OnRite Website to Internal Dataflex System Integration

Onrite has been using a custom-developed Dataflex-based application to manage their business for years. They wanted to take their business online while still continuing to use their existing system to manage products and fulfill orders. Through extensive meetings between OnRite, MVI and their Dataflex developers, MVI designed a system that would allow OnRite to do just that.

MVI provided a Linux-based dedicated server for OnRite’s website and then custom-built what is now referred to as the proxy server which is a Windows-based machine that is set up to communicate directly with Dataflex using a special ODBC driver. This proxy server has IIS set up with the ability to execute ASP, is located directly in OnRite’s IT room at their location and is accessible by our hosted dedicated server via the internet. Special ASP scripts which reside on the proxy server pull information out of Dataflex via the ODBC driver outputs the information in a machine readable format.

When the website (www.onritedirect.com) requires one or more pieces of information from the Dataflex system, it makes an HTTPS connection to the proxy server and runs the appropriate ASP script. Then upon receiving the content, parses it and then displays it on the website. The other part of this integration is feeding information back into Dataflex from the website. This is accomplished by using FTP to transfer specially formatted data files (generated by the website) to a specific location on the proxy server. OnRite’s Dataflex developers have written some code that scans the folder where the data files get stored and process them to import the order information into their system. This has given Onrite the ability to manage both their phone and internet orders from the same system without having to re-train their employees on how to use a new system.

Why Use MySQL Database

MySQL database has become the world’s most popular open source database because of its consistent fast performance, high reliability and ease of use. It’s used on every continent by individual Web developers as well as many of the world’s largest and fastest growing organizations to save time and money powering their high-volume Web sites, business-critical systems and packaged software including industry leaders such as Yahoo!, Alcatel-Lucent, Google, Nokia, YouTube, and Zappos.com.

Not only is MySQL the world’s most popular open source database, it’s also become the database of choice for a new generation of applications built on the LAMP stack (Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP / Perl / Python.) MySQL runs on more than 20 platforms including Linux, Windows, OS/X, HP-UX, AIX, Netware, giving you the kind of flexibility that puts you in control.

Whether you’re new to database technology or an experienced developer or DBA, MySQL offers a comprehensive range of certified software, support, training and consulting to make you successful

SQL database developers face increasing demands for productivity within their development environments. Developers must find and fix bugs faster, improve the quality of applications and manage business-critical information more efficiently. To achieve these goals, database programmers need a development environment that provides for the easy creation, management and testing of programmable objects.

• Develop high quality SQL code for B2B applications.
• Navigate easily on multiple platforms within a single application.
• Automate debugging process with step in, step out and step over code capability.
• Create a true team-programming environment with check in/check out and code sharing capabilities.
• Modify and test SQL statements quickly and easily without affecting the production server.

Our Solution

Provide a complete development environment for MySQL which is intuitive and provides a user interface and extensive toolset allowing for easy creation, management and testing of all programmable objects such as stored procedures, triggers, functions, views and indexes. With MVISolutions, database developers and administrators can be more productive, find and fix bugs faster, improve the quality of applications and better manage business-critical information.

Key Features & Benefits

• Provides an integrated, one look for all platforms development environment and concurrent connections across SQL Server, MySQL,Sybase and DB2 UDB.
• Speeds program development and improve output quality through debuggers in the Microsoft SQL Server, MySQL and DB2.
• Allow developers to edit and test code while protecting the original source code and database.
• Allow developers to proactively tune SQL in a Virtual Instance before code goes into production using integration with SQL-Explorer for Oracle.
• Allow developers to change table data quickly from the SQL-Programmer Development Window with the NEW Table Data Editor in the Oracle version.
• Assists programmers and DBA’s in preparing impact analyses and estimating development costs from proposed database design changes through 90+ reports.

Visual Basic is a useful programming language that allows MVI to quickly create a middle-sized application with a full user interface in a short period of time. This type programming is often referred to as Rapid Application Development (RAD). Another advantage of using Visual Basic is that some commonly used applications have built-in support for Visual Basic. Examples of applications that support Visual Basic include Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel and other members of the Microsoft Office family.

