Thank you Brian. I sure hope Rhoda and I get back to Australia for more than an overnight and have a chance to buy you dinner instead of just a drink. But that's for another day. We're off to Hong Kong and Tokyo in the spring.
I am familiar with the remote access programs and have used them. I also have an VPN connection to my secretary's desktop which gives me access to our order entry system, a windows based product. I sometimes need it while out of town and need to check on a customer's activity - managing my (now) small filing systems business remotely is pretty handy. But I'm starting a new enterprise which will have me on the road a bit and I want to maintain a prospect database that I can access literally while in the car using a smart phone. It won't be a very complicated application but I want to be able to locate prospects and their vital data that are near me at the moment and thought that an online database would be handy for that. I didn't think there was a way to make DP accessible that way but I remember that Ralph used an HP device to carry it around with him. In any case, I'll look around and see what I can find that might work. Once this election cycle is over - which is in a week - I'll have more time to pursue this. Hope all is well with the little one. Don 2011/11/1 Brian Hancock <[email protected]> > ** ** ** ** ** ** > > Hi Don,**** > > ** ** > > There is not a direct way that a DP application can be placed online. **** > > ** ** > > A basic concept of the web is that you have what is called a thin-client > or a rich-client and a backend server, there is a division of labour. *** > * > > ** ** > > The thin client is an environment which provides a small “standards based” > set of capabilities, such as basic presentation and some scripting. A > rich-client is one that put a dedicated application at the client end which > generally connects to a backend server to gets it data, and these days > quite often to perform a middleware (some specialised remote processing). > **** > > ** ** > > The first web browsers were very thin, and servers were very basic they > both had very little computation power in them at all. The browser made a > request to a web server for a file, which was served by the web server, and > the browser displayed the results on the screen. The standards in place > here was called HTML. **** > > ** ** > > Netscape added a scripting language, Javascript, so it was possible to > have some dynamic content within the webpage. Things like .ASP (Active > Server pages) or PHP, and many others added scripting to the server side. > Since these early, days both the server side and the client sides have > become richer in their scripting abilities.**** > > ** ** > > Standards are great but eventually people wanted to be able to do more, so > more and more proprietary solutions for making web application have > evolved, such as browser plugins, like Flash, and PDF Reader etc, which > extend the capabilities of the browser.**** > > ** ** > > Even richer client application, were developed to allow complete > application to be created no the client which invisible used connection > protocols like HTTP to make calls to a web server or database server etc to > provide data. **** > > ** ** > > Web servers have advanced considerably, so now they also have “plug ins” > which give them greater richness. And very often “web servers” also hold > other web services such as database servers or application servers. **** > > ** ** > > Things like Alpha 5 seem an easy way to create web applications, where you > place the application on a dedicated backend server, and a series of > templates are used at the browser. Similarly Microsoft Access on a > SharePoint server.**** > > **** > > Unfortunately no matter what anyone says, there are no silver bullets for > web applications. This has given rise to the ASP (Application Service > Provider) or SaaS (Software as a Service), and Cloud computing, where > applications are written and hosted on specialised platforms. For example > Microsoft Azure or QuickBase. Disadvantages of these are being locked > into proprietary hosting, and ongoing fees, eg QuickBase SaaS starts at > $299 a month, and having a limited set of capabilities and control of the > presentation.**** > > ** ** > > If DataPerfect and DOS were a dominating force in the market someone would > have probably written a means of using it in such ways. But for humble > DP’ers we have to write DP application in 3 components, the DP application, > some middleware scripting, and the HTML (or Flex, Flash, Java, or other > Rich client application) for the presentation and to use a web server that > provide the middleware script platform and allows DOS applications to run > through what is called a CGI (Common Gateway Interface). **** > > ** ** > > This gets back to Remote Access, which is not as old fashioned as you > might think. There are many many versions of remote access available now. > Microsoft Remote Desktop Client runs on the client machine and can connect > to a Terminal Server or Remote Desktop Server, usually via a VPN for > security. I use this method with most of my clients for remote access, and > it is quick and smooth and you can run DP through it, (never full screen > only in a window). I have also used a Citrix Client with a Citrix Server > and through this I have “published” a DP application, so the desktop icon > on the client launches the DP application as though it were local to the > machine. A major disadvantage with these is that you need to make a PC with > the DP application, “visible” on the internet, and so you generally need to > use s VPN to secure it, but even with the VPN you are totally responsible > for the security of your machine being visible on the net. **** > > ** ** > > Another mode is to use a third party services like LogMeIn or WebEx. I use > LogMeIn, for non-commercial applications it is free. You create an account > with the provider and run a host component on your DP PC. This application > is quite small and just sits in your Windows System Tray. At the client > end, you use a web browser and access the service provider, if necessary it > will download any plugins that the browser may need, and after you log in, > it present the computer(s) where the host service is running, and then > allows you to log into the Windows session. Tghius is an easy and secure > way of doing things, it takes less than 5 minutes to set it up, and it is > quite secure. A disadvantage to both of these is that (unless you are > using a Windows Terminal Server) you are limited to one client per host, so > its expensive to make this multiuser.**** > > ** ** > > A 3rd alternative is to use, one of the Cloud like service for hosting a > Windows environment, which could be a hosted Terminal Server, or using > avVirtualised server, such as VMWare. **** > > ** ** > > Sorry for the long winded answer Don, but hopefully this will give you an > idea of the alternative that are available. If its just so you can access > some data when you are on the road, and you do not mind leaving a computer > switched on while you are away, I would take a look at LogMeIn.**** > > ** ** > > Bye**** > > Brian**** > > ** ** > ------------------------------ > > *From:* [email protected] [mailto: > [email protected]] *On Behalf Of *Don Friedman > *Sent:* Wednesday, 2 November 2011 2:50 AM > *To:* Dataperfect Users Discussion Group > *Subject:* [Dataperf] How could I use DP online?**** > > ** ** > > While I've read of various web-enabled applications and seen some of the > sophisticated work that some of you have done, I am curious if there's a > way that an actual DP application could be put online. I know that there > are ways to use an online storage space as a drive letter so it seems to me > that if that is the case, that it might be possible. Any thoughts?**** > > ** ** > > My reason for asking is that I'm about to embark on a new project and I > need the data accessible from wherever I am. I'm tempted to look at > something easy like Quickbase but why learn an entirely new system when my > comfort level with DP is so secure? Of course, I could always do remote > access but in today's day and age it seems redundant. **** > > ** ** > > Don > **** > > ** ** > > -- > *Don Friedman > ProfessionalRecords.Com LLC > PRS Data Systems > 205 S Main Street > Pittsburgh, PA 15215 > 412-784-1600 - 1-800-PRS-FILE > 412-784-1615 Fax***** > > _______________________________________________ > Dataperf mailing list > [email protected] > http://lists.dataperfect.nl/mailman/listinfo/dataperf > > -- *Don Friedman ProfessionalRecords.Com LLC PRS Data Systems 205 S Main Street Pittsburgh, PA 15215 412-784-1600 - 1-800-PRS-FILE 412-784-1615 Fax*
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