Matt Maher wrote: > I'm writing an on-line/off-line application that will sync your data > once you return to an on-line status. Instead of calling an http > service every 15 seconds to test for connection status, is there some > way I can see deeper into the client's machine to see the status of > network connection? Or perhaps a lighter "ping" mechanism that doesn't > actually send anything over the wire to test for connection?
Right now, you'll probably need to do the regular remote ping, or alternatively, you could maintain an open socket connection to the server from your application and send "pings" over that rather than HTTP as doing so would reduce the amount of network traffic. Doing this might be a little trickier though, particularly if you don't have much expertise on non-HTTP technologies on the server-side. However, before you get too far ahead of yourself, note that ALL of these features will be in Adobe's upcoming Apollo platform. Apollo is geared perfectly for the type of application you're envisioning: an RIA that can run both in a online mode and offline, with the capability to synchronize data against a remote server upon reconnection, and the ability to detect and receive notifications of changes in network connectivity. You can see all of these features in action on Mike Downey's recent demo of the new eBay Desktop application that we're currently building here at effectiveUI. Here's a video of the demonstration: http://www.demo.com/demonstrators/demo2007/91259.php According to Adobe, a public beta of Apollo will be available soon on the Adobe Labs site, and you can learn more about Apollo and sign up to be notified when the beta becomes available for public consumption: http://labs.adobe.com/wiki/index.php/Apollo Jim Cheng effectiveUI
