Question

Opening a Word document on clients computer.

4

Basically i am trying to create a application that opens up a word file that is linked to a mail merge. Currently i have set it all up on my own computer and open up the word document using the following command in a java action: Runtime.getRuntime().exec("rundll32 SHELL32.DLL,ShellExec_RunDLL \""+AnnualReportDocument+"\""); The Annual Report is the location of where the report is located on my hard drive. However i think this will not work when i am on a web server as it will try and open it on the server. How do i open up a document on the clients computer? I know the excel document export opens up on the clients computer so how does that work? Thanks Simon

asked 2010-02-23

Simon Black

2 answers

Achiel · Answer 1 · 2010-02-23

There's no real way in which you can explicitly run apps on the client's computer (that would obviously create a huge amount of security holes, as you can imagine ;))

So, the only thing you can really do is offer a download link to a filedocument that the client can click on. I believe the 2.5 runtime will also be able to explicitly trigger downloads, so that users don't have to click on the button.

Michel Weststrate · Answer 2 · 2010-02-24

In addition to the previous answer, the upcoming appstore will contain a widget to display documents directly in the client. For documents that can not be shown by the browser, a download will be triggered automatically.