Running .exe from Javascript

Question

I am trying to run a .exe file from Javascript. This is what I have:

var oShell = new
ActiveXObject("Shell.Application"); 
var commandtoRun = "C:\Documents and
Settings\User\Desktop\ABCD.exe";
oShell.ShellExecute(commandtoRun,"","","open","1");

If I have only the first 2 lines code it seems to work fine (it asked me do I want activeX when I opened it first time in IE) but if I add the last line (ShellExecute) there seems to be an error. I want to pass arguments to the exe.

Does anyone know how to do it ?

• JasCav: A little searching found this - dotnetspider.com/resources/19547-Run-exe-file-Java-Script.aspx
• Christophe Roussy: Are you making a virus or what ? :)

Answer 1

You need to escape the backslashes, e.g.,

var commandtoRun = "C:\\Documents and Settings\\User\Desktop\\ABCD.exe";

Update:

This works fine on my machine:

var oShell = new ActiveXObject("Shell.Application");
var commandtoRun = "C:\\Windows\\notepad.exe"; 
oShell.ShellExecute(commandtoRun,"","","open","1");

Update 2

You can save this as a file with the extension .hta and it should work in your browser:

<HTA:APPLICATION ID="oMyApp" 
APPLICATIONNAME="Application Executer" 
BORDER="no"
CAPTION="no"
SHOWINTASKBAR="yes"
SINGLEINSTANCE="yes"
SYSMENU="yes"
SCROLL="no"
WINDOWSTATE="normal">
<script type="text/javascript" language="javascript">
var oShell = new ActiveXObject("Shell.Application");
var commandtoRun = "C:\\Windows\\notepad.exe"; 
oShell.ShellExecute(commandtoRun,"","","open","1");
</script>

• Ciaran Archer: Also: @Jason's link suggests using %20 for escaping the spaces and using the format: file:///C:/Program%20Files/...etc - perhaps it's some variation on that?
• Manish: @Red Filter :-I already tried that before posting ...doesnt help though
• Manish: Still doesnt work for me :( ....Although it shouldnt matter- I call this .exe from a GWT project using native Javascript module ...is there a way to know the error? (If I remove the last line web page opens up fine ...if I keep the line though it runs fine until that line and then shows a blank page in the browser)
• D'Arcy Rittich: Let's be clear, I am running this from the command-line, executing a file name test.js using cscript.exe. Do not expect to be able to launch applications from a web page with this Javascript embedded. That is against the security restrictions. And I gues technically I am using JScript, not Javascript.
• Manish: Is there a work around for this ? Everything is done locally (as a prototype on my machine ...I am not publically hosting it)....I just want the .exe to run when a particular event happens in the UI ....