Good morning fellow stack overflow people, I have a question that sounds like the start of something from the daily wtf.
The company that I work for is not so much sacred of new technology they just seem to let things slip, you know the type, “It worked 5/6+ years ago so I don’t see why we should change it”
Despite this I have managed by hook or by crook to get an installation of SQL server 2008R2 to develop on which has the reporting services. Excellent I think, I can finally start moving some of the access applications to VB.net and use SSRS to provide some embedded reports, everyone is happy.
But not so fast, it turns out the standard build of desktop here only has .net1.1. I have managed to dust off a copy of visual studio 2003 (The last edition that could target 1.1) and built a few little tests to check DB connectivity. The problem I am having is the report viewer control is only available in .net2.0 and above.
So what options do I have for displaying my SSRS reports in a VB.net1.1 thick client application?
Before anyone asks the following options are out
Going anything web based (Farrrrrrrrrr too modern for the company + no web server)
Upgrading to a version of .net released after George Bush the 2nd lost an election but still became president
Changing jobs
Sorry for the long question but I thought some background would help
I would go for a browser control but I think they only started including that in 2.0. But I think you can still do something like that in 1.1 (it has been to long to be sure).
I think if you install SSRS on the sqlserver you could turn on IIS on that server and then use that to make your reports and show them in the browser control.
SSRS (I'm pretty sure it came out somewhere around 2005) is not old enough to have many other options.
If you work with VB.NET 1.1 all the time then it is strange question. How did you program in it before?
Use any available dataview control (I already do not remember - DataGrid, DataList, Repeater) from .NET1.1. There is nothing in ReportViewer that could not be done before its appearance, in .NET1.1.
What is the problem?
Update:
I remember seeing code projects reproducing ReportViewer in .NET1.1 few years ago though I cannot find it now. Anyway, it seems to me the problem of just reading .NET1.1 docs and searching internet.
Sorry if this is a blunt statement but sometimes, you've got to bite the bullet and do the right thin.
If you really want to use reports and you've found the minimum version of the .NET framework is 2.0 then go ahead, find an internet connection somewhere and upgrade the computers.
If you can't do that, forget about it and go back to your VB6 or whatever you're using. Besides, .NET Framework 2.0 sp1 is less than 30MB. If you can't find a decent internet connection (either at your workplace or somewhere else) to download it then you might as well abandon it.
And I'll add as well. VS2003 IS OLD! Get yourself minimum VS2005, even if it's Express edition, it's good enough and stop whining.
Someone had the same question back in Feb. Maybe this might send you down the right path:
Using SSRS in ASP.NET 1.1
Related
Quite some time ago, I implemented a tool for creating and maintaining Work Breakdown Structures in combination with Microsoft Team Foundation Server (you can find it here: http://wbseditor.codeplex.com). It was originally implemented using the TFS 2005 object model, and also relies on the WorkItemFormControl to display Work Items for creation and editing directly from the application. It's quite useful, and is heavily used inside my company for multi-project management.
A while ago, I ported it to using the TFS 2010 assemblies, but now, a couple of years later, I have the need to also support Visual Studio 2015.
In the course of migrating to the new assemblies, I have managed to get all the nuget packages I need (which is Microsoft.TeamFoundationServer.ExtendedClient), but apparently both the WorkItemFormControl (which was targeted for Windows Forms) and the newer WPF equivalent WorkItemControl (from the Microsoft.TeamFoundation.WorkItemControl.WpfControls namespace) are missing.
I suppose I can use a web browser control to achieve a similar effect like before, but I have not found any sample code or similar for this. Does anybody have a pointer how to get a similar effect like I got with WorkItemFormControl? I admit I haven't spent more than a couple of hours on research, simply because I just wanted to do a "quick update" to support the new server versions, and this sort of caught me cold.
Is there a "quick fix" for me I just have been to blind to see?
If there is no such thing as a quick fix, which is the general direction I should head to get the functionality back?
WorkItemFormControl Class is now obsolete, use the WPF version of this control, Microsoft.TeamFoundation.WorkItemTracking.WpfControls.WorkItemControl instead.
To use Microsoft.TeamFoundation.WorkItemTracking.WpfControls.WorkItemControl namespace, you need to add assembly Microsoft.TeamFoundation.WorkItemTracking.Controls which can be added from Microsoft.TeamFoundation.WorkItemTracking.All in nuget package.
We're a small software company, developing projects for manufacturing facilities about analysis, traceability, reporting etc. We're using Access for front end, SQL Server for back end. We've quite big customers too and our company is growing. So far it is working fine but I wonder should we move to more influential technologies, such as web based solutions. What do you think about the future of Access?
Well, keep in mind that Access now has a web option. This option works with SharePoint and the new upcoming office 365. Here is a video of an Access application and note how at the half way point I switch to running the application 100% in a web browser. No ActiveX or Silverlight is required. I even tested and run the application on my iPad.
Video here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AU4mH0jPntI
And Access 2010 also has baked in support for the Azure (cloud) edition of SQL server.
So, we have web based options, cloud based options, and there been significant investments into Access for 2010.
You could have a look at these questions:
MS Access as Enterprise Software?
and
What are the appropriate uses for MS Access?
Here we have a central SQL Server database, with both an MS-Access and a Web client interface. MS-Access is history (we started it 5 years ago) and Web is trendy (less than one year old). I must admit that MS Access is still very very efficient and cheap, once you have resolved some MS access specific problems, to which you might find answers here:
Working with multiple programmers on MS Access
How do you use version control with Access development?
Best way to test a MS Access application?
