Migration to www

[snovik]

First of all, I am an idiot in www development though have some IT knowledge beyond VBA.



I have a c# windows forms code (a couple of forms + some calculations on ms access database in the background). I am looking for an easy and possibly painless migration of some (!) of these forms into a web-based interface. No external users for the time being (intranet)



Google says it is all doable (and apparently easy) however it could not suggest a starting point. Two alternatives I saw:



1. XABP (or similar) - fully fledged net application running in a browser window which would require some changes to UI (i.e. browser-like logic)

2. Silverlight which can execute c# code directly on the client-side



So the questions are:



1. how do I connect to my database? Silverlight has no ADO and do I need it at all? I do not have real-time data and it can be pre-processed into managable data (arrays, collections) on the server side and sent to the client in this format



2. I need a datagrid on the client side. Silverlight does not have it but there are 3rd party tools. Is there a free one (like free beta version)?



3. What is the easiest approach to go: 1, 2 or 3 ?



4. Is there a manual for dummies to get a fast forward? I looked at some books, but they are all too technical at the moment and I do not have time to spend on XAML details. They are extremely interesting for a bed-time reading however I prefer other books and need quick results.



So the bottom line: does anyone have an advice as to where to find a concise manual, how to approach such migration process, and what approach would be the best from the longer term perspective?



and do I need to change the database or I can still live with ms access?

[tristanreid]

I'm not up to speed on the latest web-based interface stuff (like silverlight), I still generate html on the server side like some sort of dinosaur.



That said:



1. Go with Silverlight, it's easier to learn



1. If your data doesn't need to change, then maybe you could just make it static.  I think the preferred way (and more scalable) is to make a web service that accesses/modifies your data, and hook silverlight up to that.  It's not as hard as you might think to make a web service.



2. Silverlight has a datagrid, just came out recently. 



3. I don't understand this question.  I'll just guess:  2?!?  Cool



4. I don't know.



Also, regarding MS Access, you need to change it.  If you're making something available from the web, it's pretty safe to assume that you might have more than one person/request accessing it at the same time.  It will get corrupted.  There are free options (see other threads on free database recommendations, I'm not a great person to ask as my company uses products that cost money)



-t.