internet explorer - Opening a file in local file system in javascript

Question

I am looking out for a way to open a .xls file which is in temp directory using javascript in IE and Firefox browser. I tried using the javascript as follows,

function openMe(){
    var newwindow=window.open("file:///{path to temp dir}/names.xls","window2","");
}

The names.xls file exists there, I have verified it. As IE 7.0 does not let a user open a blank window due to security issues I am unable to make this work. I have not checked it with firefox yet. Is there any way to get this working?

I also tried having an empty.html which has this javascript and calling this openMe() body onLoad. And opening the empty.html from the parent HTML file. All I see is a new blank window without nothing but the file does not open.

Any pointers would be greatly helpful.Thanks

Cheers, Abi

Answer 1

Sorry, Abi, you're out of luck--you can't use JavaScript in a browser to open a file on the local file system. This is a security issue and makes perfect sense if you think about it; you wouldn't want people writing scripts on their web sites that can access files on your local file system and possibly read data from them!