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Any new tools for migrating desktop to web?

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    Any new tools for migrating desktop to web?

    A couple questions for you Alpha experts....

    1) Are there any new tools for migrating from a desktop environment to a web environment? A couple of 2 year old threads suggest that a desktop and web project are entirely different, and indeed Steve Workings's videos seem to suggest this. I thought maybe there might be tools that help convert, say forms and browses to tables and grids.

    2) In any event, can one create desktop application and a web application that share the same DB? If so, does it (as I guessing) involve the app server and the desktop installations accessing the same "remote" db, such as SQL Server?

    #2
    Re: Any new tools for migrating desktop to web?

    (1) There aren't any desktop to web migration tools that I know of. Once upon a time the staff at Alpha showed their beta of a conversion from desktop to web form (and back!) but the reality is that something like that just can't be made to work.

    (2) You'll find several threads here about a desktop/LAN system sharing stuff with a web app. It can be an SQL backend if that's what you need, but also works just fine with Alpha's native .dbf tables. One of my customers, for instance, had a 15 year old LAN system using Alpha. We plugged a web server onto the LAN, mapped a drive to the data server, and opened up some of the data for customers with the web app.
    -Steve
    sigpic

    Comment


      #3
      Re: Any new tools for migrating desktop to web?

      Interesting. Thanks. Sounds like I can develop a desktop app for my company, then if requirements expand, develop an alternative web front end.

      -Kurt

      Comment


        #4
        Re: Any new tools for migrating desktop to web?

        I was just about to do a search about this.

        I have a great desktop application but am really struggling to convert some of the forms to web. Especially ones that I was using a lot of action scripting on.

        I have a Windows Server 2003 computer that I've set up as a web Server. How do you create a true hybrid application with real time updates? The web application is tied to an IP address while the desktop application is tied to a LAN (which goes through a router on the client's internal server).

        I just don't get it unless there is a remote login for the customer to the IP address to do the desktop work.
        Up and coming Alphaholic ;)

        Comment


          #5
          Re: Any new tools for migrating desktop to web?

          Elena - Is your web server part of the LAN? That's what I'm suggesting, and what I've done. Then just create a mapped drive from your web server to the data server.

          For instance, Box A is your data server. Your data is on Box A, Drive F:.

          Box B is your web server. Box B gets a mapped drive, designated as Drive D:, that is really a map to Box A Drive F.

          That way, LAN and webserver traffic is all working with the same, live dataset.

          If this doesn't make sense I'll try another approach to 'splain.
          -Steve
          sigpic

          Comment


            #6
            Re: Any new tools for migrating desktop to web?

            Wouldn't most clients pay for a web host or a VPN? I'm in Florida and they are in NJ so I'm definitely not part of their lan.

            If I can make my computer a VPN host, then can we run the hybrid version? How would that work with the runtime license though?
            Up and coming Alphaholic ;)

            Comment


              #7
              Re: Any new tools for migrating desktop to web?

              Elena,

              I have a desktop version in my office's LAN with 5 workstations. All data resides on the designated "Server". The WAS is also on that Server. Both the desktop and the WAS read and write from the same data set. Works great from my office.

              If you want every customer to have both the desktop version and the WAS version, then I think uou would want each user to have their own WAS license which is not that expensive.

              I suppose you could do as you implied in your last post - Put the WAS and the desktop on your Server, and use a remote connection from your customers to your server. I wonder about speed/performance though. And if that would work, why would there be a need for a WAS in the first place?

              Gary
              Gary S. Traub, Ph.D.

              Comment


                #8
                Re: Any new tools for migrating desktop to web?

                Originally posted by drgarytraub View Post

                I suppose you could do as you implied in your last post - Put the WAS and the desktop on your Server, and use a remote connection from your customers to your server. I wonder about speed/performance though.
                Speed and performance is excellent with that model. In fact, it may be the best model to use for the desktop....

                Originally posted by drgarytraub View Post
                And if that would work, why would there be a need for a WAS in the first place?
                The WAS model is completely different than the desktop. The footprint on the client machine is a browser rather than the remote desktop software.

                The WAS model is very attractive for low volume and multiple users with very little setup for the user. It is also very easy to limit users to select tasks.

                The remote desktop connection allows all of the options that you get by sitting in front of another desktop except that you can't physically touch the machine - cd/dvd drives - on/off switches

                But for high volume remote access it's great...

