Can a web application open a pdf file that exists on the client side

[speeptary]

I have an ASP page, in which the user chooses a value (e.g drawingId) from a list box, and according to this value, ASP builds/calculates a file path, e.g. c:\drawings\file1.pdf, in order to show this pdf file to the user. This path refers to the client's computer, where these pdf files are stored. The server queries the database and knows only the association between the drawingId and the path at the client's computer.How can I open this pdf file?I've read similar questions, like How can my web application written in Java open a file on the client side? or Can javascript access a filesystem?, but I haven't understood how to proceed. I would like this to work with all browsers and also implement this functionality in a PHP site.