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

[Alex Hewitt]

On Mon, 2008-01-28 at 16:04 -0500, Ben Scott wrote:
> On Jan 28, 2008 10:57 AM, Alex Hewitt <hewitt_tech at comcast.net> wrote:
> > I don't want to be responsible for the user's data ...
> 
>   The problem with that approach is, in most cases, you *are* going to
> be held responsible for the user's data.  Even if you store it in
> cookies and/or make the user click "Save" to a file and/or disclaim
> responsability in bold red 72-point BLINK tag text, if the user's data
> isn't there when they come back, they're going to blame you.  Unless
> you're in one of those very rare situations where you can afford to
> discard the complaints of users, it's going to be your problem.

If I take the TiddlyWiki approach, the data will be on their system in
the form of a web page which they will be modifying. Under those
circumstances they own the whole enchilada.

> 
>   So if this is for a paying customer, and/or some group of people you
> want to keep happy, I'm with H. K. Bemis: Bite the bullet and take
> responsibility for the data.  Store it server side and back it up.

Definitely not paying customers. Just folks who might want to track
their diets and use some of the information I want to give them. They
didn't buy it from me and therefore with the appropriate warnings they
shouldn't be able to give me much grief. Any time you make dietary
suggestions you need to start off by stating: "I am not a doctor and I
don't play one on TV". Still, the information should be useful.

-Alex

P.S. End users usually don't back up anything. They always seem to think
that their IT magician can make their data re-appear after they lose it
because of a bad disk or something equally nasty. Stuff happens.


> 
>   If you can afford to say you don't care, store it in a cookie and
> just say "Too bad, so sad" when it goes *poof* for the user.
> 
>   The one other exception to the above would be if you're writing a
> locally-hosted application that just happens to use a web browser as
> the execution platform and/or UI.  In that case, use whatever works.
> 
> -- Ben
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