SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR MAKING FUNCTION CALLS FROM A WEB BROWSER TO A LOCAL APPLICATION

A function calling protocol and methodology allow local function calls to be embedded within HTML documents, using standard HTML (HyperText Markup Language) tags, such that a user can selectively initiate the function calls while viewing the documents with a standard World Wide Web ("Web") browser. User-invocable functions are thereby added to Web documents without modification to either existing Web browsers or HTML. In accordance with the invention, when a user initiates a local function call (by clicking on a button or other content item from within the Web browser), an HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) POST message which contains the information for making the function call is generated by the standard Web browser. This message is routed from the Web browser to an application (which runs on the same computer as the browser) using a conventional Local Host service of the computer's TCP/IP stack. The application then uses the function-calling information to make the function call on the computer. In an electronic shopping embodiment, the application is an electronic shopping client application which allows Web users to securely engage in commerce with on-line merchants over the Internet, and the Web documents of the system include functions for performing actions such as displaying the contents of a shopping basket object or a wallet object to the user.