Hello -
I have been trying learn PHP the last few months in anticipation of
a project at work where we might be able to utilize it to develop
some Intranet applications. Where I work, security is a huge issue,
and the primary systems are on an IBM midrange with a easily secured
text based terminal interface. The use of PHP scares the security
people, as does .Net or any other direct access of our primary
systems not utilizing the terminal interface. The problem is that we
cannot deliver charts, graphs, the more eye pleasing presentation of
data that a browser based interface can. Anyway, that is an ongoing
situation.
A new opportunity arose just yesterday. The marketing/sales people
want to get some highly durable laptops and put together some kind of
applications/data that the field sales people can carry with them as
they visit retailers, so they can use graphs, charts, etc. to make
sales presentations to these retailers, fill out forms to make record
changes, and order materials. The laptops would all use Cell phone
cards with the idea that the PC's could pull and push files when
communications was possible. Internet access via the card is not
reliable so the PC's would need to operate whatever software we use
in the store without dependence on the Internet or the cell-
phonecard. There are some packages and services that provide
something like what they need, but not exactly what they need...I
think this would be a very cool project.
So as a concept anyway, could one take XAMPP and install it on each
of these PC's, and develop a Mysql/PHP application set that could be
easily, and I mean easily, by these Sales people?....have a way to
get them data/software updates via these cell phone cards......even
as zip files via email that they would just have run an extract
against??...and pull in their Forms data via MySql so they can be
processed, and an acknowledgement sent???
and make it fairly foolproof??
I do not see the data requirements being very large but the idea
would a full up to date DB of their Retailers would be sent. I have
been using the Google charts API with PHP to make charts&graphs but
that requires an Internet connection so I will have to find another
way to do charts. I am just wondering if the concept is doable??
Thoughts??
Another concept would be to do this with VB.Net but I like PHP and
MySql so I would prefer that....but I think I need a XAMPP or its
equivalent which I don't know of.
Thanks,
Rich
