Can a browser based application write to files on a local hard disk?

[VirginSnow at vfemail.net]

> From: Alex Hewitt <hewitt_tech at comcast.net>
> Date: Mon, 28 Jan 2008 10:57:32 -0500

> Scenario: Need a web application which collects user data that needs to
> be stored on the user's local hard disk. Which tools can do this?

> Ideas?

Back in the Netscape days, I wrote a POP3 client in JavaScript.  It
(after opening one of those big, fat warning dialog boxes) opened a
connection to port 110 on a specified POP server, logged in, opened a
local file, and dumped a transcript of the POP session to the file.
When done, it logged out of the server, closed the local file, and
terminated.  Last I checked, the script didn't work with IE.  I
haven't tried it with firefox.  I hear that there are Active><
controls that can be used to open local files for writing, as well.

Incidentally, some of you may be wondering WHY on earth I would want a
POP client in JavaScript... simply put: because there are many
libraries whereat the only available access to the Internet is a web
browser running on "that other operating system".  (Afterall, isn't
the Internet written in HTML, VB Script, Java, JavaScript, CSS, ASP,
and PHP?  Oh, "C", you say?  What's that?)