html - In JavaScript is it possible to launch a file browser dialog programmatically?

Question

Instead of using the <input type="file"> tag I'd like to have a button that launches a file browser dialog.

My first thought was to have a hidden file input tag and a button. I'd use the button click on the button to fire the onclick of the hidden file input, but I haven't been able to get this working properly.

So the question is, is this even possible? And second is there a nicer way to do this and still be able to send the information back in a form?

This will be the bottom layer of degrading functionality (from Flash to JavaScript (our site doesn't work without JS)) so it has to work with just basic JS and HTML.

Answer 1

Yes, it's possible (in most browsers) via opacity. Here's a tutorial.