Web & Desktop Application [closed]

Question

I have to develop a real estate marketing CRM software for my client - where the application is installed on desktop but can also be accessed from web.

2 reasons why they want the application to run from desktop : 1. so that it can work with/without internet connection 2. they don't want their complete data to be online

They want to access few of the data like property listing & inquiries (managed from desktop application) from their website through secure login & password.

The data that is entered in desktop application should be automatically synchronized with the website application. I was wondering if there is a way to develop this kind of software using PHP & MySQL. If yes, it will be great if anyone can provide me the referral link.Else please suggest, which language should I use.

Any help is highly appreciated..

Thanks. Sneha

Answer 1

You have three requirements:

1) Web access to your database (easy)

2) Thick client (Windows desktop) access to your database (easy)

3) The Windows thick client must be able to access the database even if the Internet is off-line.

As far as requirement 3), take a look at Microsoft Sync Framework:

• http://visualstudiomagazine.com/articles/2012/06/01/database-synchronization-with-the-microsoft-sync-framework.aspx

As far as requirements 1) and 2), you'll almost certainly have to write two different user interfaces - one for the web, one for the desktop.

Yes, you can write the web client in PHP and MySQL

Yes, your desktop client can also use a Mysql database ... or a web service

SUGGESTION:

1) Consider writing your web client in PHP and MySQL (since you appear comfortable with these technologies)

2) Consider using Microsoft Sync Framework to handle the "offline" requirement

3) Write your desktop client in C#/.Net

Answer 2

Check out PHPDesktop. It's free and open source. You can take an existing website developed with PHP, Ruby, Perl, Python, etc., and make it into a complete desktop application with a single copy and paste - it's really that easy. You don't have to change a line of code. The only problem is it currently uses a buggy IE browser engine behind he scenes to render your desktop app, but the developer is working on a Chrome Embedded Framework version that could be released any day. It's a really impressive tool and could be just what you're looking for. Check it out.

UPDATE: The Chrome Embedded Framework version was recently released and works amazingly well - much better than the IE version. It does not require Chrome to be installed on the user's computer either. It works amazingly well and I can't recommend it high enough.