cross-compile ASP.NET website to desktop?
up vote
1
down vote
favorite
Is there a way to cross-compile or port an ASP.NET based webpage to a native Windows GUI?
I am developing a web app, with an ASP.NET webservice doing much of the grunt work, and an ASP.NET webpage as the GUI. I would like to also offer an "offline" version of the app that doesn't require teaching random people how to manage IIS. Some of my target users will not have internet access consistently when they want to use the app; also, I like not having to rely on an active web connection myself because I'm an old fogey and this web 2.0 stuff is just a fad, right?
The core of the app logic is a library that is disassociated from everything else - the service just provides an API (which I want publicly available for others to use), and that I use for my own app. I could go ahead and design a new GUI in WPF or WinForms, import my libraries and there you go, but I'm lazy enough that I'm curious if there's an automated solution. Or even a semi-automated solution.
If I can target not-Windows as well, that would be nice. I already have a console interface that I used in development of the core library that directly accesses them, which I'm still testing but should relatively easy to make work in WINE but if I can offer more support for offline use to non-Windows users I'd feel better.
asp.net windows desktop-application
asked Nov 8 at 16:41
Emily Smirle
188
add a comment |
up vote
1
down vote
favorite
Is there a way to cross-compile or port an ASP.NET based webpage to a native Windows GUI?
I am developing a web app, with an ASP.NET webservice doing much of the grunt work, and an ASP.NET webpage as the GUI. I would like to also offer an "offline" version of the app that doesn't require teaching random people how to manage IIS. Some of my target users will not have internet access consistently when they want to use the app; also, I like not having to rely on an active web connection myself because I'm an old fogey and this web 2.0 stuff is just a fad, right?
The core of the app logic is a library that is disassociated from everything else - the service just provides an API (which I want publicly available for others to use), and that I use for my own app. I could go ahead and design a new GUI in WPF or WinForms, import my libraries and there you go, but I'm lazy enough that I'm curious if there's an automated solution. Or even a semi-automated solution.
If I can target not-Windows as well, that would be nice. I already have a console interface that I used in development of the core library that directly accesses them, which I'm still testing but should relatively easy to make work in WINE but if I can offer more support for offline use to non-Windows users I'd feel better.
asp.net windows desktop-application
asked Nov 8 at 16:41
Emily Smirle
188
1
If you design your application properly, the core business logic should be in a reusable class library. Then you can write any UI for it you want, including ASP.NET site, a UWP app with C#/XAM, an Electron app, Windows Forms or WPF....did you design your application properly?
– mason
Nov 8 at 18:37
@mason Yes, I did. But if I don't have to rewrite the UI either, that'd be nice :)
– Emily Smirle
Nov 9 at 1:35
add a comment |
up vote
1
down vote
favorite
up vote
1
down vote
favorite
Is there a way to cross-compile or port an ASP.NET based webpage to a native Windows GUI?
I am developing a web app, with an ASP.NET webservice doing much of the grunt work, and an ASP.NET webpage as the GUI. I would like to also offer an "offline" version of the app that doesn't require teaching random people how to manage IIS. Some of my target users will not have internet access consistently when they want to use the app; also, I like not having to rely on an active web connection myself because I'm an old fogey and this web 2.0 stuff is just a fad, right?
The core of the app logic is a library that is disassociated from everything else - the service just provides an API (which I want publicly available for others to use), and that I use for my own app. I could go ahead and design a new GUI in WPF or WinForms, import my libraries and there you go, but I'm lazy enough that I'm curious if there's an automated solution. Or even a semi-automated solution.
If I can target not-Windows as well, that would be nice. I already have a console interface that I used in development of the core library that directly accesses them, which I'm still testing but should relatively easy to make work in WINE but if I can offer more support for offline use to non-Windows users I'd feel better.
asp.net windows desktop-application
asked Nov 8 at 16:41
Emily Smirle
188
Is there a way to cross-compile or port an ASP.NET based webpage to a native Windows GUI?
I am developing a web app, with an ASP.NET webservice doing much of the grunt work, and an ASP.NET webpage as the GUI. I would like to also offer an "offline" version of the app that doesn't require teaching random people how to manage IIS. Some of my target users will not have internet access consistently when they want to use the app; also, I like not having to rely on an active web connection myself because I'm an old fogey and this web 2.0 stuff is just a fad, right?
The core of the app logic is a library that is disassociated from everything else - the service just provides an API (which I want publicly available for others to use), and that I use for my own app. I could go ahead and design a new GUI in WPF or WinForms, import my libraries and there you go, but I'm lazy enough that I'm curious if there's an automated solution. Or even a semi-automated solution.
If I can target not-Windows as well, that would be nice. I already have a console interface that I used in development of the core library that directly accesses them, which I'm still testing but should relatively easy to make work in WINE but if I can offer more support for offline use to non-Windows users I'd feel better.
asp.net windows desktop-application
asp.net windows desktop-application
asked Nov 8 at 16:41
Emily Smirle
188
asked Nov 8 at 16:41
Emily Smirle
188
asked Nov 8 at 16:41
Emily Smirle
188
asked Nov 8 at 16:41
Emily Smirle
188
asked Nov 8 at 16:41
Emily Smirle
188
188
1
If you design your application properly, the core business logic should be in a reusable class library. Then you can write any UI for it you want, including ASP.NET site, a UWP app with C#/XAM, an Electron app, Windows Forms or WPF....did you design your application properly?
