Standing Start...

[wossname]

I need to devise a system whereby all the people in my large office can use a web page (on our network somewhere) to let other people know where they are at any time, ie out to lunch, in a meeting etc.

I have 2 ideas...

1. Write 2 Exe's, one to run on a dedicated PC (always powered up) and the other as a user interface (instead of a webpage).

2. Write an ASP.net solution that would run the webpage.

Now, I know how to do (1) but I'm concerned about network traffic. I know (2) would be more efficient but I have no experience in ASP.net (and only a little in HTML page design).

Is ASP.net easy to learn? I am quite proficient at VB and a bit of C#.

Does anyone have any advice about what I should do? My deadline is 2 weeks or so to ave the beta version up and running.

[hellswraith]

The asp.net solution would be more elegant and easier to deploy and update, but it is really more of a judgment call. There is twice as much to manage when you have two exe's though...

The asp.net thing isn't too hard to pick up. My suggestion is to pick up a asp.net book and read the first 4 chapters at the very least. Should only take two days. This will at least give you a basic understanding of the technology so you can start building with it. It is still VB.Net or C# code, so that isn't a problem.

Also, for datagrid controls, the "ASP.Net Data Controls Kick Start" book is awesome. Might want to look at it.

Good luck.

[wossname]

Thanks.

I've got "Teach yourself ASP.NET in 21 days" but it's a bit patronising .

I'll give it a go though. I suppose it'll be more 'future-proof' than the 2 exes as well.