Tkinter, X-windows and ebay

[Cameron Laird]

In article <vZKdnfz889_-T3HeRVn-tw at nmt.edu>,
Bob Greschke <bob at passcal.nmt.edu> wrote:
>
>"Paul Rubin" <http://phr.cx@NOSPAM.invalid> wrote in message 
>news:7xacczt8u4.fsf at ruckus.brouhaha.com...
>> "Bob Greschke" <bob at passcal.nmt.edu> writes:
>>> What I came up with was the user can just create a text file (a kind
>>> of a transaction log of what things were done to the copy of the
>>> database on his machine), then cut and paste that text into a window
>>> created on their machine by the main database program (using
>>> X-windows, ssh, etc.), then the main program can read the contents
>>> of that text field and update the main copy of the database.
>>>
>>> It should work. :)
>>
>> Yuck!  Why not use an http interface instead of the remote tkinter
>> interface?  Then the user would interact with your app through a web
>> browser, giving a familiar UI as well as giving that upload button
>> (which tells the browser to upload the file).
>
>Mainly because the user may be in the middle of the Himalayas trying to 
>create paperwork for equipment being shipped to Japan and Chile.  The 
>Internet is not always an option in our line of work.  We need to have 
>standalone everythings.  We don't live in your real world. :)
>
>The two databases (the one on the user's laptop, and the one back at the 
>office) don't need to be reconciled until the user gets back.  We just need 
>to (eventually) know which pieces of equipment were sent to Japan, and which 
>went to Chile.
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Certainly.  And, if you're content with what you have, that's
great; *I* certainly do enough funny things with Tkinter and 
X.  But what you *can* do is deploy the end-user desktop with
a browser pointed to a local Web page, presumably one with 
enough client-side processing to prepare a form.  Then, when
he's within range of an IP address, he selects an "upload"
link, and you get all the HTTP-related advantages Paul and
others have mentioned.