Communicating information about a local machine to a browser application

摘要

The functionality of a browser application is enhanced using a browser plug-in, which enables the browser application to access portions of a file system not otherwise accessible to the browser application. The enhanced functionality provided by the browser plug-in is used in one example by an image uploading web application. The browser application may also start a task in the background, such as a task for uploading several images, and then monitor the progress of the task even when the browser application navigates away from the page that initiated the task. The browser application may use a local web server running on the client device to perform tasks, including the rendering of images and monitoring progress of long running tasks.

主权项

1. A computer implemented method comprising:
receiving a markup language document by an Internet browser application executing on a computer, wherein the markup language document includes instructions to generate a value based on a local resource of the client device; processing the markup language document by the Internet browser application, the processing comprising determining a first value based on instructions received from the markup language document; sending a request for information to a browser plug-in module, wherein the request includes the first value determined by the Internet browser application; determining, by the browser plug-in module, a second value based on the requested information describing the local resource of the client device; verifying, by the browser plug-in module, the authenticity of a sender of the markup language document based on a comparison of the second value and the first value; responsive to the verifying, receiving by the browser application the requested information; and rendering the received information by the Internet browser application according to instructions in the markup language document.