Aaaaaanyway. We run this over the web, using simple HTML forms for data entry and an application on the server side. The only problem is that the Internet isn't 100% reliable and when links go down, or the server goes slow, long queues build up at the desks and people get angry.
What I think we need is a more sophisticated client app, which can go into an "offline" mode, so that if the server doesn't respond quickly, the browser just queues the transaction in the background and moves on to the next screen. Later, when the network is good again, it flushes the queue. We could do this using VB.NET or something similarly evil buit then we'd lose cross-platform compatibility which has become important to us.
I *think* what we need to do is write a XUL app, or embed Gecko into a C++ app, and extend it with some online/offline logic. Or am I off on the wrong track? Does anyone here have any ideas? Does this shound hard? Obviously there are issues to be worked out along the way but I need some feedback on whether this is even the right approach.
TIA, Dan
