Member Avatar for Pamilerin

Hey guys,
I am to do a final year project to monitor the trading floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange and my question is if I were to write an application what things should I consider. The application is supposed to be a stand alone but works when it connects to the internet just like Tweetdeck. My question is how can I connect to the server and then use the data from the server to build my application. My preferred language is VB.Net. How dos the whole idea work, like how does tweetdeck connect to the twitter server without the need for twitter.com, that is how my application is supposed to work.

Thanks very much for your help.

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Member Avatar for griswolf

I speak no VB, so in general terms:

  1. You open a connection to (some web service)
  2. You provide your bona fides to that server
  3. You make your request
  4. You receive and parse the data
  5. You close the connection
  6. You massage the new data
  7. You display the massaged data

Repeat

There are several places where this can be troublesome.

  • Opening the connection: VB will have some way to do it
  • Providing your bona fides: Each service has its own requirements. Probably a username and password. You don't want to send that in the clear, so think about it first.
  • Sending requests and receiving data: You will need to understand the service requirements in both directions
  • Parsing: You have to handle what they send you. Probably XML or json. VB has parser tools, I'm sure.
  • Closing the connection: They are a scarce resource, so when you're done for the moment, close it.
Member Avatar for Pamilerin

Thanks very much for that info but I want to ask, how do I get access to a web service

Member Avatar for griswolf

Your question is not precise. You two kinds of access:

  1. You obtain permission to access the service, which may require some form of authorization, signing a EULA, or other legal issue.
  2. You make a connection with the service

I am not able to give you details about this, partly because I simply don't know: What web service, how VB deals with internet connections; and partly because DaniWeb is a place where we HELP you do the work, not do it for you.

Member Avatar for Pamilerin

Thanks, I appreciate it

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