I am creating a application which is mainly used inside a office for data maintenance. It will be used to store data like work list, future works, reminders etc .All data will be presented to user in the form of grids. So it's all about data stored in SQL server database. There will be number of users accessing it and they modify data frequently. Also there will be so many options like an ERP program.There is no connection to internet is required for this program.
So in this case which programming language is better? Should I choose WinForms or ASP.NET? The main concentration to choose between this will be performance, ease of use, also it should support more function for grid controls etc. So which one should I choose? And what will be the advantage and disadvantage of both?
Some pointers:
WinForms
Good
No webserver to install, setup and secure
Bad
Installation of some kind required on each machine e.g .NET framwork, exe, assemblies, etc.
More difficult to rollout updates to the application
ASP.NET
Good
No installation on clients required
Can run on machines other than windows including mobile devices
Updates to the application can be published instantly to all clients
Bad
Have to use IIS or UltiDev Web Server to serve up pages
File system is more secure so reading and writing to files can be time consuming to configure
Unless you want to use jQuery and Javascript to add additional functionality to the Standard ASP.NET GridView I would say a Windows Form would be more suited, depending on the size of the data it will most likely offer better performance and you have much more control over the actual functionality of the program, rather than dealing with browser related restraints.
Not really a question for this forum... VB.Net is a Language and ASP.Net is a Framework. Do you mean should I create a client windows app or a web (intranet) app then this would depend on your strengths as the intranet option would also require HTML and possibly CSS/Javascript.
Related
We've got a .Net MVC/EF web application that is already in place with a client. The app was developed using .Net Membership and Roles for security/login. The app runs on tablet devices placed in the client's locations.
Now the client wants a different company to build a new UI for a portion of the site (not the whole thing), that has to integrate with our DB. This other company has been doing this type of work for a long time, so they've established how they operate, which is using a disconnected, distributed methodology to avoid Internet problems messing up an always-connected setup. Basically, they want each device to pull down only the segment of the DB that is relevant to the device's location and then sync it every two minutes through an API. The device will need to allow user logins.
So basically, we are being asked to adapt our web app/DB structure to accommodate this. And it boils down to 2 questions:
1) Since we are using .Net Membership and Roles, can we use the MS Sync Framework for syncing the DB of users (or at least, the ones relevant to the device's location)? I'm guessing the answer is yes because as long as the other party's UI is coded to utilize .Net Membership as well, the DB should be in the right format to read the data. I just want to confirm this is the case.
2) Can all the synchronization requests (up and down) be run through a web API that we write and expose to the devices? Since the UI is not going to be part of the code base, it needs to connect that way.
Thanks in advance!
1.Yes. from Sync Fx perspective, they're just tables.
2.Sync Fx out of the box doesnt work over http. You will in the documentation how to n-tier setup using WCF though. If you want Web API, you will have to code it as well.
I realize that this question can start a discussion but that's really not my intention. We've created a Flex Application to take tests from candidates. The advantage of the Flex Application is that all state can be stored in the application running in the browser of the client. Things like time limits, navigation, scoring, ... can all be handled within the application without us having to worry about a back button for instance. Even running the app offline with Adobe Air isn't that hard.
My question now is if such an application could easily be made with HTML, Javascript, Ajax, ... ? The reason I'm asking is because an application in HTML would be much easier to distribute on Mobile devices for instance. Also, our domain model for instance is mostly implemented in AS3 (Flex) so using it along the server side means porting it to C#.NET. (with two codebases as a result).
Look at any good MVC toolkit, you will easily be able to handle this. Castle project is good as is Microsoft MVC, both of which allow you to choose from a variety of view engines to handle the actual page rendering thereby allowing you to choose the most 'mobile efficient' engine...
As for the technicalities, you would store all persistent data in a server session object.
My friend asked me to make a registration software for his blood donation camp. He told me that he can't host an ASP.NET or PHP page.
Also that since they'll be running the software in many systems, which may not be interconnected, they may not be able to use a Database server.
Is there a way to store/read data from an MS-Excel or MS-Access file instead of any other database?
Also that I wish to make the front end using HTML & JavaScript/JQuery.
As you problem is little bit twicky. Since your app will run on various machine so you want to develop standalone app in Html / Jquery. Also you cannot use db server bcoz of lack of connectivity. So in such scenario i will suggest you to go for Win Form app with a lightweight db like MS Access and Sqlite. Which ever you prefer. Since you are keeping Network aside so i suggest you to not use HTML/Jquery to use access or Excel as it looks logical very easy to use interop with excel but implementation is quite messy. In that time you can finalize the winform app with any of the database with lots of ease.
