"Yu-Xi Lim" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
| Simon Forman wrote: | >> Or has all this been done already? - and no I don't want a web server and php | >> and browsers and Java and html or xml... - I want to write something that works | >> simply and reliably - its just short message accounting type data... | >> | >> - Hendrik | > | > Don't reinvent the wheel. Use a database... | > | > You probably don't want to hear this, but what you just described is a | > GUI client front-end with a database backend. The time it takes to | > download, install, and learn to use, say, postgres will be similar to | > the time you'd spend implementing what you've described above, but with | > at least 10 to 100 times the payoff. | > | > | > As for updating the client on the fly, one strategy would be to keep | > the "dynamic" code in it's own module and have the clients reload() | > that module when you upload a new version of it to the client machines. | | Yes, indeed, using a database with a GUI front end is the best way to | get "something that works simply and reliably." Writing everything in | Python isn't always the best solution. Python, however, is very good at | interfacing with most existing applications and thus makes a great "glue." | | Using a proper DB system would give up transactions, multiple users, and | access control, which you have said you required, and probably more | features which you hadn't realized you needed but soon will when you | scale up beyond a toy system (optimized queries, backups, load | balancing, encrypted connections, etc). Can I not use the ssl module for encrypting the connections? - Please also understand that the system is aimed at small to medium companies, in house - >From my perspective the only valid reason to use a database would be for the ease of reporting - the files are not large - and the speed of a dict lookup in python is hard to beat for normal transaction processing... | | As for updating the applications, why not just put them on the server | for each "user"/client to retrieve? There are of course several ways of | retrieving the centrally stored GUI program, and most likely you're | thinking Windows file sharing (which would require restarting the client NO! the last thing on my mind - want a dynamic process similar to banking terminals - see my response to Simon please | whenever updates are available). But don't rule out HTTP. Among the I have been shying away from this - due to mental laziness - but obviously I have to look at it - thanks | benefits of web apps are the ability to update the application on the | fly and deploy it quickly. And no, web apps don't necessarily mean PHP, | Java or XML. You can easily use plain HTML and Python to create the GUI | and interface it with the database. AJAX may be th buzzword now, but it | isn't necessary for everything. Thanks will *have* to look at html -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