Learn More about Visual Basic

Introducing Visual Studio.NET; visionary yet practical, the single comprehensive development tool for creating the next generation of applications has arrived. Developers can use Visual Studio.NET to:

• Build the next-generation Internet.
• Create powerful applications fast and effectively.
• Span any platform or device.

Visual Studio .NET is the only development environment built from the ground up for XML Web services. By allowing applications to share data over the Internet, XML Web services enable developers to assemble applications from new and existing code, regardless of platform, programming language, or object model.

Visual Studio .NET is available in the following editions:

• Enterprise Architect
  .NET Enterprise Architect enables you to take advantage of the industry’s leading development tool and create sound architectural guidance for development teams.
• Enterprise Developer
  .NET Enterprise Developer provides a powerful, enterprise team development platform for rapidly building XML Web services and applications.
• Professional
  .NET Professional enables you to rapidly build next-generation XML Web services and applications that target any Internet device and integrate across programming languages and operating systems.
• Academic
  .NET Academic incorporates all the features of Visual Studio.NET Professional with several new instructional features designed to simplify course management and ease application development for both faculty and students

Ten years ago Visual Basic 1.0 revolutionized application development for millions of developers. .NET provides developers with the productive tool for building next-generation applications for the Web.NET Enterprise Architect (VSEA) builds on the power of.NET Enterprise Developer by including additional capabilities for designing, specifying, and communicating application architecture and functionality.

Developers using .NET Enterprise Architect will benefit from the ability to:

• Visually design XML Web services. Clearly define application functionality and architecture for XML Web services and applications.
• Create and deliver architectural guidance. Take advantage of application modeling based on Unified Modeling Language (UML), which ensures that architecture and functionality are clearly documented and communicated prior to coding.
• Utilize a comprehensive open tools platform for building XML Web services. Use enterprise templates to create development guidelines and policies, share the knowledge of senior developers and architects with less experienced team members, and create reusable application frameworks for projects.

Visually Design XML Web Services and Applications

Use a complete set of based modeling capabilities to create and communicate application architecture, business requirements, database design, and business processes. Architects can use UML models to specify application architecture and functionality. From those models, they can reduce development time by directly generating classes, functions, and methods in Visual C++.NET, Visual Basic.NET, and Visual C#T.NET. Developers can also document existing application code by reverse engineering Visual Basic.NET, Visual C++.NET, and Visual C#.NET projects to create architectural designs and models and to share the models with the rest of their team.

Visual Studio.NET Enterprise Architect provides full end-to-end support for database modeling, including conceptual, logical, and physical views. Business analysts can easily enter business rules using the Fact Editor, which in turn generates an underlying database model that can be refined by a database analyst into logical and physical views. Full roundtrip engineering guarantees that changes made at any of the views will be reflected throughout, improving communication across the development team.

Business processes can be defined and orchestrated using a full-featured version of.NET designed for developers. This makes it easier to compose applications from existing functionality-whether that functionality is internal or external to an organization.

Create and Deliver Architectural Guidance

Developers have been faced with ever-increasing complexity as technologies and opportunities have proliferated. Enterprise templates and the Template Description Language will help to reduce this complexity and will increase collaboration across the development team. Architects can use enterprise template projects to create application starting points by specifying an initial application structure, including any reusable or standard components and technologies, design documents, and models.

This can be further enhanced by using Template Description Language to specify the constraints for component usage throughout the application, including the ability to set property values and ranges, so that developers are more likely to make the right implementation choices. Architects can also create custom Help topics in HTML and integrate them into the Visual Studio.NET dynamic help system; so that developers have access to all the resources they need while building applications.

Build XML Web Services and Applications

.NET is the industry benchmark for developer productivity. The ultimate developer cockpit, it includes visual designers for Windows, the Web, data, and servers components to accomplish tasks more efficiently than ever before. Built on the.NET Framework, NET enables seamless creation and usage of XML Web services for building the next-generation Internet.

Use an Open Tools Platform

.NET provides an open and extensible architecture that enables third-party tools and component and language vendors to seamlessly integrate into the environment, providing developers with a broad range of choices for meeting development requirements.