.NET Web application

[dphizler]

I was wondering if someone could tell me how feasible it would be to
do the following. This is a .Net question btw.

I have a complex desktop application that is in C++.

I need to develop a Web application that does the same work as the
desktop application.

I was thinking of using ASP.NET because I thought maybe it would be
possible to use some of the already existing code in the desktop
application. Maybe it would require a bit of tweaking.

Does anybody know how feasible this might be?

Thank you for your information,
Philippe

 

[Mark Rae [MVP]]

Does anybody know how feasible this might be?

It is, effectively, impossible to answer this question as you don't provide
any useful information - desktop apps and web apps are *TOTALLY* different
in architecture.

That said, converting C++ to C# is (relatively) painless so, if your desktop
app contains lots of business logic, it may be possible to convert it fairly
easily...

 

[r norman]

I was wondering if someone could tell me how feasible it would be to
do the following. This is a .Net question btw.

I have a complex desktop application that is in C++.

I need to develop a Web application that does the same work as the
desktop application.

I was thinking of using ASP.NET because I thought maybe it would be
possible to use some of the already existing code in the desktop
application. Maybe it would require a bit of tweaking.

Does anybody know how feasible this might be?

Thank you for your information,
Philippe

I can't answer you question but I have other questions to add ...

I, too, have a complex client/server application that users want
converted to a web based application. However my application
automatically updates values shown on the display several times per
second so that users have an immediate picture of what is happening
with external equipment being monitored. I don't know how to develop
a web based application that can do this without doing a complete page
update, which flashes the screen. Can this be done? Can it be done
"easily"?

 

[dphizler]

It is, effectively, impossible to answer this question as you don't provide
any useful information - desktop apps and web apps are *TOTALLY* different
in architecture.

That said, converting C++ to C# is (relatively) painless so, if your desktop
app contains lots of business logic, it may be possible to convert it fairly
easily...

I can't be much more specific than that.

The whole converting C++ to C# being painless is very interesting to
me. As a result, this C# will be easy to use in an ASP.NET web app?

There is lots of business logic, but until I see the application code
in detail there is no way of knowing how much of it there is.

Thanks for your information.

Phil

 

[Mark Rae [MVP]]

The whole converting C++ to C# being painless is very interesting to
me.

C# is part of the C family of computing languages. There are many
similarities, especially in terms of syntax. There are, of course, many
differences too..

As a result, this C# will be easy to use in an ASP.NET web app?

Again, it's impossible to answer that question...

 

[Mark Rae [MVP]]

Can this be done?
Yes.


Can it be done "easily"?

Yes, if you have lots of experience with ASP.NET / AJAX / JavaScript /
jQuery etc...

 

[r norman]

Yes, if you have lots of experience with ASP.NET / AJAX / JavaScript /
jQuery etc...

Thanks, I'll put those on the list of things to learn. When the time
comes to do it, I'll put in the time necessary to gain "lots of
experience".

My impression from your answer is that simple ASP.NET won't do it. I
would need client side scripts querying the server for new data and
then updating controls on the page without a total refresh.

 

[Mark Rae [MVP]]

My impression from your answer is that simple ASP.NET won't do it.
Correct.


I would need client side scripts querying the server for new data and
then updating controls on the page without a total refresh.

Several ways. I'd (almost) certainly use the JavaScript setTimeout() method
to make an AJAX call to a server-side method at regular intervals...

 

[r norman]

Several ways. I'd (almost) certainly use the JavaScript setTimeout() method
to make an AJAX call to a server-side method at regular intervals...

Thanks again. You have pointed me in a good direction. That gives me
some indication of how much time it will take to learn to develop a
proper application. In the meantime, my C# .NET client using WCF
works well so the users will just have to wait (and pay) for the
change appropriately.

 

[Family Tree Mike]

C# is part of the C family of computing languages. There are many
similarities, especially in terms of syntax. There are, of course, many
differences too..



Again, it's impossible to answer that question...

It may also be possible to keep the C++ as C++. Just build a managed
c++ dll that can be called by the web app.

 

[Family Tree Mike]

It may also be possible to keep the C++ as C++. Just build a managed c++
dll that can be called by the web app.

Sorry, I meant to say keep "some of" the C++ as C++. The business logic
code was what I referred as possibly staying C++.

 

[Mark Rae [MVP]]

Sorry, I meant to say keep "some of" the C++ as C++. The business logic
code was what I referred as possibly staying C++.

Well, yeah I suppose, but you'd have to convert it to managed C++ first in
order to include it as a native .NET assembly, otherwise you'd be looking at
either a COM wrapper or p/invoke.

And, at that point, you may as well convert it to C# anyway...

 

[Peter Duniho]

Sorry, I meant to say keep "some of" the C++ as C++. The business
logic code was what I referred as possibly staying C++.

Well, yeah I suppose, but you'd have to convert it to managed C++ first
in order to include it as a native .NET assembly, otherwise you'd be
looking at either a COM wrapper or p/invoke. [...]

Unmanaged and managed C++ coexist peacefully together in the same
assembly. No conversion per se is required for plain, unmanaged C++
code. It will compile and execute unchanged in a managed assembly
(known as a mixed-mode assembly).

There is, of course, the question of how best to manage the boundary
between managed and unmanaged code. The difficulty of that will depend
a lot on the exact nature of the C++ code. If its API is based solely
on primitive types and strings, it should not be hard.

If there are a lot of complex data types that need conversion to be
included in the managed side of things, then that starts to get more
tedious. But even in that case, if there's already a large existing C++
code base, it's probably less expensive to go ahead and write the code
to glue the managed and C++ code together than to port the code.

It's hard to provide any sort of specific assessment without a specific
code example. But it's likely existing C++ code can continue to be used
without too much problem.

Pete

 

[gerry]

Once you can get the basic page setup, the auto refresh without flicker is a
relative no brainer using the built-in ASP.NET UpdatePanel and Timer
controls.
Its quick and dirty and it works. You can always tweak it later for
efficiency / bandwith etc

 

[r norman]

Once you can get the basic page setup, the auto refresh without flicker is a
relative no brainer using the built-in ASP.NET UpdatePanel and Timer
controls.
Its quick and dirty and it works. You can always tweak it later for
efficiency / bandwith etc

Thank you. I will investigate this. Other issues have now put
migration to a web-based application on the back burner.