how to download a file from a url with javascript?

Question

how to download a file from a url with javascript?

I'm trying to get from a textfield a user enters a url as follows:

new Ext.form.TextField({
                disabled: false,
                        fieldLabel: "file",
                        value:'',
            id:"url"};

and I need the value of this variable is the file contained in the above url I am trying as follows:

var file1 = new OpenLayers.WPS.ComplexPut({
                      identifier: "file1",
                      value: window.location.href = document.getElementById("url")

Thanks for your answers

Answer 1

You can use jQuery to load anything from an URL quite easily with:

<script>
   $("#loadhere").load("http://www.google.com");
</script>

Answer 2

is this done in a browser? If so, you could use Ajax to download plain text or XML. Save yourself a lot of trouble and learn jQuery first, and it'll be quite easy.