Question: hosting smart client inside IE

[Shaul Dar]

Hi,

I am looking for help with the following challenge. We are writing a
Smart Client management application, which we want to appear to
customers as a Web client. Hence we want to embed it inside IE, but
are not sure technically how this may be done. Any ideas, pointers etc
will be appreciated.

BTW, on MSDN I only found general statements that this is possible,
e.g.
http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/dnpag/html/scag-ch01.asp
"The .NET Framework provides a great deal of flexibility in how your
smart client applications can be hosted. Applications can be run as
traditional desktop applications or can be hosted within Office or
Microsoft Internet Explorer"…

Thanks,

-- Shaul Dar

Email: (e-mail address removed)

 

[Steven Spits]

I am looking for help with the following challenge. We are writing a
Smart Client management application, which we want to appear to
customers as a Web client. Hence we want to embed it inside IE, but
are not sure technically how this may be done. Any ideas, pointers etc
will be appreciated.
http://www.devhood.com/tutorials/tutorial_details.aspx?tutorial_id=187&printer=t

BTW, on MSDN I only found general statements that this is possible,

As always, MSDN is right

Steven

- - -

 

[Ahmed Qurashi]

Here are some detailed instructions on how it is done:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/d...commonlanguageruntimeapplicationusingie55.asp

Currently, Href Exes are the modus for this type of deployment but with
VS2005 this will become more rigorous with ClickOnce technology:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/vstudio/u...brary/en-us/dnreal/html/realworld12012004.asp

ok,
aq

 

[Ahmed Qurashi]

Wow! I didn't know you could embed controls inside IE! Sweet...

Intrigued and fascinated, I had to try it myself. It works, and performance
seems usable. Only libraries seem to work, however, not executables. And
only winform controls. No DirectX capabilities can be rendered within IE,
and there are certain GDI+ limitations.

My question is, why aren't more devs using this deployment method?

The article mentions the feasability of a chat client and goes on to say the
possibilities are endless..but I haven't seen any implementations thus far.
Does anyone know of examples where embedded IE winform control deployment is
used in the field?

ok,
aq

 

[Sean Hederman]

Wow! I didn't know you could embed controls inside IE! Sweet...

Intrigued and fascinated, I had to try it myself. It works, and
performance
seems usable. Only libraries seem to work, however, not executables. And
only winform controls. No DirectX capabilities can be rendered within IE,
and there are certain GDI+ limitations.

You might find that some of these restrictions have to do with the fact that
..NET doesn't trust the library, due to the fact that it's been executed from
the Internet Zone. I haven't done this before, so I may be mistaken. However
I suggest you have a look at CAS (Code Access Security) for more
information. If you have some control over the client workstations, you can
configure them to trust your website, and possibly circumvent these
limitations.

My question is, why aren't more devs using this deployment method?

Basically there are three main options:
WebForms - Easy deployment, small download, requires connectivity, limited
UI
WinForms hosted in IE - Easy deployment, large download, requires
connectivity, rich UI
WinForms - More difficult deployment, large install, can operate offline,
rich UI

I think most devs are going for one of the two extremes.

 

[Ahmed Qurashi]

You might find that some of these restrictions have to do with the fact that
.NET doesn't trust the library, due to the fact that it's been executed from
the Internet Zone. I haven't done this before, so I may be mistaken. However
I suggest you have a look at CAS (Code Access Security) for more
information. If you have some control over the client workstations, you can
configure them to trust your website, and possibly circumvent these
limitations.

Running assemblies from a local server usually automatically places the
assembly within the Local Intranet Zone which can be granted Full Trust. For
testing purposes this is just fine...

Basically there are three main options:
WebForms - Easy deployment, small download, requires connectivity, limited
UI
WinForms hosted in IE - Easy deployment, large download, requires
connectivity, rich UI
WinForms - More difficult deployment, large install, can operate offline,
rich UI

I think most devs are going for one of the two extremes.

After additional testing of about a dozen different controls, I am beginning
to see why IE embedded WinForms are not a really viable alternative to the
Smart Client model. Most notable were anomolies in the browser rendering of
System.Window.Forms.Timer tick events which are crucial in animations for
that "rich" UI effect. Also, GDI+ bitmaps which render smoothly on client
forms, tend to get quite aliased in IE rendered controls. However, for
simple databound and text based controls, mostly it all clicked.

Overall, the user experience is less than "rich" and I'd say stick with the
two dominant models:
1. WebForms with client-side DOM scripting (and ActionScript Flash Remoting
when it becomes available)
2. ClickOnce WinForm deployment via IE created in VS2005

ok,
aq