Calling an EXE from a webpage

[javierdlm001]

But not to run into the webpage.
Back in 2001 it was asked "embedding an exe in a HTML page". Niv3k offered what seemed an interesting snippet.
Today in 2012, would this way still be as good? Can anyone think of a better way?
I wanted to create a portal page at the calling center where I work. To keep us from going to all the places we need to go in order to set all the webpages and programs running just prior to starting work. Technically I am able to call EXEs with plain HTML, but as encountered by others before me, not without at least 2 warning windows, which give the choices of either run, download, or cancel it.
What sucks is that we are stuck with IE6.

Thank guys,

JDL

 

[Olaf Doschke]

Todays technolog for this would be ClickOnce deployment. I's a bigger topic, not easily explained with a few lines of code.
I don't find anything about the IE Version requirement, .NET 2.0 is required, if your exe needs more, you can make that a prerequisite and ClickOnce deployment will also install higher .NET framework versions. That's the only case a user needs install privileges, otherwise you can run and also update EXEs without install privileges, as those apps will not go into program files, but the ClickOnce app cache. You also have lowered privileges at runtime, so it depends on what the exe needs.

As said initially, it's a topic of it's own.

Bye, Olaf.

 

[IPGuru]

The whole concept of downloading and running an executable on a client PC causes big alarm bells to me for security reasons. especially if warnings are suppressed.



A Maintenance contract is essential, not a Luxury.
Do things on the cheap & it will cost you dear

 

[Olaf Doschke]

Calm down. Even with ClickOnce a user will be warned and needs to choose to always trust a publisher or stay with warnings. if I don't error on that, policies can restrict user to make any trust anyway. Overall it's the same as with standard signed software installations. In the first place signatures only show the publisher and allow a user to always trust that publisher.

Virus programmers already know their way around any of these warnings and restrictions and allow drive-by infections without more user intervention than just visiting a contminated site. They execute without highered priviledges etc.

But I agree, the intention to want to allow executable downloads is not a good choice in the first place. Anything you set up to allow such mechanisms opens doors for bad software, too, of course. Convenience can't be a point here.

It also would be convenient to drive with the speed of your choice. Some do, accidents happen...

Bye, Olaf.

 

[spamjim]

The initial question does not include enough info to provide a useful answer. What version of Windows (98/XP)? Are the EXE's already installed/local? It sounds as if this is for a local intranet or controlled environment where it might be easier to configure Windows startup functions to start up these programs for the workday.

 

[ChrisHunt]

If you're on a Windows desktop, and you want to run a certain sequence of .exes each day, why bother with an HTML page at all? Couldn't you just write an old-fashioned batch file (or files) that you run from an icon on your desktop?

-- Chris Hunt
Webmaster & Tragedian
Extra Connections Ltd

 

[CliveC]

Try changing the HTML extension to HTA

Clive

http://tubularity.com