Q:

What is the truh concerning pasting data into a browser?

I am hearing a ton of different info. I just found this in a site
The 'paste' operation in the context menu or button press is not possible. It is not possible because of a browser security restriction that Javascript cannot take data from the clipboard without the user explicitly doing a paste command from the browser (eg Ctrl+V or from the browser menu). If Javascript could do this, then websites could steal data from the client via grabbing from the clipboard maliciously.
If this is true then how does google do it? My team is asking why I cannot implement a copy from desktop excel and paste into a grid in our new web app. I cannot get a straight answer anywhere i look. This seemed like the closest but i wanted to make sure.

A:

Obviously, copy-paste in the browser is possible. 
What the security mechanisms mean is that you cannot initiate it from the browser's javascript automatically. The user has to initiate it from their browser through their mechanism (probably by pressing CTRL-C or CTRL-V shortcuts).

My team is asking why I cannot implement a copy from desktop excel and paste into a grid in our new web app. I cannot get a straight answer anywhere i look. 

Why not ask that question on Stackoverflow? Don't forget to include the code you tried and an exact description of where you are stuck and what errors you get if any.

