Chrome injects Javascript into dummy.htmlA Chrome plugin specific to the fehr Free Electronic Health Record.
Chrome doesn't support NPAPI, which can be used to permit specific, limited access to local machine functions from the browser. This Chrome plugin is based on Chrome's alternative --- PPAPI/NaCl.
An example: A text help file can be read from the local machine into the fehr Javascript program. This is powerful, but also potentially dangerous (as is crossing a road).
In the PPAPI variant, a Python script allows limited access to certain directories on the host machine. Secure data are encrypted and written there, and can only be decrypted using a key stored remotely on the server and provided during a secure browser transaction.
The plugin also allows interaction in a distinct, separate second mode where there is explicitly no server interaction, and a very limited set of files can be read directly into the browser from the local machine. This is useful for casual use, specifically where there is NO web access, and we wish to use the browser to access local "insecure" data. This functionality is particularly useful for teaching and debugging.
Full documentation is available at http://www.fehr.org