Reading XML...

NZ_Kiwis

Okay i wont boar you with the details of how my system works and why but what I need to do is get my PHP page on my web server to read a XML document on my visitors computer.

Yes my users will have this in set location such as C:\MyFolder\MyXML.XML

How can I do this?? Is it even possible?

bretticus

NZ_Kiwis;10908790 wrote:
How can I do this?? Is it even possible?

Not natively in PHP. You will either need file sharing enabled on the vistor's computer or he or she will need to expose the xml file via a web service running on the visitor's computer.

If you mean an ordinary visitor to your Website than absolutely not. This is why cookies were invented. 🙂 I suppose you could have the visitors in this instance upload the xml file. They'd have to manage where it's stored on their hard drive and remember where it is. This can't really be automated in this instance.

What are you trying to do with the XML file?

NZ_Kiwis

bretticus;10908796 wrote:
Not natively in PHP. You will either need file sharing enabled on the vistor's computer or he or she will need to expose the xml file via a web service running on the visitor's computer.

Hmm I've got a XML file created via a VB Application, I want my web server to read this to work with it... what is the best way of doing so? A web service?

bretticus;10908796 wrote:
If you mean an ordinary visitor to your Website than absolutely not. This is why cookies were invented. 🙂 I suppose you could have the visitors in this instance upload the xml file. They'd have to manage where it's stored on their hard drive and remember where it is. This can't really be automated in this instance.

What are you trying to do with the XML file?

As I made it very clear in my first post:

Okay i wont boar you with the details of how my system works and why but what I need to do is get my PHP page on my web server to read a XML document on my visitors computer.

Yes my users will have this in set location such as C:\MyFolder\MyXML.XML"

This is admins and it's in a set location.

bretticus

But your xml file is for the visitor's computer correct? how to you intend for the xml file to get there in the first place? A web service does you no good if you don't have the technology for transporting the file. Do you intend for the end user to have another VB application on his or her computer?

I was hoping to possibly give you an alternative, but since you cannot "boar" me with the details, I guess it's still up to you to figure out. 😉

NZ_Kiwis

bretticus;10908843 wrote:
But your xml file is for the visitor's computer correct? how to you intend for the xml file to get there in the first place? A web service does you no good if you don't have the technology for transporting the file. Do you intend for the end user to have another VB application on his or her computer?

By Vistor I mean a user/admin who is running a VB application, this application will write a XML file which I then my VB application will call a webpage (just like IE would for the example of this) this webpage will need to read the XML on my own machine....

bretticus;10908843 wrote:
I was hoping to possibly give you an alternative, but since you cannot "boar" me with the details, I guess it's still up to you to figure out. 😉

Here is a list of how I want it to work then

VB application to work with data
VB write this data to XML
Webserver is told to get this data my my XML file
OR
VB sends this to my webserver...

I was hoping my web server would be able to read my XML on my computer so how

bretticus

Okay, that's more clear. You just cannot automate uploading a file in a browser. This goes against security standards. The only way to automatically store data from a web server is via cookies. And that is also the only way to automatically upload data too. You may have to use some non-standard techniques here to accomplish this. The following is an article that describes making your users use an HTA application (IE in a separate window with security disabled--don't let them surf the Web in one of these.)

http://www.motobit.com/tips/detpg_uploadvbaie/

Other than that I have no more advice on web pages reading your local computers files.

Sorry and good luck!

Weedpacket

NZ_Kiwis wrote:
By Vistor I mean a user/admin who is running a VB application, this application will write a XML file which I then my VB application will call a webpage (just like IE would for the example of this) this webpage will need to read the XML on my own machine....

Instead of having the VB application write a file and then trying for some other magic to happen to get the file read, why not have the application itself act as an HTTP client and have it POST the XML to the web service? Then the "XML file" is entirely unnecessary, as is the desire to have HTTP work in a manner that's completely opposite to what it was designed for.