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Asked: 2026-05-10T23:43:46+00:00

I need assistance finding a delivery method that best fulfills the following requirements: We

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I need assistance finding a delivery method that best fulfills the following requirements:

  • We wish to deliver a single file to my clients.
  • Clients should be able to launch this file from the operating system shell – much like running an ‘.exe’ on Windows.
  • After being launched, the program/script should be able to display a window with HTML content. this may be done using a stand alone program, a runtime or by running within a browser.
  • We need the ability to embed a resource within the delivered file, such as an mp3 file, which i can later extract programmatically.
  • Optimally, the solution should run on Windows, Mac and Linux machines. Less than perfect cross-platform interoperability is acceptable, but we want as broad a penetration as possible.
  • Clients should not need to pre-install anything (unless it is done transparently), pre-configure anything, or approve any thing for this to happen.

For example:

  • We could use a regular executable file, written in C++ to do this, but it will not be cross-platform.
  • We could use a sliverlight XAP file, an adobe Flex file or a Java JAR, but internet explorer warns users when local content is launched. In addition these approaches mean that we have less than perfect penetration, even though it is acceptable in these cases.
  • We could use a python (or equivalent) script, but the installed-base (penetration) of the python interpreter is not good enough.
  • Using a standard HTML is not enough because of the difficulty of embedding resources in it. Embedding Silverlight XAML or uuencoded content in HTML causes IE to display a warning.
  • Using something along the lines of a jpeg as a delivery method is not rich enough since we need to display HTML.
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1 Answer

  1. ..but internet explorer warns users when local content is launched..

    I don’t get it, what’s the problem with IE saying ‘Hey this app is trying to run your files!’

    I don’t mean you don’t have a good reason for this, it is just, I don’t get it.

    IE will only warn the user if the app has not been downloaded and try to access local resources, for instance if running from an applet or a JNLP like this one:(click on the first orange button you see )

    But if the users download the jar and run it from the computer ( double click on it ) the app is local and can run without problems.

    The jar file is a zip file after all, so you can attach your mp3 file with it. Double click is supported in the desired platform, and the HTML content could be either a local file ( un-packed along with the mp3 file ) or an internet web page.

    Java is preinstalled on those OS already.

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