Ruby for office database application

Ruby
1

Hi,
I have volunteered at my local charity to develop a database
application, which
keeps track of contacts, donations, organizations etc.
i decided to use ruby for the job

My question now is what frontend/approach should i use?
local hosted rails or desktop gui?(eg fox/gtk gui)?

i was thinking of using rails, but i noticed most similar apps use
either access or
sql server 2000 database with a .net/visual basic frontend.

I would really welcome any advice or tips.

2

pedro alvarez wrote:

either access or
sql server 2000 database with a .net/visual basic frontend.

I would really welcome any advice or tips.

If you have Windows machines, I’d recommend using “Instant Rails”. It
comes bundled with Ruby, Rails, Apache and MySQL, so you don’t need
anything else except a browser and some kind of text editor to develop
your application.

3

I’d strongly recommend a web interface, like Rails. Easier to make it
work
than fiddling with gui libraries, and if you want to roll out to other
clients it’s effortless.

d

4

+1 for a web interface.

Browsers are very versatile, html is widley known and with some ajax
thrown
in appropriately the app can feel very smooth.

Also, if everybody likes the app, and they travel, it becomes easier to
move
it out to the big bad net for mobile use.

5

On 7/16/06, M. Edward (Ed) Borasky [email protected] wrote:

pedro alvarez wrote:
[Question snipped away]
If you have Windows machines, I’d recommend using “Instant Rails”. It
comes bundled with Ruby, Rails, Apache and MySQL, so you don’t need
anything else except a browser and some kind of text editor to develop
your application.

Completely agree for the ease.
However the preinstalled Webrick server and SQLite will probably rock
for
you with much less ressources.
But it all depends on what you have already on your box.
Check out the Rails page http://www.rubyonrails.org/ before taking any
decision.

For your question concerning access etc stuff, do not worry, MySQL,
SQLight,
Firebird or Postgre on the DB side. On the Web side you have Apache,
lighttpd, Webrick or Mongrel. Really no need to worry about propertyware
at
all!!!

Cheers
Robert

–
Deux choses sont infinies : l’univers et la bêtise humaine ; en ce qui
concerne l’univers, je n’en ai pas acquis la certitude absolue.

  • Albert Einstein
6

I agree about the Instant Rails Development comment for Windows users.
If you decide to move away from Instant Rails, portability is simple.
I think using the Rails framework will give you the most productivity
based on the usage of a backend database, but you have to make the
ultimate decision since you know the customers intent and your own
skill set. Good Luck!

_Steve