Posted by "Richard Lynch" on 09/15/05 02:11

On Tue, September 13, 2005 9:19 pm, Ed Lazor wrote:
> What's the best way to send an executable to a client desktop in PHP?

readfile("/full/path/to/file.exe");

> I'm doing a project where we need to check and see which files need to
> be updated on a client-desktop. The idea is for a user to visit the
> website, an executable launches, checks the files on the drive, and
> then sends the data back to the website.

Not gonna happen.

Web browsers simply do *NOT* do that.

Well, MS IE does that, with signed content, from Microsoft, when you
update MS software through their browser.

So, I guess one solution is to write your own OS, and your own
Browser, and then you can do whatever you want. :-)

> It's all on the up and up - I'm not trying to do anything bad to the
> user. The site is designed to maintain a product that they're
> purchasing from us. Screens will explain what's going on. I also
> believe the browser will display something - not completely sure how
> to trigger this, but I think it's something to do with having
> executables "signed" - I'd appreciate if you have any advice on how to
> do this also.

If your application is already on their desktop, you can add some
simple code to it to "phone home" and check for updates in YOUR
application, and to download them, and install them.

But at no point in this will there be a web browser, nor PHP.

Unless you write it in PHP-GTK http://gtk.php.net :-)

Actually, I suppose you could pay MS enough money to get your product
included in their distribution channels, and installed/upgraded
through that process... That's going to cost a LOT more than just DIY
in your own application.

But obviously if the 300-pound gorilla is shoving your bananas down
every throat, then maybe that's a good thing. For you and your
bananas.

--
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