HTML 4 equivalent of HTML 5's FileReader?

Question

I\'ve got a web page which needs to be able to load files into the DOM from the local machine on which the browser is running. I\'ve found that this is very easy to do using

Answer 1

No, you cannot do that in older browsers. FileReader (any file system access really) is a new HTML5 feature which is not supported in older browsers.

Your best option in an older browser is either:

1. A Silverlight, Flash or Java app (or similar) that runs on the client-side and has local file system access.
2. Having the user upload files using the element, and do your processing server-side.