I've made a little game as an application for the web in silverlight using C#, and I simply would like to save the top ten scores of any of the users that go on it.
How can I write to a file and save it on my web hosting area? Is this possible?
I think this would be the best way, because I only need to store a name and score (csv file), and this would be extremely easy. I hope this is possible.
If not could someone point me in the rite direction of being able to do this with a database, I've created a template just incase using MySQL with the features provided from my web hosts. Is there any easy way to do it that way?
Thanks in advance,
Lloyd
You can add a small WCF service to your website with an ISaveScores interface. The SL app can connect to the WCF service to post scores, and the WCF service can then store the data however you want. If you use a csv file, make sure you handle locking properly, since it is very possible for multiple requests to happen simultaneously.
EDIT
Since the host is Linux, just create yourself a rest service or some other service that silverlight can post to in the same way. Silverlight can talk to pretty much any type of service, so use the same technique in your environment.
You could do it with a service as Brian suggested (although it sounds like you might not have windows hosting, so you may not be able to use WCF for it) which is probably the best way -- but if you wanted a simpler solution you could also do it with just a postback to a particular page setup for the purpose.
Write a quickee PHP page that looks for a name and score in POST data, and writes it to your MYSQL database. Call it from your SL app with a webrequest. Then you just need another simple page to query the DB and list the results.
Related
On a personal project I'm working on, I have a requirement where I need to save (on disk) a XML feed periodically from an external site, and then parse the XML and render the contents in a particular format. Parsing the XML and rendering it is no problem - the confusion comes in finding the appropriate way to pole the external site/url store the XML periodically.
I have done a fair amount of research, but I've ended up even more stumped. My initial thoughts were to create a service that poles the external site, and retrieve and store the XML at prescribed intervals. I've not created a service before, so a) I'm not really sure where to start, and b) I'll be hosting the site through a hosting provider and I'm not sure that this a viable option?
The SO thread writing a service to periodically retrieve XML and send SMS seems to do exactly what I need, but I don't entirely understand the proposed solution.
I also found an article on delivering data across domains using an AJAX proxy, but this seems overkill for what I need.
Does anyone have any recommmendations on how to achieve this?
Read this and when you're finished, I would suggest you read the XML via an HTTPWebRequest, instead of trying to download it. I assume you'll be able to do this and write the result to a file? If not, I can expand my answer a bit.
You'll definitely want to create a windows service as their sole purpose is to keep running in the background and periodically do stuff.
I am a c++ developer and need insight with current project...
I have a C# .net application that I want to securely connect to a mysql database
I have a sql database created and have created a "webservice" using php that I supposedly can connect to and through that it will access my sql database
but Need some insight into how to talk to this php code
Also would like to hear thoughts on this metholidgy ... is this best practices for doing this? (most secure, fastest, what about hundreds (thousands?) of users accessing a database will this hold up?)
My end result is to have this run on mobile platforms (android, ios) using Unity3D
I am trying to get the basic running using .net 3.5 c# so I understand it before I have to port it to mobile platform and the .net subset with unity
If someone would help me outside of the scope of answering these questions, I am always willing to pay to get this figured out
A great choice that would be very easy to implement in PHP and C#, as a bridge, would be Web Services built using JSON as the interchange format.
This looks like a good basic introduction for a JSON PHP Web Service.
This is another in C#.
With a neutral interchange format you should be able to connect the two components with ease.
I prefer to use JSON.NET and it works really well with JSON object serialization. Though JSON serialization is built into the core framework now (since .NET 3.5).
+1 on using JSON, but only if actually needed.
You can treat 'talking' to the php code as any other webservice. Create your api on the server side (ie. what the scripts do, what params they need), then forget the implementation when writing the client code.
Think about security. If you'll be exchanging sensitive information, you may want to encrypt it. So... SSL.
Do you have user-specific data? You may want some kind authentication.
One easy solution, if you're an optimist, may be to use a private salt and hash your parameters to make sure requests are coming from code you have distributed. However, this won't stop one user to pose as another.
As for scaling, it all depends on just how many calls you do, how many concurrent users you have etc., only you can estimate this stuff. Getting a cloud account would be good. Set up everything on one box at first. As traffic increases, move the database on a new node, then add a webserver, a master-slave setup, a load balancer..etc.
I think it's a nice approach, just be very careful with authentication and security. Performance shouldn't be an issue as long as you optimize the access to the database (performant queries, caching on the client and the service if necessary).
As for the web service consuming in C#, you should use service references for SOAP web services, or HttpWebRequest for REST web services.
For more information on the subject, this kind of architectures are called Service Oriented Architectures (SOA).
My assignment is to create an App for a Mobile Device (Like iphone/android/BB/etc..), the purpose of this app is to tell the users there is something new on the website and then show an list (inside the App) showing the latest updates.
The Company insisted I use ASP.NET/C#/Visual Studio and use the SOAP protocol.
I've started working with C# and then using the so called WCF.
I've already got some stuff working. (Like "consuming" the WCF from an Android App and getting data sent back).
