Patent ID: 7330872

Claim:
In a network including a client system and a plurality of server systems, a method for enabling distributed program execution, the method comprising the steps: (a) presenting, by a web browser executing on a client system, a graphical depiction of a data file stored on a web server; (b) receiving, by the client system, a request from the web server to execute a first executable program on the client system, said request including information concerning a second executable program associated with the data file, the second executable program selected according to a mapping specifying an association between the second executable program and a type of the data file accepted for processing by the second executable program, the second executable program executing on either the client system or one of a plurality of server systems; (c) receiving application output data from the second executable program by the first executable program; and (d) formatting, by the first executable program, received application output data for presentation.