VB.NET or Visual Studio.NET?

[Patten]

Hey all.
I'm on a tight budget. Do I need Visual Studio.NET, or can I get by with Visual Basic.NET? I'm running a Win2k server with Win95/2K and NT boxes on the network. I also have an NT server that is part of the domain. I am planning on automating the shop floor with workstations at each workcenter. If I do, then each box will need an OS and a copy of our MRP System installed (which seats cost money) or, at a minimum, any vb app I write to access the database.

Here's my vision...

I want to create an intranet. I currently have a quasi-intranet which is just html pages stored on the server. It works, but are only static pages with links and info. No interactivity. I'd like to expand it to include web forms to access our database (which is Access). I believe from what I've read that the best way would be ASP. Can I accomplish this with the hardware I have using Visual Basic.NET, or do I need to get the whole Studio? Correct me if I'm wrong, but if I get this in place, could any box I add to the floor just be equipped with an OS and a browser?

I'm floundering, please help.

I can learn and/or teach myself anything, but when someone else is paying for it, I need to make sure I'm learning the right thing.

 

[mozingod]

If it's something that simple, you might even want to consider just getting InterDev and using classic ASP to do it. It'll be a lot cheaper, and (a weeee bit) easier to learn. Just so you know, with Access, only one person can access the page at a time. If you need multiple people viewing/editing a page, you'll have to upgrade your database to SQL or something like it. Darrell Mozingo
MCSA, A+, Network+, i-Net+, MOUS 2000 Master

 

[Patten]

Okay. Sounds good. What about allowing limited access from the outside world...i.e. vendors/customers etc who want real-time part status- delivery times, purchase requirements, etc? Can I do that from our website which is currently hosted on a UNIX running Apache? Or would I need to host that inside on our own server?

 

[Tarwn]

This would be a networking issue. It would be possible to aloow limited access but it depends on how your network is set up. If your firewall is freindly to http and https request than you could set up ASP page pages on your internal server that gave limited functionality to the customer and link to them from your outside web server. ASP will not run on a UNIX system without third party software, so you would hve to have a webserver run IIS and Win2000+ to host the ASP pages.
-Tarwn ------------ My Little Dictionary ---------
Reverse Engineering - The expensive solution to not paying for proper documentation

 

[CandieCane]

Hi Patten,

I work for a software and hardware company and get people asking me this same question all the time. VB .NET is the standard edition which is only a basic compiler (you cannot create/run dll's) as well as all the other goodies that come with it.

Visual Studio tools have much more too it. If you were to get Visual Studio .NET pro you'd get a listing of the whole trio of VB, C++ & C#. Though Enterprise Developer and Architect would provide you with Development tools (trio, etc.), Enterprise Servers & Team Development. If you were to go ahead with getting a SQL Server and would like to have limited access from outside or inside you would have to get CALS (Client Access Licenses) which would limit the amount people accessing your database. If you wanted to go web the best way to go would be with a processor license (unlimited access internally & externally). The question at this time would be to ask yourself how much did you want to spend? Processor licenses can be quite expensive (single aren't bad but when you start getting into duals, etc. it's very pricy) though per CAL is not that bad, depending on which server you would go with.

If you want/need any more info, I can look into it for you. If not, visit microsoft's web page and search on servers, products yourself.

http://www.microsoft.com/catalog/default.asp?subid=22

Good Luck!! Candie ;o)

"Mere distances between 2 people bring you all that much closer in the end!"