Databases
StackOverflow2013
Postsdbo
POOffline web launcher
 

Note that there are some explanatory texts on larger screens.

plurals
  1. POOffline web launcher
    primarykey
    data
    text
    <p>I am building a distributed menu system to support the operations side of a large enterprise. The idea is that users can use this application to launch web applications (online or offline), virtualized apps residing on a remote server, as well as locally-installed, legacy thick client applications that we cannot afford to change (read: C/C++, Java-based.)</p> <p><b>Some additional requirements:</b></p> <ul> <li>Web-based deployment</li> <li>Auto-update when application startup detects a new version on a server</li> <li>Offline-enabled - the absence of network connectivity will not impede user operation of locally-installed thick clients or offline web applications</li> <li>RESTful data synchronization (i.e., menu uses indirection to access tools/services by querying a secure rendezvous REST service</li> <li>Cross-platform, cross-browser with <em>minimal</em> or no-client install required (e.g., doesn't require a JVM that continually bugs the user to <a href="http://www.joelonsoftware.com/items/2009/01/12.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">update</a>)</li> <li>Intuitive UI, similar to Stacks in Mac OS X or <a href="http://activeden.net/item/flow-menu-xml-driven-html-flash-menu/full_screen_preview/140273" rel="nofollow noreferrer">menus that arc when selected</a></li> </ul> <p><b>Server-side.</b> For now, I've settled on <a href="http://www.servicestack.net" rel="nofollow noreferrer">ServiceStack</a> as my RESTful web service framework, backed by a SQL Server Enterprise database. For now, the server-side is not a critical concern. Eventually, I'll need to consider securtiy, role authorization, etc., but for now I have a good handle on the server.</p> <p><b>Client-side Candidate Solutions.</b> The client is a different story. I've studied a wide-range of approaches to this problem, none of which are ideal (mainly due to browser sandbox security.) I'm looking for better alternatives to these:</p> <ul> <li>Offline web application <ul> <li><a href="http://code.google.com/chrome/apps/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Google Installable Web Apps</a> <ul> <li>Supports the majority of my use-cases, but AFAIK it cannot execute locally installed native code</li> <li>To mitigate this, I've looked into <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WgbK0ztUkDM" rel="nofollow noreferrer">NaCl</a>, but it places restrictions on the native code that's executed, and this is beyond my budget and control</li> </ul></li> <li><a href="http://www.w3.org/TR/html5/offline.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">HTML5 Offline Web Application</a> <ul> <li>This would strongly be my preference, but is it possible to execute thick client code from this without the restrictions of NaCl above?</li> </ul></li> </ul></li> <li>Browser extension <ul> <li><a href="https://developer.mozilla.org/en/building_an_extension" rel="nofollow noreferrer">XUL extension</a> <ul> <li>I've built one of these to launch a small thick client menu (see below)</li> <li>The concern here is that XUL is <a href="https://jetpack.mozillalabs.com/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">past its prime</a>.</li> </ul></li> <li><a href="http://www.crossrider.com/beta" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Cross-browser extension</a> <ul> <li>Doesn't seem to support execution of locally installed native code</li> </ul></li> </ul></li> <li>Browser plugin <ul> <li><a href="http://code.google.com/chrome/extensions/npapi.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">NPAPI plugin to bridge native code</a> <ul> <li>Seems dangerous</li> </ul></li> </ul></li> <li>Thick web service client <ul> <li><a href="https://developer.mozilla.org/en/XUL_tutorial" rel="nofollow noreferrer">XUL-based</a> <ul> <li>Of all my efforts, I've gone the farthest with XUL. I have a XUL-powered application that makes AJAX requests to my web service to dynamically populate the menu</li> <li>This is working well so far, but has some issues: <ul> <li><a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/6207723/how-do-i-launch-a-webpage-from-a-xul-app-within-xulrunner">How do I launch a webpage from a XUL app within XULRunner?</a></li> <li>How do I launch my local XUL app from a web page?</li> <li>Again, will XUL be around much longer?</li> </ul></li> </ul></li> <li>Java Web Start <ul> <li>I know I can pull this off with JWS, but I'm <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/5972833/what-are-some-alternatives-to-java-web-start-for-executing-outside-of-the-browser">seeking alternatives</a></li> </ul></li> <li>.NET-based using a <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/6267546/how-do-i-associate-a-custom-mime-type-to-my-local-application-in-the-major-browse">Custom MIME type</a> <ul> <li>Not sure how to get started with this, or where it will take me.</li> </ul></li> <li>Appcelerator Titanium <ul> <li>May be a viable alternative. I haven't looked into it yet.</li> </ul></li> </ul></li> </ul> <p>Kudos if you've made it this far! Basically, this application is replacing a legacy menu built with scripts, which requires an army to maintain and update. I'm sure there's some top-heavy SOA solution to this problem, but the budget won't support a massive investment in up front-design and long-term maintenance.</p> <p>Please clue me in if there are alternatives to the candidates I've examined so far. What's the ideal solution to my problem, given the above requirements?</p> <p><b>EDIT:</b> I'm intrigued by this <a href="http://www.websio.com/product.aspx?ID=3" rel="nofollow noreferrer">SharePoint Quick Launch Web Part</a>. Does anyone have experience with this one, or know how to pull this off from SP?</p>
    singulars
    1. PO
      singulars
      1. PTAnswer
    1. This table or related slice is empty.
    1. PTQuestion
    1. USCommunity
    1. USretrodrone
    plurals
    1. PL
      singulars
      1. LTLinked
    2. PL
      singulars
      1. LTLinked
    3. PL
      singulars
      1. LTLinked
    1. PL
      singulars
      1. LTLinked
    1. This table or related slice is empty.
    1. PO
      singulars
      1. PTAnswer
    2. PO
      singulars
      1. PTAnswer
    1. VO
      singulars
      1. POOffline web launcher
      1. This table or related slice is empty.
      1. VTUpMod
    1. This table or related slice is empty.
 

Querying!

 
Guidance
A row detail

Detail views are divided into sections. All the information in the data section comes from columns in the selected row. The other sections display data from other, related rows.

Related data can be related in a to-one or a to-many fashion. Captions of data related in a to-many fashion link to a list view showing a filtered view of the table.

Try moving around until you find a non-empty to-many entry and click on the label to get to one. You can move back to the root by clicking on the database name in the header.

SQuiL has stopped working due to an internal error.

If you are curious you may find further information in the browser console, which is accessible through the devtools (F12).

Reload