MS-Access, VBA and error handling
You can always use VB.NET Express. It's free, and Microsoft's licensing should still allow you to sell apps created with it (they did with Express 2005).
UPDATE: Access 2013 has better support for web apps than previous versions, and the apps use SQL Server or SQL Azure under the hood by default. So be sure to thoroughly evaluate the latest version of Access before concluding that you need something else.
A very good alternative to Access with similar features is Lightswitch. Here's a quote from MSDN:
Visual Studio LightSwitch is a development environment designed to simplify and shorten the development of businesses applications and data services. LightSwitch makes it easy to create data-centric business applications that can consume a variety of data sources and create clients that can run on a variety of devices.
While Access now has a web option as #AlbertDKallal mentioned (and which is still worth considering as one option), creating an HTML 5 app is the whole focus of Lightswitch. (Note: the original version of Lightswitch required Silverlight, but the newer versions create HTML5 apps that don't require any plugins.) The app will also be more extensible, since it's a .NET app, and for things that require custom programming you can program in C# or Visual Basic rather than VBA.
I should mention at this point that I haven't actually tried Lightswitch yet (!) - I'm currently evaluating it and these are the features that look attractive to me compared to Access. If anyone reading this in the future is curious about what my experience with it was like, feel free to write a comment to remind me.
For some introductory info, see these links:
Showcase Video
Is Visual Studio LightSwitch the New Access?
(Note that this article is about a the original version of LightSwitch, not the latest version.)
And...for a completely different cloud-based option, check out:
https://www.parasql.com/
Background: I developed a small .NET 3.5 WPF application that connects to an Oracle 9i database. Thinking that the ODP.NET version had to match the database, I downloaded and used an [older version][1] (9i, release 2, to be more specific) of the Oracle Data Access tools.
I'm basically done the application now and need to deploy it. Then I looked at the deployment story for ODP.NET, thinking it would be included as a prerequisite by ClickOnce and I wouldn't have to do anything. Lesson. Learned.
Everything I've read about deployment for ODP.NET talks about using XCOPY with a newer version of the Oracle tools than what I have used to this point. Not much is actually said about 9i in the documentation I've read to this point.
So what should I do?
Thanks for the help!
Here is a similar post where the answer was to change to use a 3rd party library:
ODP.NET and ClickOnce possible?
I think you area in trouble as changing libraries may involve you doing a full retest of your application - this may of course be easier done than said if it is a small app or you have good automated test coverage. Of course it depends how many computers you are deploying to. Personally I would be more inclined to stick with oracle odp and move to the latest version. If you deploy odp "the hard way" you still get the benefit of click once for future redeployments.
Does anybody if there is a fisheye (menu/pane) windows forms control like it is often seen in Ajax applications:
example: http://interface.eyecon.ro/demos/fisheye.html
A googled around, but I only found this one at codeprojece:
http://www.codeproject.com/KB/menus/FishEyeMenu.aspx
Have you checked out : DotNetBar BubbleBar. It works and looks pretty similar to FishEye.
Also FYI, if you download and register VB Express Edition 2008 (not sure on any other express edition) you get access to download a copy of the bubblebar as a thank you for registering (there is other stuff too). I do not recall the license on it, but I think it was a single install license.
You should try Flash components . I have seen plenty of them on the internet. This is one fo them: http://www.shinedraw.com/animation-effect/flash-and-silverlight-fish-eye-menu/
Even Adobe Flare could help. You might need Adobe Flex builder to create one.
First I've read loads of posts and sites that recommend going to http://silverlight.net/GetStarted/ to get started but I do not have visual studio and I'm not going to purchase it just to 'maybe' learn some silverlight that I'm not going to be able to use for a little while.
The reason being that I've already installed visual studio and all the other things required during a quiet period of work, then another project came up and by the time I got back to thinking about silverlight the trial period has finished.
I have not done C# or XAML (mainly Java, AS3 & MXML, hence the lack of MS tools) but I'd like to look into silverlight when I'm quiet to create some test projects and to determine where I can use it if anywhere. Is there a toolset that will let me learn and use all that is required without purchasing the software (perhaps it would have a watermark like the flex datacharts used to have, unless you purchased them, maybe an eclipse plugin - although I imagine I'm being a bit optimistic here).
If there isn't such a thing then perhaps MS should look into this, Adobe recently let anyone unemployed/students etc to get flexbuilder for free to increase its uptake. That would be great is MS did something similar.
If you are a student, you can get professional Microsoft tools for free through the Dreamspark program. http://www.dreamspark.com
You can download Blend preview 3 and visual studio 2010 for free and use it. You have the tools and knowledge now ;-)
Check out Bizspark too.
Allegedly, you can now use one of Microsoft's free "Express" development systems to develop Silverlight apps.
http://www.bluerosegames.com/SilverlightBrassTacks/post/You-can-now-write-Silverlight-apps-in-Visual-Web-Developer-Express.aspx
In addition to the free-as-in-free-beer options from MS that other answers mention: if you only want to play around with Silverlight for now, consider trying Moonlight -- it may not yet be ready for production work, but nevertheless usable for learning purposes.
One place you can go is to the express web site on Microsoft.com. You can get free, albeit trimmed back, versions of the current release of Visual Studio and SQL Server there.
You can also get a trial version of Expression Blend 2. Blend is a design oriented tool for creating Silverlight applications.
You can also usually find betas of upcoming releases without much trouble.
Silverlight + Eclipse:
http://www.eclipse4sl.org/download/
And how to workaround Express for SL
http://www.informikon.com/blog/howto-silverlight-and-visual-studio-express.html
Good luck
Braulio