Updating access database

[JohnM]

I just sold a .Net application with many little datagrids. The data will be good for 1 year. When the year is up, I would want to sell just the data updates.
Is it possible to create a .Net application that would update with a fresh dataset/datagrid to an existing installed application? Ideally I envision it this way: I would sell an update CD filled with all or part of the datasets. The buyer would load the CD and run it. The CD would search for the specific datasets, populate with the fresh data and the application is good for another year. These datasets are mostly small, 150-200 records: one being 1500 records.

I would appreciate very much any ideas on how or if this is possible.

John M

 

[jmcilhinney]

If you're taking about adding data to an existing database then of course. You already know how to interact with a database because you're doing it in your current app. You just need to create an application that will read the data from an update database, that you distribute with it, into a DataSet, then saves that data to your main application database. It's exactly the same operations that you're doing at the moment, except you will be using two different connections.

 

[cjard]

You dont make any claim to be using a database. It's not a problem though. It would be a relatively trivial matter to write a program that:

Reads in the existing dataset
Reads in the supplied dataset on CD
Merges the datasets, maybe with something as simple as DataSet.Merge(DataSet)


i.e. what you envisage, i think i could do in less than 10 lines of code

 

[JohnM]

Thank you for the leads

I will have to think this through. You say I am already doing it in a way. I'll get back to you if you don't mind how far I get.

John M

 

[jmcilhinney]

Hmmm... perhaps I did make some possibly invalid assumptions. Where exactly is this data stored? Is it in a database, hard-coded into your app or retrieved from some other source?

 

[JohnM]

Update an access database

What I need is this. I created an .net app. In it are several access databases. Ex. about cars with MSRP, models, mileage, prices. I created an installer. It runs on the target PC and installs. The user selects a car from the datagrid and the app manipulates the data, etc. Next year I need to update this installes app with a new set of cars (2007 models). I want to sell this update information on a CD to the buyer of 2006 model data.

Is there a way to create an update app, put the new 2007 data in it, put it all on a CD and then sell it to the user,who would run it on his PC and it would update the existing (2006) datagrid( dataset etc)

John M

 

[jmcilhinney]

There you go. I was right in the first place. Exactly as I said, of course there's a way. You're already interacting with Access databases in your current app, so you already know how to do that. Your updater would simply fill a DataTable from one database and save that data to another database. It's EXACTLY the same as how you're interacting with your databases now except you need two different connections: one for the source and one for the target. Data in a DataTable is COMPLETELY disconnected from its source, so where your data came from makes no difference. As long as the schema is appropriate for the target then you can save the data.

 

[cjard]

Are you able to simply issue a new Access database to the user?