Hi there, Is a web app always preferable to a ''real'' app? - or are there times when a real app should be used? I''m starting a new app and can''t decide which would be best. Is Ruby (not RoR) suitable for a real app? Chris. -- Posted via http://www.ruby-forum.com/.
Chris: you have to tell us more about this app you want us to build before we can tell you which is more suitable... On 07/08/06, chris <cptfinch@gmail.com> wrote:> Hi there, > > Is a web app always preferable to a ''real'' app? > - or are there times when a real app should be used? > > I''m starting a new app and can''t decide which would be best. > Is Ruby (not RoR) suitable for a real app? > > Chris. > > -- > Posted via http://www.ruby-forum.com/. > _______________________________________________ > Rails mailing list > Rails@lists.rubyonrails.org > http://lists.rubyonrails.org/mailman/listinfo/rails >
I agree - the system that I am doing right now involves both a "real" app (to capture data from physical equipment connected over serial ports) and a "web" app that makes the information available to the whole wide (authorized) world! Cheers Mohit. Tom Armitage wrote:> Chris: you have to tell us more about this app you want us to build > before we can tell you which is more suitable... > > On 07/08/06, chris <cptfinch@gmail.com> wrote: >> Hi there, >> >> Is a web app always preferable to a ''real'' app? >> - or are there times when a real app should be used? >> >> I''m starting a new app and can''t decide which would be best. >> Is Ruby (not RoR) suitable for a real app? >> >> Chris. >> >> -- >> Posted via http://www.ruby-forum.com/. >> _______________________________________________ >> Rails mailing list >> Rails@lists.rubyonrails.org >> http://lists.rubyonrails.org/mailman/listinfo/rails >> > _______________________________________________ > Rails mailing list > Rails@lists.rubyonrails.org > http://lists.rubyonrails.org/mailman/listinfo/rails > >
chris <cptfinch@...> writes:> > Hi there, > > Is a web app always preferable to a ''real'' app? > - or are there times when a real app should be used? > > I''m starting a new app and can''t decide which would be best. > Is Ruby (not RoR) suitable for a real app? > > Chris. >My 2 cents; I think this is not so much a question about language as it is about which GUI toolkit to use with Ruby, to me, Ruby is almost a given ;) (OK, I could write some tight loop somewhere in C, just to be called from Ruby). There are ruby bindings for many GUI toolkits, for example QT(not free on windows) http://developer.kde.org/language-bindings/ruby/index.html or WxWidgets(free), http://raa.ruby-lang.org/project/wxruby/ Also I would almost go as far as consider Ajax web toolkits like prototype windows etc. just new GUI toolkits where platform is a browser (or Flash for that matter, but again the tools for Flash aren''t free, except for OpenLaszlo). The main difference, imo, is still the ease of use that these traditional GUI libraries provide, at least for now the traditional toolkits like QT are a lot quicker to put a complicated GUI together than in Ajax, especially when using tools like the QT designer, than any of the Ajax tools I seen. If you want to see what can be done with web ruby Ajax, I put together a quick demo that includes many of the traditional app features, but on the web. This has movable windows, drag-drop items, "push" updates, in-place edits, on the fly stylesheet changing etc., you can see a a screenshot on my blog and follow a link(when it''s up): http://maanpaa.blogspot.com/2006/08/ajax.html So, think about your target audience and the importance of speed in development(budget) to pick a GUI to use, Ruby is definetely suitable for real apps :) Ville Maanpaa
Tom Armitage wrote:> Chris: you have to tell us more about this app you want us to build > before we can tell you which is more suitable...The app I want to build is - the user selects scientfic measurements from the database that they want. - the user selects how they want it presented e.g. a line graph or table - the user is able to get a CSV file with the data as well. can i do all this in a web application? Chris -- Posted via http://www.ruby-forum.com/.
On 8/8/06, Chris Finch <christopher.finch@nuth.nhs.uk> wrote:> > Tom Armitage wrote: > > Chris: you have to tell us more about this app you want us to build > > before we can tell you which is more suitable...You can do this in a web app. It could be much more convienient for your users too. The app I want to build is> - the user selects scientfic measurements from the database that they > want.Done easily with a web app if it''s as simple as ticking boxes, radio buttons, select boxes, auto -complete boxes etc. - the user selects how they want it presented e.g. a line graph or table Very simple to do. Gruff graphs is a good package, but since you''ve suggested there is scientific data to plot, perhaps gnuplot would be a better option (if you can handle the licence) http://rubyforge.org/projects/rgplot/ - the user is able to get a CSV file with the data as well. This is very simple. There are many examples of this on the list if you search for them. A lot would be regarding exporting to excel. I think there are some examples on the rails wiki site as well. can i do all this in a web application?> > Chris > > -- > Posted via http://www.ruby-forum.com/. > _______________________________________________ > Rails mailing list > Rails@lists.rubyonrails.org > http://lists.rubyonrails.org/mailman/listinfo/rails >-------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://wrath.rubyonrails.org/pipermail/rails/attachments/20060808/db1152a3/attachment-0001.html
Thanks everyone - this RoR is unbeleivably good! -- Posted via http://www.ruby-forum.com/.
