I want to be able to have users on a new site be able to interact with each other. I thought searching for sample code for async controllers would help, but I can't really seem to find much.
I guess I am trying to replicate Node.js/Meteor like interactions where an action one user performs can be shown to other users. I assume this would work using async controllers and ajax, but I have found very little documentation and examples. I'm starting to think this isn't something that can happen in ASP.NET.
Sorry this is such a general question.
Watch Building Real-time Web Apps with ASP.NET SignalR, this video is by the creators of SignalR.
I think this will give you an idea of how SignalR might be the framework you want to use for your idea to build an application where multiple users can interact within a single page.
Related
I have two projects. One is an ASP.NET Mvc, and the other is a Web API.
The main project is the Mvc one. But I need to redirect the request to the Web API. All posts about it make clear that in order to redirect to another project, it should be a Redirect to an URL:
return Redirect("http://localhost:54270/"); //This calls the Get action in the Web API
But the problem is that I'm using an Authentication in Mvc that I would like to be validated in the called Web Api Action. Is it possible?
The session is not the same, so I cannot retrieve this information. Is there any way to share the same Context between both running sites? Or is it the wrong approach?
Yes, it can be done. In webforms, you can set the keys to hash values to the same key in multiple applications. As long as they are in the same domain, that is all you have to do. I have not tried it in MVC, but the internals are very similar. This is a bit of a kludge, but it works nicely.
In this simple way of doing it, you cannot share information, just the high level session information. As I have not played with this in MVC, you may have to set MAC settings or similar to get it to work. I don't have time to look this up. When I found this worked, the developers were still thinking in the ASP world, so they had a boatload of crap in the Session object which we had to sync up. You should not have this issue.
This method will not share the contents of session, but that should not be an issue if you are using MVC correctly.
If you want to go beyond this, there are ways to set up a single sign on mechanism. Anything that works for ASP.NET webforms should work in MVC, although you may have to add some code for items that would not normally be set in MVC that are required for webforms.
If you want a deeper understanding of the way it works, I would look up how people shared state in ASP and ASP.NET, as these pages generally have more information.
I have been searching a lot for info and examples of the principles of making a simple multi-user web application.
The app i am going to make is used for deadline management and can be described as a simple calendar where users can register events.
I have no problem making this for a single user in PHP or ASP.NET, but how can i make this for multiple users, so they can register and only see their own data.
The app itself is pretty simple, and there will not be many users max. 50-100.
I find it hard to find info about this topic.
My own idea, which probably isn't the right way to do it is:
When a user creates an event, store it in a table with the user's ID.
When selecting data, use the logged in user's ID and get the corresponding event(s).
I would strongly recommend working within a framework in order to avoid re-inventing the wheel. If you know python, consider flask, pylons, or Django. If you would prefer to continue working in PHP (you should avoid working with ASP.NET if you are ever going to work with non-Windows developers) try Drupal. Ruby on RAILs has some options, as well, but I've never used it.
The way you are attempting to implement this is likely to lead to an oversized, overcomplicated database that is very hard for new developers to get used to. If you must implement this yourself, you should have a user/password table, an events table, and a table linking together the two (e.g assigning ownership).
I'm looking for best practices and good ideas rather than a proper solution.
scenario: I work in a web agency and thus we are plenty of websites from several customers. They're built upon a cms we made, so websites are quite identical for the 90% of code. However, remaining 10% struggles me and my team as it involves not only the presentation layer but behavioral logics too (ex: a website1 requires simply user/pass registration while website2 needs more data, facebook connector, etc. But this is a very easy example).
Making ad hoc development for our customers is becoming painful as keep each version aligned is getting really hard for us
What I really dream to have is an extendible website that works by itself, but in which I can override a part. This behavior should sound like "look for the specific part, if it doesn't exists get the base one". The parts could be a method, a class, a page, a control, a static file.
example:
Suppose I want website2 to have an own login component, let's so imagine that we have a situation like:
/website_base
|_ login.aspx
/website1
/website2
|_ login.aspx
So, if I ask for www.website1.com I'll get /website_base/login.aspx, but if I ask for www.website2.com I'll get /website2/login.aspx
Any idea?
Thanks
PS: we work with asp.net 3.5 framework.
There are couple of ways to achieve this.
Approach 1:
1. Split the common functionality in modules and create a pluggable structure. (like DotNetNuke) Obviously this will be more time consuming initially but over the period of time it can make itself like a product.
Approach 2:
Firstly - I would create separate solution for each client for better maintainability. This will save me a lot of hassle while maintaining the source control and when one client comes back with issues and we have multiple releases for a single client.
Secondly - From my core solution, I will identify most commonly used artifacts for each layers and move them to a core assembly.
a. For example – In UI you can use themes to give different looks for each client. Have a default master page which comes with the core site structure. All client specific details like Logo, name, contact details etc… can be configured using some DB fields.
b. In Business Layer and Data Access Layer – core functionalities like Membership, Logging, CMS related Entities etc I would have as a dll
i. I will derive my client specific logic from these core classes.
Last but not the least – how you deploy your code and how your IIS VD structure looks like… I believe it will be totally dependent on how the solution is packaged.. I would create a deployment package for each client which will give them the ability to deploy it to any server wherever they want until you have specific issues about proprietary software hosting.
Look into ASP.NET MVC. It is much more extensible than Web Forms, can be integrated into your existing Web Forms application, and it is very easy to build reusable custom components like what you are describing.
Otherwise, I would suggest looking into WebParts and developing reusable custom server controls for the components that you need. This way you can encapsulate the complex functionality within a single UI control without having to write repetitive code. WebParts are also compatible with Personalization, which you can leverage to manage the variance between which sites use which controls.
I definitely recommend MVC as the way to go for building extensible .NET web applications, but learning a new technology always incurs a cost in the time it takes to understand the new paradigm. I hope this helps you.
I found a smart solution here: http://www.codeproject.com/KB/aspnet/ASP2UserControlLibrary.aspx
Check it out
I'm not sure I'm asking the right question here, but I'm looking to provide web based functionality from one ASP.NET application to another remote 'portal-like' application. Is it possible to simply give the portal a DLL? As an example, let's say the SaaS web app has a patient-entry form that I want to be able to use from the portal application. I would like the portal app to be able to set preferences (permissions, color, style, etc), make a function call, and have that capability presented within a certain div or something. Is there any .NET technologies that provide this kind of integration?
EDIT:
Here is a link to a quick diagram I made trying to describe the scenario: http://img.ly/ESG. I know there are other ways of doing this (eg JSON-P calls), but I need to give the portal developers something they can control on their end. Also, if anything changes they'll know I will send them a new version of the DLL which will indicate to them the new functionality.
I'll give you a shopping list of things to check out:
DotNetNuke:
http://www.dotnetnuke.com/
Workflow Foundation -
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/netframework/aa663328.aspx
Microsoft SAAS platform -
http://www.microsoft.com/serviceproviders/saas/default.mspx
Depending on exactly what you're looking for, you might also research "multitenancy".
To answer your original question, yes, you can do it with DLL's, but there are easier ways to do it.
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.