Hello, I have some limited background in C++ and Java, though I haven't programmed in years. I'm wanting to begin programming through learning C#. I have a project plan in sight to help me learn along the way using Windows Forms and C#. I was looking for guidance here in breaking up the component pieces of what needs to be logically done along with certain things I need to research for best practices in the design.
Here is a rundown of the idea:
There is a folder on a PC (\..\Mail\Messages) that contains several XML files that are placed there by an existing application. I'd like to determine the location of the folder across different environments as it could be on any drive letter (C:\...D:\... etc..). I'd want to parse the XML files and then display their data in a Windows form with the option to change data through the GUI, delete the XML, or move the XML to a different folder (\..\Mail\Process).
The XML also has base64 encoded plain-text or HTML as an attribute that would need to be converted to ASCII to be readable in the GUI. I'd want the option to edit a certain value for only one XML or the same value for all XML, since each XML has the same skeleton with attributes but just different values. Since the data being changed may be an email address, I'd like to be able to confirm if the user enters a new address or edits an existing one that it is valid. This application doesn't need to do SMTP delivery. I may also want to build a subfolder of Mail\Messages\backup to backup the working XML files so that the user can revert any changes after they have saved them in the GUI. There could be just a few XMLs or up to hundreds in this Mail\Messages folder.
I'm using Visual Studio 2010 (C#) and Windows Forms. I'm doing some research to see how I should lay out these component parts along with some initial learning of the C# language and concepts.
If you can offer any advice for direction or references for different pieces I will need to consider to begin coding this, it would be much appreciated!
Thanks!
Jason