Dave Burke : Freelance .NET Web Developer specializing in Online Communities

Everything I know about Smart Clients I learned from iTunes

I love outrageous titles.  Heh. 

I'm building a Smart Client app that is soon approaching the stage where I can start talking about it.  (So you won't have to read "I'm building a Smart Client app..." again.)  The app has three mothers:  IssueVision (which I'll be talking about at Code Camp 4), RSS Bandit (thanks Dare and guys for the source!), and iTunes.  IssueVision for best practices to get a leg up into Smart Client development, RSS Bandit for examples of how smart guys code an app to be used day in and day out, and iTunes because its UI is a seamless blending of Windows and Web functionality.

As RSS Bandit and other apps demonstrate, integrating Windows and Web controls in a composite application window is OKAY, and darn smart.  Something I'll be employing, certainly. 

Here's an example of iTunes WindowsWeb work, with a Windows "datagrid" at the bottom providing better functionality and a WebBrowser display of the content, here Kansas Masque. All of the primary controls (sidebar library datalist, album contents datagrid, breadcrumb navigation, volume control, etc.) are rich Windows Forms controls, while remote content is formatted to support its display within its Windows Forms application context.

 

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Posted on 9/10/2005 5:27:00 AM by Dave Burke
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Comments (6) -

9/10/2005 5:57:19 PM Permalink

I'd just like to point out that Comicster uses the same "embedded browser with WinForms controls" technique you describe here, Dave. The power of HTML for displaying information is too hard to pass up.

mabster |

9/11/2005 4:54:40 AM Permalink

Embedded browser with WinForms controls in the Comicster by the Mabster!  Thanks for checking in, Mabster Man.

daveburke |

9/11/2005 9:33:09 PM Permalink

No doubt. The blend of windows and web (when done right) makes for some really cool UI bells & whistles. But more than bells & whistles really, it's all about making the app as intuitive and simple as possible for the end user. Sometimes, building a windows app that works or looks like the web just makes more sense.

-Ryan

Ryan Farley |

9/11/2005 9:37:00 PM Permalink

mabster, I have no idea what Comicster is for (looks like cataloging comic books from first glance), but it sure is a nice looking app Wink

Ryan Farley |

9/12/2005 7:50:10 AM Permalink

Ryan, It's always great when you pop by and add a few comments.  Yeap, Mabster Man is THE Mabster!

daveburke |

9/12/2005 3:37:14 PM Permalink

Hey Ryan - thanks for the kind words about my app!

Yeah - it's a comic-book cataloging program. Build from the ground up in C# Express beta 2.

I used the WebBrowser control to display information about the selected TreeNode, and it loads up a series of template text files to display the data as "skins".

Currently I'm in the process of converting my hand-coded DataSet into a strongly-typed DataSet using the DataSet designer. That thing is sweet!

mabster |


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