Hello all,

I have been tasked with finding a way to perform actions thru the browser like starting Notepad. Currently, ActiveX is used.

Here is the problem, ActiveX = Microsoft

Thus, I am searching.

I have found a starting point for Mozilla, by using XPCOM, and nsIProcess.

Here is an example:

Code:

function Doit(){
  alert('Starting Notepad');
  //Set permissions to allow XPCOM
  netscape.security.PrivilegeManager.enablePrivilege('UniversalXPConnect');
  // create an nsILocalFile for the executable
  var file = Components.classes["@mozilla.org/file/local;1"].getService(Components.interfaces.nsILocalFile);
  file.initWithPath("c:\\windows\\NOTEPAD.EXE");
  // create an nsIProcess
  var process = Components.classes["@mozilla.org/process/util;1"].getService(Components.interfaces.nsIProcess);
  process.init(file);
  // Run the process.
  // If first param is true, calling process will be blocked until
  // called process terminates. 
  // Second and third params are used to pass command-line arguments
  // to the process.
  var args = ["c:\\autoexec.bat"];
  process.run(false, args, args.length);
}

This functions thru Firefox, but does not thru Chrome.

I have found that XPCOM is Mozilla only, and the "replacement" is npruntime.

I would like to be able to offer a solution that is cross-browser compatible, IE: Chrome.

Thanks,

Eric

I'd be interested in that capability as well, though I imagine the Chrome/Chromium developers' commitment to building a secure browser would mean that there'd need to be strong sandbox guardbands around what the external application would be permitted to do....

But right-click (context menu) access from within the browser to the wealth of CLI commands, Java/Perl/awk/etc. scripts, and GUI apps has a real appeal... I'd love to be able to grab the links from my foreground tab and fire off a wget command with a single click.

Some form of this capability is probably in the minds of the Chrome OS developers, so I'd keep an eye on developments on that front for a possible solution.

isn't wget a tool for downloading ?

I would love to see this happen, particularly for SHORTCUTS..
I mean, its 1 thing for random sites, but a user usually knows what their putting on their shortcut bar... so bookmarks, and addons should be able to access computer information, just not websites, oh and websites shouldnt be able to add bookmarks