Chris Finch wrote:> Tom Armitage wrote: > >> Chris: you have to tell us more about this app you want us to build >> before we can tell you which is more suitable... >> > > The app I want to build is > - the user selects scientfic measurements from the database that they > want. > - the user selects how they want it presented e.g. a line graph or table > - the user is able to get a CSV file with the data as well. > > can i do all this in a web application? > > Chris >Assuming that the measurements have somehow turned up in the database, the rest can all be done from a web app (and we really need to stop calling client computer-based apps as "real" apps - web apps are just as real ;-) ) Cheers Mohit.
On 8/8/06, Mohit Sindhwani <mo_mail@onghu.com> wrote:> > Chris Finch wrote: > > Tom Armitage wrote: > > > >> Chris: you have to tell us more about this app you want us to build > >> before we can tell you which is more suitable... > >> > > > > The app I want to build is > > - the user selects scientfic measurements from the database that they > > want. > > - the user selects how they want it presented e.g. a line graph or table > > - the user is able to get a CSV file with the data as well. > > > > can i do all this in a web application? > > > > Chris > > > Assuming that the measurements have somehow turned up in the database, > the rest can all be done from a web app (I have written a data collection app for my company, and it is all done from within rails. This app either asks for a file to be uploaded or gets one from the file system depending on the options selected. The data can be put into the db from within rails if you want. Obviously the file needs to be on the server machine or at least accesible by it for the file system option to work. Theres a plugin available now (the name escapes me) that will do bulk imports, and there''s always the option of just using the (insert adapter of choice here ) in a class that is not inheriting ARql if you really want. That can be quite fast, especially if you have data that is of a consistent format. Whether or not it''s suitable / desireable to do the data import in rails is another story... but it can be done. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://wrath.rubyonrails.org/pipermail/rails/attachments/20060808/a397c1e4/attachment-0001.html
Daniel N wrote:> > > On 8/8/06, *Mohit Sindhwani* <mo_mail@onghu.com > <mailto:mo_mail@onghu.com>> wrote: > > Chris Finch wrote: > > Tom Armitage wrote: > > > >> Chris: you have to tell us more about this app you want us to build > >> before we can tell you which is more suitable... > >> > > > > The app I want to build is > > - the user selects scientfic measurements from the database that > they > > want. > > - the user selects how they want it presented e.g. a line graph > or table > > - the user is able to get a CSV file with the data as well. > > > > can i do all this in a web application? > > > > Chris > > > Assuming that the measurements have somehow turned up in the database, > the rest can all be done from a web app ( > > > I have written a data collection app for my company, and it is all > done from within rails. > > This app either asks for a file to be uploaded or gets one from the > file system depending on the options selected. The data can be put > into the db from within rails if you want. Obviously the file needs > to be on the server machine or at least accesible by it for the file > system option to work. > > Theres a plugin available now (the name escapes me) that will do bulk > imports, and there''s always the option of just using the (insert > adapter of choice here ) in a class that is not inheriting ARql if you > really want. That can be quite fast, especially if you have data that > is of a consistent format. > > Whether or not it''s suitable / desireable to do the data import in > rails is another story... but it can be done.I agree with you :) Actually, my point was not related to "importing" data from files, etc. What I was getting at was that the scientific measurements may be coming from a physical instrument which may be connected to a PC of some sort. In that case, you would need client software to read from, say, a serial port and load data into the database. There are many ways to do this, including: 1. C/C++ software writes data directly to the DB 2. C/C++ software posts data to the Rails web app 3. A Ruby software uses ActiveRecord/ Rails to load the data into the database 4. ...... (I''m using #2 for my system.) But, all I wanted to say was that if the data was in the database (through manual entry, one of the schemes above, import as you suggested, etc.) all the other things that the OP wanted to do could very well be done from a web app! (Didn''t mean to suggest that the option of using a web app for putting data into the DB did not exist) Cheers Mohit.
What''s the name of the bulk upload plugin? It''d be very useful Thanks Chris -- Posted via http://www.ruby-forum.com/.
Define "bulk upload" -----Original Message----- From: rails-bounces@lists.rubyonrails.org [mailto:rails-bounces@lists.rubyonrails.org] On Behalf Of Chris Sent: Tuesday, August 08, 2006 8:51 AM To: rails@lists.rubyonrails.org Subject: [Rails] Re: Re: web app or ''real'' app What''s the name of the bulk upload plugin? It''d be very useful Thanks Chris -- Posted via http://www.ruby-forum.com/. _______________________________________________ Rails mailing list Rails@lists.rubyonrails.org http://lists.rubyonrails.org/mailman/listinfo/rails
On 8/9/06, Jarod Reid <Jarod_Reid@sento.com> wrote:> > Define "bulk upload" > > -----Original Message----- > From: rails-bounces@lists.rubyonrails.org > [mailto:rails-bounces@lists.rubyonrails.org] On Behalf Of Chris > Sent: Tuesday, August 08, 2006 8:51 AM > To: rails@lists.rubyonrails.org > Subject: [Rails] Re: Re: web app or ''real'' app > > What''s the name of the bulk upload plugin? It''d be very useful > > Thanks > ChrisYou can see what the plugin does here at the blog http://blogs.mktec.com/zdennis/articles/category/ruby --> Posted via http://www.ruby-forum.com/. > _______________________________________________ > Rails mailing list > Rails@lists.rubyonrails.org > http://lists.rubyonrails.org/mailman/listinfo/rails > _______________________________________________ > Rails mailing list > Rails@lists.rubyonrails.org > http://lists.rubyonrails.org/mailman/listinfo/rails >-------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://wrath.rubyonrails.org/pipermail/rails/attachments/20060808/5a609001/attachment-0001.html