Options connecting to remote FoxBase database

[estonianman]

I was tasked last week to create a bandage for a certain issue we are having involving our company and a customer. We have an application that uses FoxBase .DBF files and I am tasked with developing a solution that can will connect to several of these databases remotely for the normal stuff - querying, updating etc.

So far I have 2 ways of approaching this:

1. Write a simple .NET application that will access these files which are placed on a IIS server - probably version 6.0 as it is XP.

2. Since it is already on a IIS server - perhaps is would be easier developing a .ASP solution and having all the work done server side. If I go this route, I may try AJAX since it is new to me.

I am not asking for any code just some simple advice as to which direction the more experienced coders on this forum would go - or perhaps a new idea.

TIA

[mendhak]

I've moved this to General Developer, since you have a generic question.

I'd probably go for the second option, a web application, so that you can keep your dbf and your code that accesses it together as opposed to giving them a desktop application and having them face delays as the database is queried. I'm not familiar with FoxPro's capabilities, but I chose a web application because it's a safer choice and I'm biased.

I'd also suggest ASP.NET instead of ASP.

[dilettante]

Since you are already using IIS on this server you might try another approach that often is forgotten. While it requires a little server configuration to safely enable it first, ADO's Remote Data Service (RDS) is still quite viable even in Server 2008.

Within a LAN it can use DCOM, while over the Internet you can use HTTP or HTTPS via IIS. In this mode it actually uses an early form of what became SOAP.

For an ADO client it is mostly a simple matter of changing the connection string, aside from some logic changes to deal with the semi-connected mode of operation. For example you'd want to use "batch updating" to keep things responsive and you have to cope with update collision errors. As long as you aren't asking it to work across domains I think you can still use ADO objects in the browser (if it is IE) saving you a lot of the horror of mucking around with Ajax techniques. Then (IE) you can even code in VBScript on the client, avoiding the topsy-turvey world of JavaScript entirely.