rails won't have anything like what you are looking for as it is
clientside functionality specific to Windows/IE (ActiveX).
I assume you're using the LaunchInIE ActiveX control in order to do
this. If so, just do it the way you've done it previously. Just keep
in mind that 1) every client has to have this control installed and 2)
you're limited to IE (and windows for that matter) for this
functionality.
that's the purpose of using the LaunchInIE ActiveX control. It's
supposed to be secure. Note that I am not recommending it's use, just
answering a question. I personally would never allow this in any app
I have control over.
That's interesting - I didn't really think that this would usually be acceptable, but I guess that there are use cases for this. In fact, the only other way I knew to launch a local application was a bit silly - either use a plugin or send a file of a format that is registered to your PC application - but there are numerous imponderables with that approach
That's interesting - I didn't really think that this would usually be
acceptable, but I guess that there are use cases for this. In fact, the
only other way I knew to launch a local application was a bit silly -
either use a plugin or send a file of a format that is registered to
your PC application - but there are numerous imponderables with that
approach
Cheers
Mohit.
Thank you Mohit
Can you give me some more details about these?
Victor
It's a silly approach (even in my mind)... basically, the idea is when you send a ".pls" file, the browser asks if it should load the file with WinAmp (since it's a playlist) or a '.doc' file with Word and so on.
Now, if you had a file type 'bcft' (say, BC File Type) which is registered in Windows to being launched by an application called "BC.exe" then if you click on the link on the website and it sends the file "something.bcft" (with the correct MIME type - which may need to be configured on the webserver). When the web browser encounters this file, it should ask to either save the file or open it with the registered application (BC.exe) installed on the PC.
Things that may get in the way:
1. The application must be installed on the PC
2. It must be registered to handle the file of that format
3. The web server will need to send the right MIME type
4. There may be some configuration in the web browser to deal with that MIME type
5. There may be some conflict over the file extension and may get in the way.
6. At least a few other things that I have not thought about...
I think it _may_ work, but there may be many things to think about... and this will not return data to the web browser (if that's needed)
It's a silly approach (even in my mind)... basically, the idea is when
you send a ".pls" file, the browser asks if it should load the file with
WinAmp (since it's a playlist) or a '.doc' file with Word and so on.
** snip **
Cheers
Mohit.
That's an interesting approach Mohit, really appreciated, but I would like to have a bit more sophisticated approach that I don't need to configurate the client side's setting (because I won't be able to).
Remember - I did tell you that it was a bit silly! As far as not configuring anything on the
O, I am doing this for my company's intranet not for the internet in case anyone wonders
What is the application that will be launched? Is it a standard application in a standard place? Can you create a hard coded link to it in the webpage? file:///F:/Technology/Tools/MySQL-Front_Setup.exe
Would that work? It's not very sophisticated, either :-S
my question would be why do you need this functionality in the first
place? from your example, it just looks like you want to run the app.
why not just let the user run it themselves?
now if you want beyond compare to automatically run when you download
a file from the server, that is a completely different scenario than
what you presented and the author(s) of beyond compare should be more
able to assist you.