– mason
Nov 8 at 18:37
@mason Yes, I did. But if I don't have to rewrite the UI either, that'd be nice :)
– Emily Smirle
Nov 9 at 1:35
add a comment |
1
If you design your application properly, the core business logic should be in a reusable class library. Then you can write any UI for it you want, including ASP.NET site, a UWP app with C#/XAM, an Electron app, Windows Forms or WPF....did you design your application properly?
– mason
Nov 8 at 18:37
@mason Yes, I did. But if I don't have to rewrite the UI either, that'd be nice :)
– Emily Smirle
Nov 9 at 1:35
1
1
If you design your application properly, the core business logic should be in a reusable class library. Then you can write any UI for it you want, including ASP.NET site, a UWP app with C#/XAM, an Electron app, Windows Forms or WPF....did you design your application properly?
– mason
Nov 8 at 18:37
If you design your application properly, the core business logic should be in a reusable class library. Then you can write any UI for it you want, including ASP.NET site, a UWP app with C#/XAM, an Electron app, Windows Forms or WPF....did you design your application properly?
– mason
Nov 8 at 18:37
@mason Yes, I did. But if I don't have to rewrite the UI either, that'd be nice :)
– Emily Smirle
Nov 9 at 1:35
@mason Yes, I did. But if I don't have to rewrite the UI either, that'd be nice :)
– Emily Smirle
Nov 9 at 1:35
add a comment |
1 Answer
1
active
oldest
votes
up vote
2
down vote
accepted
You could run that web application on .NET Core in a self-hosted way. That way you get the full IIS feature set and there is no need for the user to configure anything.
You can then use a WebBrowser control to show the application as a GUI app, or just open the web site in the users installed browser.
.NET Core runs on non-Windows as well.
answered Nov 8 at 19:34
usr
143k25184297
Can .NET Core also run self-hosted on other operating systems? I thought IIS was restricted to Windows machines.
– Emily Smirle
Nov 9 at 1:41
@EmilySmirle .NET Core can run self hosted on any OS. IIS is preferred (but not required) on Windows.
– mason
Nov 9 at 1:56
@mason Well that's fantastic. I think that pretty much exactly fulfills my lazy-coder requirements - I don't have to re-do the GUI, and I get to learn a new system!
– Emily Smirle
Nov 9 at 2:14
@EmilySmirle You might have to redo the GUI. You said you had an ASP.NET site, but you didn't clarify what framework you're doing. If you used Web Forms, well that hasn't been ported to .NET Core (for excellent reasons). If you used MVC or an HTML page hitting Web API, then it shouldn't be too hard.
– mason
Nov 9 at 3:41
add a comment |
1 Answer
1
active
oldest
votes
1 Answer
1
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
up vote
2
down vote
accepted
You could run that web application on .NET Core in a self-hosted way. That way you get the full IIS feature set and there is no need for the user to configure anything.
You can then use a WebBrowser control to show the application as a GUI app, or just open the web site in the users installed browser.
.NET Core runs on non-Windows as well.
answered Nov 8 at 19:34
usr
143k25184297
Can .NET Core also run self-hosted on other operating systems? I thought IIS was restricted to Windows machines.
– Emily Smirle
Nov 9 at 1:41
@EmilySmirle .NET Core can run self hosted on any OS. IIS is preferred (but not required) on Windows.
– mason
Nov 9 at 1:56
@mason Well that's fantastic. I think that pretty much exactly fulfills my lazy-coder requirements - I don't have to re-do the GUI, and I get to learn a new system!
– Emily Smirle
Nov 9 at 2:14
@EmilySmirle You might have to redo the GUI. You said you had an ASP.NET site, but you didn't clarify what framework you're doing. If you used Web Forms, well that hasn't been ported to .NET Core (for excellent reasons). If you used MVC or an HTML page hitting Web API, then it shouldn't be too hard.
– mason
Nov 9 at 3:41
add a comment |
up vote
2
down vote
accepted
You could run that web application on .NET Core in a self-hosted way. That way you get the full IIS feature set and there is no need for the user to configure anything.
You can then use a WebBrowser control to show the application as a GUI app, or just open the web site in the users installed browser.
.NET Core runs on non-Windows as well.
answered Nov 8 at 19:34
usr
143k25184297
Can .NET Core also run self-hosted on other operating systems? I thought IIS was restricted to Windows machines.
– Emily Smirle
Nov 9 at 1:41
@EmilySmirle .NET Core can run self hosted on any OS. IIS is preferred (but not required) on Windows.
– mason
Nov 9 at 1:56
@mason Well that's fantastic. I think that pretty much exactly fulfills my lazy-coder requirements - I don't have to re-do the GUI, and I get to learn a new system!
