Modularize In .NET

[Vorzoth]

Greetings,
I am just starting development on a new software package for my
company. I've been programming in Visual Basic for about 10 years or
so, and am just now making the leap into .NET. Here's the question:

The application I'm writing will be used both in the office and by the
reps in the field. There are dozens of screens, some used by the reps
exclusively, some by the people in the office exclusively, and other
that are shared by both. The current application, written in VB6,
compiles to about 40 MB.

Right now, if there's a software change that the reps need, the only
practical way to get it to them is to burn a CD and mail it out to
them. Having them connect up (especially those using dialup) and
download a 40 MB file won't work.

In the new version of the software, what I'd like is to break the
software up into modules. Since each module would more than likely be
less than a meg, I could make changes to one screen and they could be
able to only download the changes that pertain to them.

So, my question - What method would be best to use for this? I'm not
well versed in .NET yet, so forgive me if this question is overly
apparent...

Thanks in advance,

Jeff

[schneider]

40MB! are you sure. That's crazy. Must be some messy code, and bad reuse of
existing code....
Are you using that Fail-Safe junk or something?

I have seen them a 4-5MB eventually I have reduced them to under 1-2MB after
some clean-up.

With some amount of planning/design your .NET app should be much smaller...

Schneider

"Vorzoth" <je**@haasdesigns.com> wrote in message
news:11**********************@o13g2000cwo.googlegr oups.com...

Greetings,
I am just starting development on a new software package for my
company. I've been programming in Visual Basic for about 10 years or
so, and am just now making the leap into .NET. Here's the question:

The application I'm writing will be used both in the office and by the
reps in the field. There are dozens of screens, some used by the reps
exclusively, some by the people in the office exclusively, and other
that are shared by both. The current application, written in VB6,
compiles to about 40 MB.

Right now, if there's a software change that the reps need, the only
practical way to get it to them is to burn a CD and mail it out to
them. Having them connect up (especially those using dialup) and
download a 40 MB file won't work.

In the new version of the software, what I'd like is to break the
software up into modules. Since each module would more than likely be
less than a meg, I could make changes to one screen and they could be
able to only download the changes that pertain to them.

So, my question - What method would be best to use for this? I'm not
well versed in .NET yet, so forgive me if this question is overly
apparent...

Thanks in advance,

Jeff

[Vorzoth]

Well, keep in mind that the exe also contains some 50-60 different
Crystal Report reports, which bumps the exe size up significantly -
probably 75%. It is a significant program, though - over 2 years of
full time coding went into it.

schneider wrote:

40MB! are you sure. That's crazy. Must be some messy code, and bad reuse of
existing code....
Are you using that Fail-Safe junk or something?

I have seen them a 4-5MB eventually I have reduced them to under 1-2MB after
some clean-up.

With some amount of planning/design your .NET app should be much smaller...

Schneider

"Vorzoth" <je**@haasdesigns.com> wrote in message
news:11**********************@o13g2000cwo.googlegr oups.com...

Greetings,
I am just starting development on a new software package for my
company. I've been programming in Visual Basic for about 10 years or
so, and am just now making the leap into .NET. Here's the question:

The application I'm writing will be used both in the office and by the
reps in the field. There are dozens of screens, some used by the reps
exclusively, some by the people in the office exclusively, and other
that are shared by both. The current application, written in VB6,
compiles to about 40 MB.

Right now, if there's a software change that the reps need, the only
practical way to get it to them is to burn a CD and mail it out to
them. Having them connect up (especially those using dialup) and
download a 40 MB file won't work.

In the new version of the software, what I'd like is to break the
software up into modules. Since each module would more than likely be
less than a meg, I could make changes to one screen and they could be
able to only download the changes that pertain to them.

So, my question - What method would be best to use for this? I'm not
well versed in .NET yet, so forgive me if this question is overly
apparent...

Thanks in advance,

Jeff

[Dennis]

I would suggest using small class libraries with interfaces. That way, you
can just update the small .dll modules that need changing.
--
Dennis in Houston
"Vorzoth" wrote:

Well, keep in mind that the exe also contains some 50-60 different
Crystal Report reports, which bumps the exe size up significantly -
probably 75%. It is a significant program, though - over 2 years of
full time coding went into it.

schneider wrote:

40MB! are you sure. That's crazy. Must be some messy code, and bad reuse of
existing code....
Are you using that Fail-Safe junk or something?

I have seen them a 4-5MB eventually I have reduced them to under 1-2MB after
some clean-up.

With some amount of planning/design your .NET app should be much smaller...

Schneider

"Vorzoth" <je**@haasdesigns.com> wrote in message
news:11**********************@o13g2000cwo.googlegr oups.com...

Greetings,
I am just starting development on a new software package for my
company. I've been programming in Visual Basic for about 10 years or
so, and am just now making the leap into .NET. Here's the question:

The application I'm writing will be used both in the office and by the
reps in the field. There are dozens of screens, some used by the reps
exclusively, some by the people in the office exclusively, and other
that are shared by both. The current application, written in VB6,
compiles to about 40 MB.

Right now, if there's a software change that the reps need, the only
practical way to get it to them is to burn a CD and mail it out to
them. Having them connect up (especially those using dialup) and
download a 40 MB file won't work.

In the new version of the software, what I'd like is to break the
software up into modules. Since each module would more than likely be
less than a meg, I could make changes to one screen and they could be
able to only download the changes that pertain to them.

So, my question - What method would be best to use for this? I'm not
well versed in .NET yet, so forgive me if this question is overly
apparent...

Thanks in advance,

Jeff

[Vorzoth]

That's exactly what I needed to know. Just needed a nudge... :)

Thanks Dennis!