I have been working on an app that enables the completion of IT security assessments. A version of it that I used 2 years ago did allow remote completion of the assessments and I faced this same problem. I was not comfortable using the django development server locally (primarily because of the stern warnings in the documentation not to use it in a production setting) but it may work fine in your situation. The way I tackled it was to create an export of the questions from the DB into CSV format and then created an excel spreadsheet with a macro that "prettified' it. I am not saying this is the best way to do this, I have since decided that I will simply not allow 'offline' assessments (something I have the privelage of), but it may be one way to quickly solve this problem. The biggest downside is the lack of data entry validation and control of the format, you have to trust your remote users very much. The one advantage was that it was easy and quick, and allowed me to focus on the server-side reporting mechanisms, which were ultimately far more important to my users.
I did spend a bit of time thinking about how to accomplish this with a 'local' version of the app, and I would agree with Eric's comments. Recently the idea of using Google Gears has piqued my interest, but I have not adequatley researched it to recommend its viability. The biggest downside is of course, you're not using django on the local app then. -richard On 5/29/08, Eric Wertman <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > This is an interesting and I think pretty common problem. There are a > lot of potential solutions, depending. Personally, I would design the > field app separately, and define a strict export format for it. This > way, you can feed it back in later when you can in just about any way > you choose (via the application itself, or through a queue, or > whatever), and later if you want to change the field app, you don't > have to touch your data store. > > So I think my answer is yes, you are probably going to want to write > an import/export program separately. This will also allow you to pick > and choose what information can go into the field, versus what > information stays at home base, which may or may not be handy from a > security standpoint, depending on your data. > > > Here is my architectural issue. I would like to keep a centralize > > system. All the data is stored on a server back at HQ. However, alot > > of the work is done in the field on notebooks. These notebooks more > > than likely do not have access to the server back in HQ. So, they > > would need to run a version of the application locally. This could be > > done through the test webserver and sqlite or if need be apache + > > postgresql/mysql/whatever. > > > > The problem then becomes is there any easy to sync the notebook > > information back with HQ when the notebooks come home or VPN in or > > whatever? Do I need to write a program to export it out and then > > import it back in? Or are there already existing features that handle > > something like disconnected clients? > > > > --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Django users" group. To post to this group, send email to django-users@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/django-users?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