                I find that they are both good tools for their designated jobs, with some overlap, but not too much...
                Al Buchholz
                Bookwood Systems, LTD
                Weekly QReportBuilder Webinars Thursday 1 pm CST

                Occam's Razor - KISS
                Normalize till it hurts - De-normalize till it works.
                Advice offered and questions asked in the spirit of learning how to fish is better than someone giving you a fish.
                When we triage a problem it is much easier to read sample systems than to read a mind.
                "Make it as simple as possible, but not simpler."
                Albert Einstein

                http://www.iadn.com/images/media/iadn_member.png

                Comment


                  #9
                  Re: Any new tools for migrating desktop to web?

                  Al,

                  Interesting. So with a remote desktop connection to a server in my office, would the potential number of simultaneous users be as great as using the WAS?

                  Gary
                  Gary S. Traub, Ph.D.

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Re: Any new tools for migrating desktop to web?

                    Okay. Well I have 2-3 people in the company that could use the runtime license and access the desktop application via remote access that require more integral forms and constant connections. The rest would be limited to website access for updating, reports, etc. That's how I originally envisioned it, but

                    So, what I would need to do is:

                    1. Set up my computer (windows Server 2003) so that it will accept remote access
                    2. set up the users with runtime licenses with access rights on the server
                    3. set up the website so that when they type in www.name.com, the index page for alpha five comes up
                    4. ????? Seems too easy.
                    Up and coming Alphaholic ;)

                    Comment


                      #11
                      Re: Any new tools for migrating desktop to web?

                      Originally posted by drgarytraub View Post
                      Al,

                      Interesting. So with a remote desktop connection to a server in my office, would the potential number of simultaneous users be as great as using the WAS?

                      Gary
                      That is one area where the models differ. You would need more CAL's from Microsoft to extend the number of users. But remember it's an issue of the volume of the work the users are doing that is a bigger issue to me.. and therefore determines the better model to use.

                      And the differences are getting smaller with each change in technology ( ie newer faster browsers, faster internet connections, and AJAX )
                      Al Buchholz
                      Bookwood Systems, LTD
                      Weekly QReportBuilder Webinars Thursday 1 pm CST

                      Occam's Razor - KISS
                      Normalize till it hurts - De-normalize till it works.
                      Advice offered and questions asked in the spirit of learning how to fish is better than someone giving you a fish.
                      When we triage a problem it is much easier to read sample systems than to read a mind.
                      "Make it as simple as possible, but not simpler."
                      Albert Einstein

                      http://www.iadn.com/images/media/iadn_member.png

                      Comment


                        #12
                        Re: Any new tools for migrating desktop to web?

                        Al,

                        I am a little confused. What do you mean by "low volume" and "high volume"?

                        And, based on what you say, it seems that remote desktop connection would be significantly faster performance, and would offer all the features of a desktop version. So specifically what are the reasons to use a WAS version?

                        Both solutuions would be accessible from any internet connection and neither would require the user to have any special software other than windows on a pc.

                        This is very interesting. I wonder if there is a list of pros and cons for one solution over the other. ...

                        Gary
                        Gary S. Traub, Ph.D.

                        Comment


                          #13
                          Re: Any new tools for migrating desktop to web?

                          I would venture to guess that the best reason for WAS over desktop is the runtime license cost....
                          Up and coming Alphaholic ;)

                          Comment


                            #14
                            Re: Any new tools for migrating desktop to web?

                            Elena,

                            I am not so sure. Suppose you have a LAN with 10 work stations. Then you would buy a runtime license for 10 users. But I do not think there is an additonal cost to access that LAN from over the internet. You are still just using 1o users on a LAN. Well then again, maybe you are correct.

                            But if that is correct, then are we saying that the only real advantage of the WAS is a less expensive alternative to a remote desktop connection? Wouldn't that would seem to be a poor reason? Particularly considering the substantial cost in terms of time to redo the application?

                            Gary
                            Gary S. Traub, Ph.D.

                            Comment


                              #15
                              Re: Any new tools for migrating desktop to web?

                              Not if you're like me and have a hard time re-creating web applications for the desktop applications that you've already done.

                              The desktop application is much more flexible too and easier to program.

                              I like the WAS because it may be better with Ajax, but the learning curve is too steep right now and if I can get just a couple of users with a runtime license using the remote desktop and setting up the rest for web users, then this is a very good thing for me.

                              Gotta get the yeah or nay from the gurus first though.
                              Up and coming Alphaholic ;)

                              Comment

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