I have a situation where information about a user is stored in the web application cache and when that information is updated in one application - I want to notify the other applications (running on the same machine) that the data should be removed from it's cache so it can be refreshed. Basically I need to keep cached data in sync across multiple asp.net applications.
I have started down the path of using a central web service to help coordinate the notifcations but it is turning out to be more complex than I think it needs to be.
Is there a way that one asp.net application can easily reach across to another on the same box to clear an item from the cache?
Is there a better way to achieve shared cached information than using the application cache?
I really want to create a way for apps to communicate in a loosely coupled way - I looked at nservice bus but the dependency on MSMQ scared me away - my client has had bad experiences with MSMQ and does not want to support an app that requires it.
Suggestions?
Michael
I agree with Hogan. Best is to use a shared database. I want to add to that that, when using SQL Server, you can use SQL Cache Dependency. This SQL Server mechanism allows notifications to applications in such a way that used caches can be invalided directly after a change is made to the data.
A shared database is probably going to cause you the least pain.
Edit
Note: ASP.NET allows you to make "cache clearing" triggers on SQL server changes. Should be a quick search in the cache examples on MSDN to find some examples. Thus when the user info stored in the cache changes in the DB the local cache copy will clear and be re-loaded from the DB.
There are commercial distributed caches available for .net other than Microsoft Velocity - NCache, Coherence, etc.
How about Velocity? It's a distributed cache that works between servers as well as between applications. It has PowerShell management and all sorts of documentation to get you going faster and be far more maintainable in the long-term.
What about COM/DCOM, using namespace System.Runtime.Remoting
Background:
I am an intermediate web app developer working on the .Net Platform. Most of my work has been defined pretty well for me by my peers or superiors and I have no problem following instructions and getting the job done.
The task at hand:
I was recently asked by an old friend to redo his web app from scratch. His app is extremely antiquated and he is getting overwhelmed by it breaking all the time. The app in question is an inventory / CRM application and currently each customer requires a new install of the app (usually accomplished by deploying it on a different domain on the same server and pointing to a new database).
Currently if any client wants any modifications to the forms such as additional fields, new features, etc my friend goes in and manually adds those fields to the forms, scripts, database etc. As a result all installs of this application are unique. There is no one singular source repository and no one single version of this app. Generally new features are overtime rolled into the other sites, but still this is done on an individual site by site basis.
I will be approaching this on a very modular basis. Initially I will be coding a module that will query an external web service for some data, display and store it, and periodically update it automatically. The next module will likely be for storing and displaying inventory data. This way I want to over time duplicate the current feature set of his app 100% but do it incrementally.
The Million Dollar Questions
I want to make the app have user
configurable form fields. The user
should be able to go to an admin
page, create a new forms page of a
certain category, and then specify
what fields he wants in there. He
could say 'create a new text field
called Item # and make it a
requirement" and that will get
stored somewhere. All forms will be
dynamically rendered to screen based
on what the user has configured. Is
this a good way to go about the
problem of having no idea what a
customer could want in a form? and
thus be able to store and display
form data of any sort ? What sort of
design pattern should I follow here?
I am familiar with asp.net and
the .net framework in general and
have decent knowledge of javascript,
html, silverlight, jquery, c# etc
etc. I can work my way around web
apps in a good way, but I am not
sure what sort of framework or tech
I should use to accomplish this
task. Would ASP.net 3.5 webforms be
the way to go? or should I look into
ASP.NET MVC? Do I use jquery and ajax for
complete decoupling of frontend and
backend ? or will a normal asp.net
page with some spattering of ajax
thrown in working with a codebehind
be the order of the day?
Just looking for general advice before I start.
I am currently thinking of using ASP.NET 3.5 webforms, jquery for clientside animation, ui, manipulation and data validation, and sqlserver + a .net or wcf webservice for backend.
Your advice is much appreciated as always.
I've recently implemented a white-label ecommerce system for an insurance company that allowed each partner to choose their own set of input fields, screens, and order the flow of the application to suit their individual needs.
Although it wasn't rocket science, it added complexity and increased development time.
Consider the user configuration aspect very carefully In hindsight both my client and their clients in turn, would have been happy with a more rigid system.
As for the tech side of your question, I developed my project in VS2005, using asp.net webforms and webservices with a SQLserver back end, so the stack that you're looking at is definitely capable of delivering a working product. ASP.net MVC will almost certainly help as far as testability goes.
The biggest thing I would change now if I was going to start again would be to replace the intermediate webservices with message based services using nServiceBus, MassTransit or the like. While the webservices worked fine, message based communication should be quicker and more reliable.
Finally, before you start to code, make sure that you understand the current system's functionality inside and out. If the new system doesn't do something that the old system did, it will be pretty obvious to the end users straight away.