Can't be done in pure HTML/JavaScript for security reasons.
Selecting a file for upload is the best you can do, and even then you won't get its full original path in modern browsers.
You may be able to put something together using Java or Flash (e.g. using SWFUpload as a basis), but it's a lot of work and brings additional compatibility issues.
Another thought would be opening an iframe showing the user's C: drive (or whatever) but even if that's possible nowadays (could be blocked for security reasons, haven't tried in a long time) it will be impossible for your web site to communicate with the iframe (again for security reasons).
In case if you are the server and the user (e.g. you are creating an app which works via browser and you need to choose a folder) then try to call JFileChooser from the server when some button is clicked in the browser
I did a work around. I had a hidden textbox to hold the value. Then, on form_onsubmit,
I copied the path value, less the file name to the hidden folder. Then, set the fileInput box to "". That way, no file is uploaded.
I don't recall the event of the fileUpload control. Maybe onchange. It's been a while. If there's a value, I parse off the file name and put the folder back to the box. Of, course you'd validate that the file as a valid file.
This would give you the clients workstation folder.
However, if you want to reflect server paths, that requires a whole different coding approach.