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Communication between application and website

Posted: Fri May 22, 2009 10:44 am
by akhasis
Hello!

I'm new to this forum and I don't know if this is the right category for my post, so please, admins, move it to the right one if it isn't.

Now, my question:

I'm preparing an estimate for a customer, but the information I have about the project is quite fuzzy, so I have to ask them for more information.

What I know about the project is, the customer an application (i can't say more abou it, but for this example, we could think it's a calculator) and they want the users of the website to be able to submit calculations to their application, and then get the result of the calculation via the website, too, and all in real time.

The customer didn't provide me with any information on how the application would connect to the website (how it would get the calculations submitted by the website user and how the result would be sent back), and I have never done anything like that before. Also the communication with my final client is quite difficult, since there are many intermediary parts, and none of them seem to know much about the project, and a direct interview with the final client is not an option. So here is what I need you to help me with:

- What's the usual way, if there is any, of connecting a website to an application for such purposes?

- What alternative ways should I suggest the client?

- I also have to ask the client about the format of the data that are supplied to the application, and its output. Can you spot any other concerns I should be aware of?

I hope I was able to make my case clear enough, despite the little information I have.

Thank you for your attention.

Re: Communication between application and website

Posted: Fri May 22, 2009 7:28 pm
by Gabriel
Think about it like this, do you want to make the application and have them tell you it was done wrong? Ask them to write a final plan or outline of the application for you to work off of. If they say you should know, let them know that the details they've given have been a bit vague.

From what I'm reading, either you don't have a clue what they want or you're trying very hard to keep from giving out details (or a mixture of both).

So what I can piece together is that you're programming a desktop application, right? So if the application is querying their web server, you'll want to create a SOAP or RESTful service with PHP that will allow your application to communicate with the server.

Re: Communication between application and website

Posted: Mon May 25, 2009 2:41 am
by akhasis
Thanks for your reply!

The only thing I know about the project by now is that I have to program a web site that connects to their desktop application so that the web site users can submit their data to the application and get its output in real time.

Actually I also know what their application does, but I don't think that should be an issue, so for my example I thought that thinking of it as a calculator would do.

So, the part I need advice about is, how to connect a desktop application like a calculator to a website so that the application can get its input data from the website and send its output back to the website?

Thanks again for your help

Re: Communication between application and website

Posted: Mon May 25, 2009 2:45 am
by akhasis
Ok, I'm now reading the links you recommended, I think thats the answer.

Thank you.

Re: Communication between application and website

Posted: Mon May 25, 2009 2:52 am
by Gabriel
No problem. I'm glad I could help.