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.NET Forum / ASP.NET / General / October 2007Calling external program from browser with parameters - cross-browser
We have an intranet website that currently uses ActiveX but we need to make it cross-browser compatible and also get around the problems we've been having with making it work with IE7 and Vista. We decided to write an external application to do the work from the client side. We are not sure how the web page can call the app though with parameters. For example, we want to do similar to what the MSDN Library and Audible are doing with their File Transfer Manager and Audible Download Manager. The user clicks a link on the website which calls that download program and the program knows what to download. How does one do this in a .NET app that is cross-browser compatible? Thanks, Jeff > How does one do this in a .NET app that is cross-browser compatible? Write a Java applet.  SignatureMark Rae ASP.NET MVP http://www.markrae.net > > How does one do this in a .NET app that is cross-browser compatible? > > Write a Java applet. Is that what those other 2 download programs are written in? Unfortunately we don't have any Java coders here, just C# .NET ones. Is there a way to do it in that? Thanks, Jeff >> Write a Java applet. > > Is that what those other 2 download programs are written in? No idea. > Unfortunately we don't have any Java coders here, just C# .NET ones. > Is there a way to do it in that? No. Java is written in Java. SignatureMark Rae ASP.NET MVP http://www.markrae.net > > Unfortunately we don't have any Java coders here, just C# .NET ones. > > Is there a way to do it in that? > > No. Java is written in Java. I'm sorry, I wasn't clear. Is there a way to do the communication from the browser to an external C# .NET application? > I'm sorry, I wasn't clear. Is there a way to do the communication from > the browser to an external C# .NET application? Persuading a browser to launch an application installed on the client (irrespective of what that app is written in) isn't particularly difficult, so long as the browser is IE and you don't mind ramping down the security: http://www.thescripts.com/forum/thread92803.html However, ActiveX is an IE-only technology so, for cross-browser compatibility, you need a Java applet. SignatureMark Rae ASP.NET MVP http://www.markrae.net If you're AX control is in C++, you could do something like CreateProcessEx to launch the program. Then you would use some form of interprocess communication (IPC) to talk between the programs. I recommend TCP/IP or shared memory. Of course there are other methods, but these are the easiest IMHO. >> I'm sorry, I wasn't clear. Is there a way to do the communication from >> the browser to an external C# .NET application? [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > However, ActiveX is an IE-only technology so, for cross-browser > compatibility, you need a Java applet. depends on how many browser you need to support. write the external app in whatever language you want. then for the web page to start and talk to it you need a browser component. (java applet will not work due to security). for IE, you write an active/x control for firefox, safari and netscape you write a standard netscape plugin (c/c++). if you want firefox and safari on the mac, you need to build a universal image plugin. -- bruce (sqlwork.com) > We have an intranet website that currently uses ActiveX but we need to > make it cross-browser compatible and also get around the problems [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] > Thanks, > Jeff As a side note: Last time I checked firefox offers a control for running AX controls. It has to be downloaded separately. This sounds like an intranet application so you can pretty much tell them what they need to run. Good luck. > We have an intranet website that currently uses ActiveX but we need to > make it cross-browser compatible and also get around the problems [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] > Thanks, > Jeff > This sounds like an intranet application I wondered about that but was puzzled by the cross-browser compatibility requirement - that's not a normal requirement for an intranet app... SignatureMark Rae ASP.NET MVP http://www.markrae.net Thanks for all the replies but I'm still a little confused. As I first said, it is an intranet website and my company has always required IE, but will soon be supporting Firefox too hence the need for cross- browser compatibility. We only need to support Windows users. I did try the two Firefox plug-ins I found that are supposed to allow ActiveX but it didn't work, at least for our ActiveX controls. It sounds like the solution is that we still need to have an ActiveX control in IE and a plug-in for Firefox to kick off the program. Has anybody used MSDN Library's File Transfer Manager or Audible's Download Manager? When I installed the File Transfer Manager, I don't remember it installing a plug-in for Firefox so I'll need to look when I get to work on Monday. I do know on Friday when I downloaded from there in Firefox that it started up File Transfer Manager and let me start the download. If there's a plug-in then that would answer the question but if there isn't, then it's kicking off that download some other way. > Has anybody used MSDN Library's File Transfer Manager or Audible's > Download Manager? When I installed the File Transfer Manager, I don't > remember it installing a plug-in for Firefox so I'll need to look when > I get to work on Monday. There is no Firefox add on that I can see for File Transfer Manager in my browser. So somehow MS is still able to kick off a download without a plug-in. Any suggestions on where I should check further for a solution on how to do this? For anybody interested, it appears that the cross-browser solution is to create your own filename extension that you then associate with your external program. The file contains instructions to your external program. At least that's what File Transfer Manager does in Firefox. Thanks for that last note on the solution you found. Sounds easy to implement ... vanilla > For anybody interested, it appears that the cross-browser solution is > to create your own filename extension that you then associate with > your external program. The file contains instructions to your external > program. At least that's what File Transfer Manager does in Firefox. Free MagazinesGet these publications absolutely FREE for up to 12 months. There are no hidden fees and no obligation. Simply choose a title, complete the application form and submit it. Read more ...
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