Is there an obvious way to do this in python?

[H J van Rooyen]

"Yu-Xi Lim" <yuxi at ece.gatech.edu> wrote:


| Simon Forman wrote:
| >> Or has all this been done already? - and no I don't want a web server and
php
| >> and browsers and Java and html or xml... - I want to write something that
works
| >> simply and reliably - its just short message accounting type data...
| >>
| >> - Hendrik
| >
| > Don't reinvent the wheel.  Use a database...
| >
| > You probably don't want to hear this, but what you just described is a
| > GUI client front-end with a database backend.  The time it takes to
| > download, install, and learn to use, say, postgres will be similar to
| > the time you'd spend implementing what you've described above, but with
| > at least 10 to 100 times the payoff.
| >
| >
| > As for updating the client on the fly, one strategy would be to keep
| > the "dynamic" code in it's own module and have the clients reload()
| > that module when you upload a new version of it to the client machines.
|
| Yes, indeed, using a database with a GUI front end is the best way to
| get "something that works simply and reliably." Writing everything in
| Python isn't always the best solution. Python, however, is very good at
| interfacing with most existing applications and thus makes a great "glue."
|
| Using a proper DB system would give up transactions, multiple users, and
| access control, which you have said you required, and probably more
| features which you hadn't realized you needed but soon will when you
| scale up beyond a toy system (optimized queries, backups, load
| balancing, encrypted connections, etc).

Can I not use the ssl module for encrypting the connections? - Please also
understand that the system is aimed at small to medium companies, in house  -
>From my perspective the only valid reason to use a database would be for the
ease of reporting - the files are not large - and the speed of a dict lookup in
python is hard to beat for normal transaction processing...

|
| As for updating the applications, why not just put them on the server
| for each "user"/client to retrieve? There are of course several ways of
| retrieving the centrally stored GUI program, and most likely you're
| thinking Windows file sharing (which would require restarting the client

NO! the last thing on my mind - want a dynamic process similar to banking
terminals - see my response to Simon please

| whenever updates are available). But don't rule out HTTP. Among the

I have been shying away from this - due to mental laziness - but obviously I
have to look at it - thanks

| benefits of web apps are the ability to update the application on the
| fly and deploy it quickly. And no, web apps don't necessarily mean PHP,
| Java or XML. You can easily use plain HTML and Python to create the GUI
| and interface it with the database. AJAX may be th buzzword now, but it
| isn't necessary for everything.

Thanks will *have* to look at html