Looking for opinions...

R

rviray

I am just looking for opinions about this project that I am working on.

Background:
Windows Application built under Delphi. The application uses 4-
(depending on drill down avenue) deep modal windows to get informatio
(viewing and editing). Basically, you
1) Search for information, say person by First & Last Name...get list
2) Drill down on person to get Demographics, Education, Physica
Makeup, Social Makeup, etc.
3) Drill down on one of the subsections, say Education...get a listin
of schools
4) Drill down on school, gets a list of courses taken with final grade
5) May or may not have another drill down ...

As an FYI, just assume that I can't combine the info from the differen
drill downs into one page (it would be info overload for the clien
base).

My Task:
To convert the Application to work within a web browser just fo
vewing, for now, eventually I will need to enable editing.

Question:
As far as I can see, I can implement this functionality in one of thre
ways:

1) Have a single browser window and post back and forth through th
drill downs.
- If I know my end users, they will HATE that...

2) Have multiple browser windows pop-up
- Could be messy when it comes to keeping track of the child window
that popup

3) Use DHTML to pop-up the various windows in a single Browser.

I can implement anyone of the above solutions, I would just like t
know how you would tackle (since we're in Football season) the problem
Am I missing another potential solution? Has anyone here faced thi
type of project, your experiences would be very much appreciated.

Thanks

Ralp
 
B

Bruce Barker

i'd avoid popup althogethers, it too messay with browsers, and most users
hate them. i'd redesign the application to be more browser like, with lots
of interrelated links to relevent info, so drill thru is not required.

-- bruce (sqlwork.com)
 
K

Kevin Spencer

I tend to agree with Bruce. A browser interface is just not the same as a
desktop application interface, and you need to go with it. I'd investigate
how the "big boys" handle it by visiting their web sites.

Another alternative, which you may or may not like, is to emulate a desktop
interface using a SWF that talks to Web Services behind the scenes. It's a
big job, but certainly doable.

--
HTH,

Kevin Spencer
Microsoft MVP
..Net Developer
Ambiguity has a certain quality to it.

Bruce Barker said:
i'd avoid popup althogethers, it too messay with browsers, and most users
hate them. i'd redesign the application to be more browser like, with lots
of interrelated links to relevent info, so drill thru is not required.

-- bruce (sqlwork.com)
 
R

rviray

thanks guys for your opinions...Unfortunately, the Windows App is
"shrink wrapped" application, that has been in the market for year
now. For the past few years, the install base has been clamoring for
browser interface and since the company I am working for (at least th
CEO, CFO, and all the big wigs think that an App-is-an-App-is-an-App
then having conversations about limitations and "Apples to Oranges
metaphors is an up hill battle. ;-)

I like the SWF idea...sounds doable, and it would be a good experienc
for me, I hope there are some good examples of how to start creatin
those types of apps...if the Development gODs are really good to me
maybe there would be libraries that hook directly into Visua
Studio...

Don't suppose anyone would know of a good product (Flash MX...is prett
pricey...ain't it?
 
J

JIMCO Software

Kevin said:
I tend to agree with Bruce. A browser interface is just not the same
as a desktop application interface, and you need to go with it. I'd
investigate how the "big boys" handle it by visiting their web sites.

Another alternative, which you may or may not like, is to emulate a
desktop interface using a SWF that talks to Web Services behind the
scenes. It's a big job, but certainly doable.

I would definitely have a look at AJAX.

--
Jim Cheshire
JIMCO Software
http://www.jimcosoftware.com

FrontPage add-ins for FrontPage 2000 - 2003
 
K

Kevin Spencer

Well, if you want to go with SWF, and make it look like a Windows app, you
don't want to scrimp, as you will need all of the development environment
capabilities you can get to do the job in a manageable amount of time. We
have done one (not completed yet), but it will take quite a few classes to
emulate various Windows Forms controls. I wouldn't settle for less than the
latest version of Flash MX.

--
HTH,

Kevin Spencer
Microsoft MVP
..Net Developer
Ambiguity has a certain quality to it.
 
R

rviray

Kevin - It's not that I want to skimp...it's that I have never used a
SWF interface on the web with .NET before, and prior to your response
I didn't know anyone (I know people have done it before, but no on
that I personally knew or correspond with)...btw, I have posted thi
question on a few boards. And since this would be a new de
environment for me, I wanted to wood-shed prior to making my commitmen
to go down this route, just to make sure that I can do it within th
time allotted to me. Basically, if I asked my boss for the $$$ fo
Flash MX and I couldn't use it...well...that would be an UGL
conversation.

JIMCO - as for the AJAX idea, are you saying to implement AJAX instea
of relying on Web Services for the Data Communication methodology?

Once again...thanks to everyone for their input!!!!

Ralph


Kevin said:
Well, if you want to go with SWF, and make it look like a Windows app
you
don't want to scrimp, as you will need all of the developmen
environment
capabilities you can get to do the job in a manageable amount of time
We
have done one (not completed yet), but it will take quite a few classe
to
emulate various Windows Forms controls. I wouldn't settle for less tha
the
latest version of Flash MX.

--
HTH,

Kevin Spencer
Microsoft MVP
..Net Developer
Ambiguity has a certain quality to it.
 
K

Kevin Spencer

JIMCO - as for the AJAX idea, are you saying to implement AJAX instead
of relying on Web Services for the Data Communication methodology?

This is certainly a good method for preventing unnecessary PostBacks.
However, you're still talking about an HTML interface.

--
HTH,

Kevin Spencer
Microsoft MVP
..Net Developer
Ambiguity has a certain quality to it.
 
J

JIMCO Software

rviray said:
JIMCO - as for the AJAX idea, are you saying to implement AJAX instead
of relying on Web Services for the Data Communication methodology?

Nope. What I'm saying is that you can call your Web methods via XmlHttp so
that you are more closely emulating a Windows interface.

--
Jim Cheshire
JIMCO Software
http://www.jimcosoftware.com

FrontPage add-ins for FrontPage 2000 - 2003
 

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