Hello,

I have a webapplication which has to use the printer and other devices on the client to print documents and make financial transactions via bankcard terminal (like you do at your local shop)

I'm not allowed to use ActiveX so I was wondering if the following is possible.

I've written a windows forms application which gets installed on the client trough clickonce technology. This means that software can be installed on the client with one click. I've configured clickonce to install the application "online only" and i've given it "fulltrust" rights (for now).The application creates an PrintDocument object, and with that i have access to all local printers. Also it incorporates functionality to utilise the bankcard terminal (log on, log off, pay amount x).

This application works but everytime i want to run it, i have to click a link or a button which points to the *.application file on the server, which launches the application.

I was wondering if it's possible to automate this proces of clicking a link or button to launch the application. I'd like the application to be launched when the user logs in on the web application. Can somebody tell me if this is possible?

Another problem is how to transfer data between the webapplication and the client application. I was wondering if this is possible with webservices. Because communication has to go from the server to the client and back, it's kinda like a reversed webservice.

Has anybody got some experience with doing this? Or am i looking in the wrong direction, doing it the way i do?

I hope somebody can shine a light on this topic.

Kind regards,

jochem


This way i can use .net's PrintDocument object etc. to use the printer on the client.

The problem now, is that when the user loggs in on the webapplication, he has to push a button or click a link which launches the clickonce *.application file

You're doing it the right way, but then again I have no experience with this.

However, you can set this up in the Global.asax file for Session_OnStart. That way, when the user logs on he/she will automatically trigger the application.

** KEEP IN MIND, that this will be fired any time a sessionID is assigned by the server. So if you use session variables for anyone other than logged in users, it will trigger it for them as well.

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