Trigger local program execution from browser

Question

First and foremost: I know it's not right or even good thing to do but my current customer will not cave in. So here's what he is asking for (this is for in-house-behind-a-firewall-etc project). In the web report I need to supply a link which points to the executable script that lives on the universally mapped location (network file server). When user clicks on it it is expected to run on the local client starting local executable which should be pre-installed on the client's box. It should be agnostic to OS (Windows or Linux) and the browser used. Customer doesn't mind to click on angry pop-up alerts but he wants to do it once per client browser (or at minimum - session).

QUESTION: Will trusted Java applet be able to do it? Or is the any other (better, simpler) ways of achieving the same? ActiveX control is out of question

Answer 1

Concering Java Applets, read What Applets Can and Cannot Do.

• They cannot access client resources such as the local filesystem, executable files, system clipboard, and printers.

In general, you'll need some server side logic for that task.

Answer 2

This is a hack i've seen before. Have a small web-server run on the local computer, and have the browser send a http:// request to the local web-server. That server could take the request parse it, and potentially launch a script or run a file.

Wouldn't recommend it, but it is an option. Question for other users to consider How does LogMeIn work on both Mac and Windows, and get file system control?