Developing%20Smart%20Client%20Applications%20For%20The%20Enterprise

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Developing Smart Client Applications For The
Enterprise

• Keith Elder
• Team Leader / Sr. Software Engineer
• Quicken Loans
• Blog http//keithelder.net/blog/
• Email keith_at_keithelder.net

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About Quicken Loans

• Originally founded in 1985 as Rock Financial by
  Dan Gilbert
• Grew to one of the largest independent mortgage
  banks in the country
• 1998 IPO
• 1999 Launched Rockloans.Com
• 1999 Intuit, Inc (makers of TurboTax and Quicken)
  purchased Rock Financial.
• July 2002 Dan Gilbert purchased Quicken Loans
  back from Intuit. Retained Quicken Loans
  branding and marketing initiatives.
• 4500 employees
• Largest online retail home loan lender

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Take Aways

• What is a Smart Client?
• Why you should consider Smart Clients over Web
  Applications for internal use within the
  Enterprise.
• How to deploy a Smart Client using ClickOnce.
• How to provide your end users with automatic
  updates.

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Part 1 What is a Smart Client?
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Remember Mainframes?
Single Architecture Mainframes Dumb Terminals
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Remember Thick Clients?
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Remember How The Web Solved Everything?
Web Applications Solve Everything!
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Arent we really back to where we started?
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Smart Client
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Smart Client Architecture
SQL 2005
Business Logic Documentation
Web Services Cluster

• Benefits
• Provides connection pooling to database
• Allows for updates to business layer without
  affecting clients
• Disconnected / Connected

Clients
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Disclaimer(s)!

• Are Smart Clients just related to .Net?
• No Smart Clients can be built on top of any
  operating system
• Ok fine but are Smart Clients a technology or an
  architecture?
• Both! It is a combination.
• SmartClient yourApp .Net SOA Winforms
  Windows
• SmartClient yourApp (Java or Python) SOA
  (GTK or QT) Nix

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Smart Client Benefits (1/2)

• Local resources
• Direct display and peripheral access
• Responsive graphics, printers, digital cameras,
  smart phones, pda, etc.
• Use of installed applications
• Word, Excel, VSTO
• Connected
• Access to network resources
• Web services, SQL Databases
• Less payload on server than web application
• Minimal training

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Smart Client Benefits (2/2)

• Offline capable
• Cache online data
• Update when connected
• Datasets in smart documents
• Intelligent deployment and update
• Easy non-administrator deployment
• Automatic updates
• Rich / easy developer experience

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.Net Smart Client (what do you need to build one?)

• Visual Studio 2005
• Download http//msdn.microsoft.com/vstudio/expres
  s/
• Provides rich visual designer support
• Integrated ClickOnce testing and deployment
• Visual Studio Tools for Office
• .NET Framework 2.0 or 3.0
• Windows Forms
• ClickOnce deployment
• Web server to deploy web services and ClickOnce
  deployment
• Total Cost to Leverage This Technology 4.95 /
  month hosting account
• Visual Studio Express Free
• .NET Framework Free
• Web Server - 4.95 / month

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Smart Client (GUI)
Intro to .Net 2.0 WinFormsand Sample Application
- Enterprise Desktop (sorta)
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Part 2 Deploying a Smart Client with ClickOnce
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ClickOnce Deployment Overview

• ClickOnce application deployment published on a
  web or file server

Server
application files

• Client follows link to serverhttp//localhost/app
  /EnterpriseDesktop.application
• Application deployed locally in users profile
  directory executed
• Subsequent executions check for updates execute
  local install

Client
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ClickOnce

• Smart Client deployment technology
• Provides web-deployment simplicity
• End User
• Provide web-deployment flexibility
• Publisher
• Automatic update of application
• System.Deployment
• Security isolation and optional restricted
  permissions
• Non-administrative installs and uninstalls

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ClickOnce Deployment
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Application Updates

• Auto-update deployment options
• Before application launch, or
• Update check occurs after app-launch
• Scheduled update checks
• Weekly, monthly, etc.
• System.Deployment Customize it to suit your
  business needs

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ClickOnce Auto-update(Versioning)
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Smart Client Summary

• Rich features easier than ever to implement
• Windows Forms 2.0 new controls
• Windows Forms 2.0 improved data integration
• Installation and update easier than ever
• ClickOnce web-style simplicity
• ClickOnce web-style security
• SmartClient rich feature-set
• Customers access existing and new application
  features easily
• Customers access your application with or without
  network connectivity

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Resources

• My Blog
• http//keithelder.net/blog/
• Email
• keith_at_keithelder.net
• Resources
• http//msdn.microsoft.com/smartclient/
• http//practices.gotdotnet.com/projects/scbat
• Patterns and Practices
• http//msdn.microsoft.com/practices/
• Smart Client Software Factory
• Enterprise Library
• Web Services Software Factory
• Mobile Software Factory