– Emily Smirle
Nov 9 at 2:14
@EmilySmirle You might have to redo the GUI. You said you had an ASP.NET site, but you didn't clarify what framework you're doing. If you used Web Forms, well that hasn't been ported to .NET Core (for excellent reasons). If you used MVC or an HTML page hitting Web API, then it shouldn't be too hard.
– mason
Nov 9 at 3:41
add a comment |
up vote
2
down vote
accepted
up vote
2
down vote
accepted
You could run that web application on .NET Core in a self-hosted way. That way you get the full IIS feature set and there is no need for the user to configure anything.
You can then use a WebBrowser control to show the application as a GUI app, or just open the web site in the users installed browser.
.NET Core runs on non-Windows as well.
answered Nov 8 at 19:34
usr
143k25184297
You could run that web application on .NET Core in a self-hosted way. That way you get the full IIS feature set and there is no need for the user to configure anything.
You can then use a WebBrowser control to show the application as a GUI app, or just open the web site in the users installed browser.
.NET Core runs on non-Windows as well.
answered Nov 8 at 19:34
usr
143k25184297
answered Nov 8 at 19:34
usr
143k25184297
answered Nov 8 at 19:34
usr
143k25184297
answered Nov 8 at 19:34
usr
143k25184297
143k25184297
Can .NET Core also run self-hosted on other operating systems? I thought IIS was restricted to Windows machines.
– Emily Smirle
Nov 9 at 1:41
@EmilySmirle .NET Core can run self hosted on any OS. IIS is preferred (but not required) on Windows.
– mason
Nov 9 at 1:56
@mason Well that's fantastic. I think that pretty much exactly fulfills my lazy-coder requirements - I don't have to re-do the GUI, and I get to learn a new system!
– Emily Smirle
Nov 9 at 2:14
@EmilySmirle You might have to redo the GUI. You said you had an ASP.NET site, but you didn't clarify what framework you're doing. If you used Web Forms, well that hasn't been ported to .NET Core (for excellent reasons). If you used MVC or an HTML page hitting Web API, then it shouldn't be too hard.
– mason
Nov 9 at 3:41
add a comment |
Can .NET Core also run self-hosted on other operating systems? I thought IIS was restricted to Windows machines.
– Emily Smirle
Nov 9 at 1:41
@EmilySmirle .NET Core can run self hosted on any OS. IIS is preferred (but not required) on Windows.
– mason
Nov 9 at 1:56
@mason Well that's fantastic. I think that pretty much exactly fulfills my lazy-coder requirements - I don't have to re-do the GUI, and I get to learn a new system!
– Emily Smirle
Nov 9 at 2:14
@EmilySmirle You might have to redo the GUI. You said you had an ASP.NET site, but you didn't clarify what framework you're doing. If you used Web Forms, well that hasn't been ported to .NET Core (for excellent reasons). If you used MVC or an HTML page hitting Web API, then it shouldn't be too hard.
– mason
Nov 9 at 3:41
Can .NET Core also run self-hosted on other operating systems? I thought IIS was restricted to Windows machines.
– Emily Smirle
Nov 9 at 1:41
Can .NET Core also run self-hosted on other operating systems? I thought IIS was restricted to Windows machines.
– Emily Smirle
Nov 9 at 1:41
@EmilySmirle .NET Core can run self hosted on any OS. IIS is preferred (but not required) on Windows.
– mason
Nov 9 at 1:56
@EmilySmirle .NET Core can run self hosted on any OS. IIS is preferred (but not required) on Windows.
– mason
Nov 9 at 1:56
@mason Well that's fantastic. I think that pretty much exactly fulfills my lazy-coder requirements - I don't have to re-do the GUI, and I get to learn a new system!
– Emily Smirle
Nov 9 at 2:14
@mason Well that's fantastic. I think that pretty much exactly fulfills my lazy-coder requirements - I don't have to re-do the GUI, and I get to learn a new system!
– Emily Smirle
Nov 9 at 2:14
@EmilySmirle You might have to redo the GUI. You said you had an ASP.NET site, but you didn't clarify what framework you're doing. If you used Web Forms, well that hasn't been ported to .NET Core (for excellent reasons). If you used MVC or an HTML page hitting Web API, then it shouldn't be too hard.
– mason
Nov 9 at 3:41
@EmilySmirle You might have to redo the GUI. You said you had an ASP.NET site, but you didn't clarify what framework you're doing. If you used Web Forms, well that hasn't been ported to .NET Core (for excellent reasons). If you used MVC or an HTML page hitting Web API, then it shouldn't be too hard.
– mason
Nov 9 at 3:41
add a comment |
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If you design your application properly, the core business logic should be in a reusable class library. Then you can write any UI for it you want, including ASP.NET site, a UWP app with C#/XAM, an Electron app, Windows Forms or WPF....did you design your application properly?
– mason
Nov 8 at 18:37
@mason Yes, I did. But if I don't have to rewrite the UI either, that'd be nice :)
– Emily Smirle
Nov 9 at 1:35