ASP.Net - Open Existing Web App in Tab based container

[ReportDr00]

Hello

I have a scenario where i have 4 different web app for different section in our department and would like to put them in one tab based container GUI. So if i open GUI i have tabs for each app and clicking on the tab should launch the related app in the main or parent frame. I would like this container to be dynamic so i can add any web app to it. If it is possible, i would love to hear some ideas and suggestions?



Regards

Armani

 

[jmeckley]

a real simple solution, grouped book marks with IE or FF. use the open all book marks in group option. no programming required.

you can set this up on one machine. export the bookmarks and import into other browsers. if you have a small shop this should be sufficient.

you could go the IFrame/ajax route. this could all be done in javascript. even this sounds like overkill though.

Jason Meckley
Programmer
Specialty Bakers, Inc.

 

[niceguymattx]

As jason says - there's little point in re-inventing the wheel!

 

[ReportDr00]

Thanks Jason,

Can you tell more about IFrame/Ajax route, may be i am thinking i will have more control on the app for each tab i use IFrame/Ajax.

Can you share some sample code for this?

all i want is

Tab1 Tab2 Tab3 Tab4

click on Tab1 app1 logon page appears

click on Tab2 app2 logon page appears

and anything that you are doing in app1 or app2 should be within that frame (like opening other windows and stuff)

if its possible i would like to log on only to main tab site and use that logon for each app that i have access to.

if i am user1 have access to app1 on tab1 and app3 on tab3 then i should see only tab1 and tab3 enabled on click of tab1 or tab3 i should be logged onto app's tied to the tab

i hope i am making sense here,please let me know how this could be done...

Regards

Armani

 

[jmeckley]

Armani, I think you're missing the essence of my response.

All the functionality you have described is what any modern browser is meant to do. To write a webpage to do this is unnecessary.

if you continue down this path every js framework has ajax built in. combine this with a tabbing component and your 80% done. I prefer jQuery (the core and UI) for my client scripting needs.

Jason Meckley
Programmer
Specialty Bakers, Inc.

faq855-7190

 

[ReportDr00]

Ohh, i see what you are saying. I never thought we could do something like that...interesting. I do notice on IE or FF there is tab based browsing so we can open each app on new tab with in same ID window and pass logon credentials to logon to system when the tab is clicked...let me try that and see how it goes...thanks

 

[jmeckley]

you cannot pass credentials from tabs. the two are not related. 1 deals with authentication the other deals with managing the output of html (where it's displayed).

You can save the user credentials in the browser. the user controls this option. in combination with tabbed browsing and bookmarks you can open all 4 website in different tabs.

the credentials are stored in the browser, so at most the user clicks 'logon' with the username/password pre-populated from the browser.

Jason Meckley
Programmer
Specialty Bakers, Inc.

faq855-7190

 

[ReportDr00]

Is it secure to store the user credentials in browser?
I am thinking more like use Active Directory to verify the user and get list of apps he has access to and display in browser in tabs?

 

[jmeckley]

Is it secure to store the user credentials in browser?

I would say this depends on the context. I don't store passwords to my bank accounts/credit cards, on my personal computer, but I do store passwords to google, TT, digg, etc. At work I would store passwords to intranet applications and online forums. it all just depends.

I am thinking more like use Active Directory to verify the user and get list of apps he has access to and display in browser in tabs?

You are making this way more complicated than it needs to be. The more you describe what you want, the less is sounds like you know what is required. Figure out what the requirement is. Then figure out the simplest way to meet this requirement.

Jason Meckley
Programmer
Specialty Bakers, Inc.

faq855-7190

 

[ReportDr00]

ok, let me try again

we have users from different departments and they access different applications with in their department and other departments by logging in separately. The idea is here to identify the credentials of the user and get the list of apps he has access to and display them in tab based form and when the user clicks on any tab then he should be automatically logged in and doesnt have to enter the login credentials. The easy way i thought is to create a tab based container app which validates the user in Active Directory groups(one group per app)and display the apps in tab.
I dont want to change much in the existing department apps, but add single container interface to all the app and remove individual login's for each app.
For example:
User1
App1 App2 App3


User2
App2 App4 App5


User3
App1 App3 App5

User4
App1 App2 App3 App4 App5

I hope this make it clear....let me know your suggestions?

Armani

 

[jmeckley]

yeah, stick with tabbed browsers and save the password in the browser.

This auto-loging-container you want to build is overkill and doesn't provide any real business value.

if the current apps are asp.net applications you could use windows authentication instead of forms authentication. this would eliminate the login altogether (because the windows login is used).

Jason Meckley
Programmer
Specialty Bakers, Inc.

faq855-7190