a web page being able to poke around a users program folder, then the answer is no, you'll need some kind of an app engine - e.g. Adobe Air or the Windows8 Metro apps.
Basically there is no crossbrowser way of doing this. If it is ok for you to have an Internet Explorer only solution try to look at the ActiveX component called FileSystemObject and its GetSpecialFolder method - http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa265315%28v=vs.60%29.aspx
I'm not on Windows but it seems you can try something like this:
var WshShell = new ActiveXObject('WScript.Shell');
Response.write("ProgramFiles envioronment variable is set to:\n\n" +
WshShell.ExpandEnvironmentStrings('%ProgramFiles%'));
Program Files are found on Environment Variables, so that's what you're looking for.
Regards,
PS: this will lead you to some security warnings. Actually, this is not safe.
In my web app I need to give the user the option to save a js variable as a file (when the user clicks download, the app offers him to save a file, preffereably as .js file).
Similarly as google docs offers you to save a file.
Is it possible for javascript to pass it's variable this way?
Check out Downloadify which allows exactly this.
Downloadify is a tiny JavaScript + Flash library that enables the generation and saving of files on the fly, in the browser, without server interaction.
it requires Flash installed in the user's browser to work, though.
I know of no other way of doing this without server interaction.
You might also want to check out OpenSave:
http://www.gieson.com/Library/projects/utilities/opensave/
... which looks much like Downloadify, but seems to have a few extra features (and not as complicated?).