One of my least favorite things about web development is the need to upload images before being allowed access to them on the client side. In the era of Rich Internet Applications, where client-side file manipulation is becoming more commonplace, the step of transferring an image to the server just to immediately bring it back to the client seems like a waste of time, bandwidth, and server resources, not to mention being horrible for the user experience.
Of course, it is also necessary unless you want to use a java applet (and who does?). Or is it? Apparently Microsoft has decided that this is one security vulnerability that they can deal with and have announced client side access to files. That’s right, with Silverlight you can now access files before uploading them to the server! Read about it on Scott Guthrie’s blog (check out the slides) and here.
The only limitations are that you must allow the user to browse to the file with a browse file dialog (as they do now), and you get access only to that file. Pretty simple.
Of course, I don’t want to use Silverlight. I want the features and reach of Flash. So until Adobe decides it is worth it to provide this feature (I’m hoping to hear word on this from an Adobe blog by Lucas Adamski), I’ll just add one to the “Silverlight is the best” column (it’s still rather lopsided in favor of Adobe) and put up with a poor experience in the file upload department.
~Shaun
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