I need some help with updating the database and structuring the
interface for a volunteer job for a local Order of the Arrow Lodge
(Boy Scout honor society). I wasn't sure about the price and I'm a
student.. but I'm willing to tip more if appropriate. First, some
background...
Recently I starting re-programming an online database I wrote awhile
ago in order to make some major design changes both in the interface
and the database layout. I'm a self-taught programmer with experience
in PHP, ColdFusion MX, MySQL and SQL Server 2000 and I decided this
would be a good opportunity to learn C# and .NET.
I have had some progress with the application and have mostly finished
the reports page but I'm a little confused as to what to do next.
1. I managed to get the proper variables to pass to the page that
generates the reports from the "menu" page. However, this seems like
a clunky way of linking the pages together. I had to make several
changes to both pages just to pass the two variables that I decided to
pass (the report name and a filter that is used in all reports). Is
there a better way to turn a collection of pages into an application?
2. My second question, and the one that is bothering the most is about
managing the database entries. I've read a little about ADO.NET and
the various data access controls, and even about some programs that
automatically generate some of the code - but I don't know where to
begin. In PHP and ColdFusion, I would either hard-code the form for
adding/editing into a .inc file and just include it in the add/edit
scripts or I'd do something similar to avoid having to re-write the
form. In .NET everything is different, of course, and I don't know
what the best way would be (or even completely how) to provide
add/edit/delete functionality using completely custom forms and on a
combination of tables. Should I consider purchasing a code generator?
If so, which? Also, please include some sample code.
Let me know if I should send a copy of the db schema. Thanks for your help! |
Request for Question Clarification by
mathtalk-ga
on
16 Nov 2003 16:07 PST
Hi, moishe-ga:
Probably of greater interest than the database schema is some
information about how you plan to do the "online" interface, which I'd
assume is going to be Web based.
Are you open to suggestions? Or do you already have a Web
server/architecture that you need to work (around) with?
If you want, we can assume IIS and ASP.Net and go from there...
regards, mathtalk-ga
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Clarification of Question by
moishe-ga
on
19 Nov 2003 14:22 PST
I apologize for not answering sooner, I thought Google would tell me
when there were new postings. I would like to use IIS 5 or 6 along
with C#.NET for the web interface, however if you have any suggestions
please let me know.
|
Request for Question Clarification by
mathtalk-ga
on
21 Nov 2003 08:20 PST
Hi, moishe-ga:
Same here, I'm slow in seeing your reply because I didn't get the
expected notification from GA. I'll let them know about that.
I see that you are asking about add(insert?)/edit functionality "using
completely custom forms," but also about getting a code generator.
Would a tutorial on how to create ASP.Net forms to go against a single
table be of interest to you? Possibly if your existing application
needs to "update" more than one table at a time, this can be managed
through a view, but possibly some business logic needs to be written
(e.g. in C#) within the ASP.Net "pages" to do a custom update/insert.
Maybe you can pick a specific screen and get some advice about how to
do it the .Net way? And then be able to generalize from that example
to doing the rest of the application yourself.
regards, mathtalk-ga
|
Clarification of Question by
moishe-ga
on
21 Nov 2003 13:27 PST
Thanks for your response. Apparently, GA doesn't notify anyone about
clarifications or requests for clarifications... surely that is a bug.
By custom forms, I meant customizing where exactly the fields go on
the web page and what exactly they do when filled out. So obviously I
wouldn't want to just generate the code and leave it, if I got a code
generator I would want to make some major? changes to the code it
generates. I don't really want to buy one, but if it's much better
than making the code from scratch I'd consider it. I think I know how
to make a form that does a simple insert or update against a single
table. However, when it comes to "wiring" the different pages
together to form a complete solution I get confused about where to
start, for example, how can I use the same form layout for both the
insert and the update? How can I list out the data in the way that I
want and make links that will bring up a form, by itself, to provide
the update functionality?
I would like to show you the existing system that I wrote in PHP
awhile ago.. it's not very well done but it shows some of the things I
want to be able to do. Is there a way I could send a user/pass just
to you so that you can look at a couple pages?
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Clarification of Question by
moishe-ga
on
24 Nov 2003 21:21 PST
Let me know if you're working on an answer, if you are I'll pay you
for an answer. Otherwise, I'm going to close this question and maybe
post a better one later.
|
Request for Question Clarification by
mathtalk-ga
on
25 Nov 2003 12:25 PST
Hi, moishe-ga:
I can post some links to tutorials that will get you started on using
C# code within an ASP.Net application that pulls data from SQL Server
2000. This might be useful to you, in combination with the
functionality you already have in mind for the screens, but of course
it's a bit of my best guess at what would be helpful.
regards, mathtalk-ga
|
Request for Question Clarification by
mathtalk-ga
on
25 Nov 2003 16:38 PST
P.S. If you want to expire the question and start over again later,
that's not a problem. You can expire a question anytime before an
Answer is posted by using the "Close" button at the upper right on
your page. I'm sure that many would be glad to offer their assistance
(self included) if the issues were a bit clearer. Unfortunately the
Terms of Service require that our cooperation be based on the exchange
of messages here, so I cannot accept the offer of a user/pass to take
a look at an existing private work. However you can post a link to
any public Web site that might illustrate design concepts similar to
what you'd like to do in .Net.
regards, mathtalk-ga
|
Clarification of Question by
moishe-ga
on
27 Nov 2003 09:09 PST
Thanks for your help so far. I've been forced to look again at my
question to see what I actually need to know and I've actually been
able to get some answers on my own. If I hit another block I think
I'll be able to ask a better question.
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