Dec 28th, 2000, 10:09 AM
Hello All,
I have a few very basic (I think) questions that some of you might be able to help me with. I run an engineering firm. We have a software program that we would like to have developed. We have laid out exactly what it should do and how it should work. Now we need to find someone to create it for us. Before I look into it further though, I'd like to have a basic understanding of what the best way to go about creating the program is. I am very familiar with web development, including ASP using VBscript, but I am not at all familiar with programming stand-alone applications.
The program that we are going to create needs to take in maybe 20 pieces of info from a user. These will be a combination of text boxes and pull-down menus. It then needs to reformat these inputs into a format that we have set up. In this format a number of pictures will need to be located correctly along with the rest of the information. The user then needs to be able to save, open, and most importantly, print the resulting file.
What is the proper method of doing this? From what I've seen, the printing aspect seems to be the most difficult to handle. Isn't there a system that makes this easy?
Also, the program can save the info to an internal database, but it would be much more preferable for it to save the info as separate files.
The format that we have lends itself nicely to using tables, if that helps. Also, depending on the amount of information entered, we will need to go to multiple pages. On these pages, only the information in the body of the printed document will change, the headers and footers will remain the same for each.
Does anyone have any tips for me on how this type of system would be best created? Also, are there any websites or books that you might be able to recommend for further info? Can anyone recommend a programmer in the Midwest area?
Thanks in advance for all of your help.
Regards,
--Josh
I have a few very basic (I think) questions that some of you might be able to help me with. I run an engineering firm. We have a software program that we would like to have developed. We have laid out exactly what it should do and how it should work. Now we need to find someone to create it for us. Before I look into it further though, I'd like to have a basic understanding of what the best way to go about creating the program is. I am very familiar with web development, including ASP using VBscript, but I am not at all familiar with programming stand-alone applications.
The program that we are going to create needs to take in maybe 20 pieces of info from a user. These will be a combination of text boxes and pull-down menus. It then needs to reformat these inputs into a format that we have set up. In this format a number of pictures will need to be located correctly along with the rest of the information. The user then needs to be able to save, open, and most importantly, print the resulting file.
What is the proper method of doing this? From what I've seen, the printing aspect seems to be the most difficult to handle. Isn't there a system that makes this easy?
Also, the program can save the info to an internal database, but it would be much more preferable for it to save the info as separate files.
The format that we have lends itself nicely to using tables, if that helps. Also, depending on the amount of information entered, we will need to go to multiple pages. On these pages, only the information in the body of the printed document will change, the headers and footers will remain the same for each.
Does anyone have any tips for me on how this type of system would be best created? Also, are there any websites or books that you might be able to recommend for further info? Can anyone recommend a programmer in the Midwest area?
Thanks in advance for all of your help.
Regards,
--Josh