Future Software Release and Updates

[macleodjb]

Hi Guys,

I'm new to developing software applications so i'm kind of wingin' it right now. I have an application that i am working on that will need to be updated from time to time via the internet so i have a couple questions that i hope i can get pointed in the right direction.

1. Updating:
A) How do i get my application to go to the internet and check my website for an Update.
B) What do i need to have on my website to let the software know that there is a newer version.
2. SQL Databases:
A) I have multiple games for lotto that i keep on my web server which the software will download when queried. What is the best way to store this information on the web server so that it is easily added to the application on the client side?

 

[jmcilhinney]

The simplest option is to use ClickOnce, which is built into VS and VB Express. You simply publish your app and that's the installer. Before publishing, you tell the app where to find updates. When a new version is ready you publish again and put the new installer in that location. The rest is automatic.

If the application doesn't know the names of the application files it will download then you should probably use FTP. That way the app can search a folder to see what files are available using an FtpWebRequest. If and when the app knows what to download, if can simply call My.Computer.Network.DownloadFile to get the file.

 

[macleodjb]

ok that sounds easy enough for the updates. What should i do with my sql tables? Not everyone will be playing the same lotto games and will require different sql tables to be downloaded depending on the game they want to play. how should i store that information on the website for retrieval? Should it be in an sql table or should i output the sql table on the website so i just have to download a file with ftp.

 

[jmcilhinney]

SQL is a language, not a database. Basically all databases support SQL for data definition and manipulation. The various vendor provided databases include SQL Server, MySQL, PostgreSQL, SQLite, Access, Oracle, etc, etc.

You can't store a database table in a file. What you can do is store a SQL script that will add data to a table and/or other operations, or you could store a CSV file or the like and then load that into your database in your app.