Make Server Program talk to Web Application

[moonman239]

Hi,

Let's say I want to make a pizza tracker and an ASP.Net Web front-end for the tracker, and I want them to run on the same computer. When the local pizza shop is finished baking, preparing, or delivering the order, a computer at the shop will notify the tracker program, which will then inform the ASP.NET application so that the user gets an update in real-time. What's the best way to make the tracker talk to the Web application? I'm thinking that a TCP connection would do best. (Note to Googlers: There's also UDP, which is used when you just need connect for a few seconds to obtain one reply from the server)

In other words:
1) Pizza shop sends updates on progress of one's order to off-site tracker program
2) Tracker tells ASP.Net application about the progress of the order.
3) The orderer, who is using the Web application, sees the new progress.
How do I make 1) and 2) happen?

[szlamany]

So the user is in a web browser - right?

Bottom line question is how to get a web browser to auto-update.

Am I understanding your needs?

[moonman239]

So the user is in a web browser - right?

Bottom line question is how to get a web browser to auto-update.

Am I understanding your needs?

Yes, the end user is in a Web browser.
Yes, my question is how to get a web browser to auto-update with data from the tracker program.

[szlamany]

You cannot send anything to a web browser - all communication is the results of a GET or POST for information from the browser.

My suggestion would be to regularly send a request - a POST - from the browser to the web server to see if anything has changed.

AJAX is all about this - running in JavaScript in the browser.

[moonman239]

You cannot send anything to a web browser - all communication is the results of a GET or POST for information from the browser.

My suggestion would be to regularly send a request - a POST - from the browser to the web server to see if anything has changed.

AJAX is all about this - running in JavaScript in the browser.

I get that.
The AJAX I can do myself. What I want to know how to do is make the ASP.Net application know about the new progress. I have a few ideas:
1) Make the tracker program use TCP to communicate with the Web application.
2) Make the tracker program save the progress to a file or database, then make the Web application check the file/database for new information. I see that I can use a file system watcher.
The question is, which approach is best?

[szlamany]

I assumed you had a database.

Where is the information about an order being stored right now?

[moonman239]

I assumed you had a database.

Where is the information about an order being stored right now?

It's not - I just wanted to know how to make a VB.Net program interface with an ASP.Net application, and a pizza tracker seemed like a good example of where such knowledge would be useful. And who knows? Maybe I could design a pizza tracking system and sell it to, say, small pizza shops (without infringing on existing US patents)