My Question is what will be the best "Architecture" to work with for the Mobile App Development. I was thinking about have only 1 WCF and then call a general function like Do() (Or some other name :)) and then adding a soap header where u can define what u want the service todo. Like getting a record from the database, or ping , er something else, whatever the company may need in the future :)
How this would work:
The Client (Mobile App) would make a call to the WCF, and in the soap header is states, lets say, it wants to register the Phone with the Device ID. The WCF will receive the Soap Requests, extract the header and use some sort of switch to decide what it needs todo. Once it knows that to do the WCF will then, for example, access some local Classes to insert/retrieve Database data or do something else and when its done it will simply return what is needed. (Like an OK sign or data or something else.. :)).
Is this a right approach, cause how I am looking at this, it makes it very easy for changes on the back end without updating the App.
Sorry if this a retarded question, but I am new to WCF and Mobile App Development, and i'am trying to deliver a great product at the end of my internship. I was just wondering what sort of "Architecture" you guys suggest I would use for this sort of assignment.
EDIT
I already told them SOAP is too heavy for mobile development and shown them some graphs. But they insisted to use techniques they already know.
After doing some research I indeed think the contract based approach is the better way to go. But can you maybe answer a few questions regarding it?
-Can I have like one WCF file that gets "consumed" which holds all the different operations?
-Can I authenticate the client (With using Soap headers Required) at the beginning of the WCF and after that call the desired operation?
SOAP is generally regarded as a little too heavy for mobile development. Since users may incur data charges and generally have lower bandwidth, it would be preferable to take a REST/JSON approach. You can still use WCF to do this at the server.
You can use a generic operation (MessageAction="*") but you will then need to handle the serialisation/deserialistion of messages yourself. However, unless you have a pressing reason to do this I would suggest properly structured operations are the better way to go. They are much more maintainable. You can still make implementation changes at the server without affecting the client, as long as the message contract does not alter. The reality is that if you want to change the message or operation contracts you will have to make changes to the clients anyway. After considering this, the 'contract' based approach only has upsides and no real downsides.
I've started with Flex recently, I've noticed that some plugin for Visual Studio exist, instead of buying a licence for another program (Flex Builder).
I was wondering how I could manage to remotely connect to my database with a Flash/Flex application with the help of C#/Asp.Net.
If I've correctly understood what I've read in the last few days, there is basically no way to 'query' to a database with Flex 3. So I suppose there is another way by using a webservice in C# on the database server that would respond to the Http query from Flex.
Am I right or totally of the track? If you have any other thoughts about this, please share.
I prefer (and recommend) using Webservices for the communication between Flex and C#. It's easy to use, and they both support serialization, so you can easily transfer Strong-Typed Objects. More on Flex and .NET can be found at http://www.adobe.com/devnet/flex/flex_net.html
Alternatively, you could consider using WebORB. This program functions as a gateway between and Flex, and enables you to use the Flash RemoteObject API for the communication to C#. More on this can be found at http://www.adobe.com/devnet/flex/articles/flextodotnet_remoteobject.html.
You really should consider using FluorineFx.
It takes about 5 minutes to set up an will allow Flex to call your methods like a service. You can then pass classes back and forth from .NET to Flex and back.
It's also the standard form of communication by Adobe, it's free and it's super fast.
Your understanding is correct. Flex is intended for developing client-side applications, and communication with a database is done through a server-side application.
Pretty much the same as building a JavaScript application. Though, Flex has several additional options for communicating with the backend. Webservices are great in a lot of cases, but the other options are worth looking into.
Here's a pretty happening article on the topic, if you haven't already seen it.
http://www.dehats.com/drupal/?q=node/33
Imagine a site where the user logs in and can view their ip webcam (I can do this bit i believe). The problem is i want the site to do some processing on the images/video coming in even when the user is not logged in i.e run some motion detection algorithm and if there is motion log the incident in a database.
What would i need to learn about to implement this project? I want to use ASP.NET and C# so i assume:
Learn ASP.NET.
Learn C# (I'm a pretty competent desktop application developer).
mySQL database (Is this the best kind of database to use in this situation?).
I've not used ASP.NET before hence i have no idea what it can/can't do. I think i can get an ASP.NET site up and displaying a live feed but how do i implement the bit that is always running in the background processing stills from the live feed and logging the incidents?
Any help is appreciated. Thanks in advance.
You probably want to use something like a Windows Service to do the continuous processing. With the ASP.NET site talking to the database and displaying the feed.
ASP.NET is not really suited to doing background tasks.
MySQL should work fine and is free, so if this is not a work related task then it might be a good choice. I have a MySQL database here that contains close to 100GB of text. So it should handle what you are suggesting.
The the web site and database you're on the right track, ASP.Net and MySql will work just fine for the type of project you are describing. However, the processing bit doesn't fit very well into the ASP.net model.
I would recommend that you think about creating a Windows Service to do whatever processing you need to do. It sounds like you want your processor to work on remote video streams so you'll need to consider how you'll get those live streams to you service and how many concurrent streams you could realistically process.
Perhaps it may make sense to have a client application or service that your users would run locally which would ping your hosted service when it detected a movement? In that case you'll likely want to look at hosting a WCF service which can be done in IIS or any standalone application (such as the aforementioned Windows Service).